Tammie’s Story

Tammie met with Stevie and shared that she felt really sad after the loss of her mum and that she was fearful of losing her accommodation too. Tammie admitted she did not know how she would cope if she lost her accommodation.

Tammie had the relevant paperwork for the tenancy that had been issued by East Lothian Council but they were also looking for confirmation of her having resided with her mum as she was not legally on the tenancy because of her age. Stevie helped Tammie with sourcing documents that had Tammie’s name and address on them, in addition to other relevant important documents.

Stevie and Tammie then visited one of East Lothian Council’s offices to speak with a Duty Officer from the Housing Department. She said she would follow the case up with Housing Management and that she would contact Stevie and Tammie.

Shortly after, the Duty Officer contacted Stevie and Tammie and arranged a home visit. The Duty Officer then met them at Tammie’s residence and said she was happy to transfer Tammie onto a new tenancy agreement. Tammie looked over the paperwork with Stevie and signed the legally binding agreement.

The Duty Officer also informed Tammie that she would need to update her Universal Credit and apply for housing element. In addition, she said that Tammie’s spare room would incur additional costs and that she would be liable for this. Stevie advised the Duty Officer that he would support Tammie with these applications and with sourcing the funds to cover all the relevant housing costs. All the applications they submitted were successful.

 Stevie and Tammie also applied for Council Tax Reduction and Single Person Discount. Both these applications were successful too, which reduced Tammie’s bill by nearly £1,000 over calendar year. Furthermore, Stevie helped Tammie to set up Direct Debits and to reduce her rent arrears in order to give her more affordable payments.

After a while, Tammie received a letter from her energy provider saying that her previous meter had been tampered with and that she owed them £5,000. As a result, they put limits on her usage. Stevie helped Tammie contact her energy provider to explain to them that this must have been a mistake and that Tammie could not be liable for this. He also referred Tammie to the independent advocacy organisation CAPS Advocacy for further support with this particular situation. A CAPS Advocacy worker agreed to meet her at her home.

Over the coming weeks, the CAPS Advocacy worker, Tammie and Stevie met on regular occasions and through discussions with Tammie’s energy provider and Citizens Advice Bureau’s Extra Utility Help Team, the energy provider eventually said they made a mistake. They said Tammie should not incur any charges and cleared her outstanding debt. They also gave her some money for compensation, and set up an account in Tammie’s name.

 East Lothian Council soon contacted Tammie to advise her that she qualified for a new kitchen. Tammie therefore arranged for her kitchen to be refurbished. To help with this process, Stevie made sure to be available when the workman came to measure units and design the outlay of the kitchen.

Stevie continued to provide regular support to Tammie during her resettlement period, such as making referrals to a foodbank for food parcels and energy top-ups when required. Stevie also made a referral to the energy advice charity Changeworks for Tammie to discuss energy bills and receive additional advice.