CAB Getting support with funeral costs
I applied for a loan a couple of weeks ago and was surprised when my application was rejected. My friend suggested checking my credit reference file and when I did I noticed it had incorrect information about my credit history. Is there anything I can do about this? Information held by credit reference agencies should be correct.
If you believe information held on your credit reference file is wrong, you can write to credit reference agencies and ask for it to be changed, and they are usually quick to correct mistakes.
However, they won’t be able to change information if the original company you had credit with insists that the details are right.
In that case, you may need to raise a complaint directly with the original company.
Alternatively, or just while your dispute is ongoing, you can also add extra information to your file.
Adding information isn’t restricted to correcting mistakes.
For example, if you had a past debt which has now been paid you can highlight this.
This is called a notice of correction and by doing this you may find it easier to apply for credit in the future.
I recently started a new job. I will be working full-time 35 hours a week. My manager recently sent me a copy of my holiday entitlement, but it says over the year I’m only entitled to 20 days’holiday, that’s not right, is it?
The law says workers should get 5.6 weeks’ holiday each year. This is called your “statutory entitlement”.
If you consistently work five days a week, this would equate to 28 days’ holiday over the year.
If you will be working irregular days or hours, your entitlement might be different.
You can check your entitlement using the government’s holiday entitlement calculator at www.gov.uk/calculate-your-holidayentitlement
It may be that you joined the company part way through the holiday year, in which case your entitlement will be based on how much of the year you have worked.
The other possible fair reason that a full time worker would be told they only get 20 days’ holiday of their choosing, is where they also get paid for public holidays they don’t work.
As long as the total days of paid holidays, including public holidays, is 5.6 weeks, this is allowed.
If you think that your holiday entitlement has been calculated incorrectly, you should in the first instance raise this informally with your employer as it may be a genuine mistake.
If you need help resolving this issue, please get in contact with the Bureau by calling 0141 889 2121.
My husband’s brother passed away five months ago. He didn’t have any other family, so my husband and I ended up paying for his funeral. We are both in receipt of Universal Credit and are struggling financially and finding it difficult to make the repayments. I recently heard about the Scottish Funeral support payments. Are we too late to apply for this?
Eligibility for the Scottish funeral support payment will be dependent on whether your brother-in law left any money which could have been used to pay for his funeral.
If he did, any money he left would be deducted from the funeral payment award.
You will also need to check whether he had any funeral plans, any insurance policies or any work pensions which could be used towards the cost of his funeral.
If eligible, you aren’t too late. However, you must apply within six months of the funeral.
To apply for a funeral support payment, call 0800 182 2222 or apply online at www. mygov.scot/funeral-support-payment/howto-apply