Almost everyone pays water charges

SHARON HAMPSON, RUTHERGLEN & CAMBUSLANG CITIZENS’ ADVICE BUREAU MANAGER, ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

Q. I’m not earning, and I have a full council tax reduction, so I don’t understand why I still have deductions coming off my benefits and get letters saying I owe money to the council?

A. It’s possible that you have arrears of water and sewerage charges, because you don’t have to pay council tax. These charges can still be collected by the council with a special procedure, so they should be treated as a priority debt.

This may still be the case if you receive the maximum help for paying council tax. A local authority can ask the DWP to pay some of your benefit directly to them for council tax arrears and water and sewerage arrears. It can do this if you receive Universal Credit, Income Support, Jobseekers’ Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance or Pension Credit. The sum paid may be for ongoing costs for water and sewerage as well as arrears.

The local authority doesn’t even have to ask a court for permission to do this. If you want to challenge a decision that the DWP has made about a deduction from your benefit for water and sewerage charges you can contact CAB. It’s a little known fact that almost everyone in Scotland has to pay for water charges, even if benefits is your only source of income.

Q. I recently got Covid, can I still get help and payments like before? My boss said they won’t pay me if I take time off because there are no government guidelines anymore.

A. The Self-Isolation Support Grant is now closed. The grant closed to new applicants on January 5, 2023. In terms of what to do about having to take time off work, your employer doesn’t usually have to pay you if you stop working. However it’s a good idea to check if you are disabled as you would have extra protections at work, and there are also things you might be able to agree with your employer that mean you can still be paid if you stop working.

If not visibly sick, you should tell your employer if you have a health condition that means you’re ‘extremely vulnerable’ or ‘vulnerable’, and if you are in the ‘extremely’ category sometimes your doctor may provide you with a fit note.

If you are sick, then you would follow your employer’s usual sickness procedure and be paid accordingly. Alternatively, you could ask to put in a paid holiday request or ask for unpaid time off instead.

As there are no guidelines being enforced any more people are expected to turn up to work as normal.

Q. I have kids and caring responsibilities and am finding it really hard to juggle everything with a full time job. What is flexible working and do I have a right to request it?

A. Flexible working can include changing hours, shift patterns, compressing hours, or working from home.

There are two ways to make a request – statutory and non-statutory. Whether you have a right to do so also depends on your employment status. To have a statutory right you must have worked for them for at least 26 weeks in a row and be an employee.

If you’re not entitled to make a statutory request for flexible working, you can make a non-statutory one, which just means it isn’t made under the law. Here there is no set procedure for making a request – so it’s advisable to make your request in writing so it’s clear what you’ve asked for.

Your employer might also have their own scheme with rules that are more generous than the statutory scheme. For example, it might be open to all employees regardless of how long they have worked for your employer.

Even if you can make a statutory request, you might want to make a non-statutory request instead if, for example, the change you’re asking for is minor or temporary. If your employer agrees to your flexible working request, it will mean a permanent change to your contract. You can both agree a trial period to make sure the new arrangements work.

If you don’t want to make a permanent change to your contract, you might be able to agree a temporary change with your employer.

Q. I’m trying to return an item I bought for Christmas. What are my options to get help with this?

A. The process is always similar. Step 1 is to make a formal complaint. If you have given the company enough time to resolve the problem and are still not getting any resolution, then it’s probably time for step 2, which is to involve a third party.

Depending on the type of agreement and how you paid, that will help decide on what route to go down here. For example, if you paid using a credit card or Paypal then you would just ask the credit company to get involved and investigate the issue on your behalf.

Most companies are also members of a trade association – which means they should stick to agreed guidelines and will usually help for free. You would usually be able to see any of these types of memberships on the seller’s website. Some sellers also have specific “alternative dispute resolution” schemes.

Step 3 is to make a court claim. You should only really consider this as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted, because you can usually get free and quicker help which is obviously preferable for most people.

You can also consider reporting the company to Trading Standards if they appear to be ‘dodgy’.

Q. My debts have really racked up over Christmas and someone mentioned sequestration. What is this and how would it affect me if I were to go bankrupt?

A. Sequestration is just a Scottish legal term for bankruptcy. Some people think they can just apply to have all their debts wiped and start again which is sometimes true, but unfortunately a lot of the time it’s not as simple as that.

Generally speaking, the best solution will likely depend on the type of debt (for example, student loans aren’t wiped regardless), the total amount you owe, and any assets or ability to pay the debt back in future.

Note also if any changes in income happen after the sequestration process you would still need to update the correct people and may still be asked to make payments towards the debts you had. It will also definitely affect your ability to get credit in future.

Nobody can apply to be sequestrated without getting advice from a qualified money adviser, because it needs a full exploration and discussion of all factors involved so if you are seriously considering it then make an appointment with CAB’s debt adviser.

PLEASE NOTE: Rutherglen & Cambuslang Citizens Advice Bureau is available for telephone / e-mail advice. We are also open for drop in at our main office on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10am until 3pm.