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Contents 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
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An Introduction Benefits and Financial Support Help with Budgeting Bank Accounts Bank Accounts - Benefits uSwitch Types of Online Fraud Different Types of Credit Card Fraud Personal Details - Tips and Advice Citizens Advice Bureau Index
Introduction This booklet has been created by participants from Southend YMCA’s SVC (Southchurch Vocational College) students. The content of this booklet was researched and compiled during the summer of 2012.
CV building experience which is so vital in today’s job market. Please email press@southendymca.org.uk or call 01702 301301 for more information.
This booklet is also available to download at The aim of this booklet is to give financial www.southendymca.org.uk, with additional advice and support for young people who information and resources. may need it especially if living independently. Southend YMCA offers numerous opportunities to young people including education, volunteering, sport through to music and catering. These opportunities upskill young people and give them the
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Benefits And Financial Support
How to make a new or repeated claim for benefits You can ring Jobcentre Plus the following Benefits are divided into four groups: number to make a benefit claim: • benefits for people of working age Phone: 0800 0 55 66 88 • benefits for people who have Text phone: 0800 0 23 48 88 if you are deaf, retired or who are planning to hard of hearing, or have speech difficulties. retire • benefits for families and children Calls are free from a landline. Charges may • Benefits for disabled people and apply when calling from a mobile phone, but carers. Jobcentre Plus will arrange to call you back if you ask. Different benefits types include: • Job seekers allowance Phone lines are open from 8.00 am to 6.00 • Income support pm, Monday to Friday. • Disability living allowance • Working tax credits The call will take about 40 minutes.You • Child tax credits should call from: • Housing benefit. • home, if possible; or • from somewhere where you are Where to go to get advice about comfortable and where other benefits people cannot overhear your 1. Citizens advice personal information www.citizensadvice.org.uk 2. Job centre plus You will speak to an operator who will guide www.directgov.uk you through making a new claim or renewing 3. Direct Gov the details of a claim that has recently closed. www.directgov.uk During the call you will be asked to provide information including: • your National Insurance number • details of your rent or mortgage • details of your past or present employment Call Jobcentre • details of other income and savings There are different types of benefits that people can claim.
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Plus to claim for benefit: 0800 0 55 66 88
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Help With Budgeting
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Work out your outgoings - bills for gas, electricity, telephone, water rates and council tax
Advantages of budgeting Its a good idea to have a personal budget so you can keep track of your debts, bills, gas, electricity, telephone, council tax , water rates, insurance and similar expenses.
Outgoings Start by working out what you spend for bills such as: gas, electricity, telephone, water rates and council tax. Income Lists of income: Check your payslips to get an accurate figure for wages. Look at statements for benefits, child tax Credit and similar income Work out your total income for a week/ month then take away outgoings to work out whether you have any spare money. If you have a shortfall If your outgoings are higher than your income, you have to look at the most important and not the less important things. Most important is household bills and housekeeping.
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Bank Accounts Listed here are some of the more commonly known current bank accounts and their details.
Interest Rate (AER)
Authorised O/D (Overdraft) Rate
Overdraft Features
Barclays Bank Account
0% (No interest earned)
19.3%
None
Santander (Everyday Current Account)
0% (No interest earned)
0% (Plus £1 per day usage fee)
Fee Free Buffer Max Transferred Fee Free Buffer
HSBC Bank PLC Bank Account
0% (No interest earned)
19.9% (“Fair Fees Policy” applies)
Fee Free Buffer
Royal Bank of Scotland Select Account
0% (No interest earned)
19.9%
Fee Free Buffer Interest Free Buffer
Natwest Select Account
0% (No interest earned)
19.9%
Fee Free Buffer Interest Free Buffer
Provider
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Bank Accounts - Benefits Barclays - A straightforward Current Account from Barclays with no monthly fee. Account can be customised with a range of Packs that cover gadgets, home appliances, travel and more. Simply add the Features that you want and leave out the ones that you don’t. Representative Example: Up to £200 – 0% interest pa (variable) Over £200 and up to £5,000 – 19.3% interest pa (variable). Santander - A simple and straightforward current account that helps make managing your money easy and convenient. A free arranged overdraft, overdraft matching service, dedicated Switcher Service. Representative example: 0% EAR (variable) arranged overdraft. No Daily arranged overdraft fee for the first 4 months. Then £1 per day capped at 20 days for each monthly statement period applies thereafter. Assumed arranged overdraft credit limit: £1,200. Actual amount may differ.
RBS - All the essentials to make everyday banking easy for you. - Visa debit card - Overdraft - Fraud alerts - Standing orders and Direct Debits - Monthly statements - Emergency cash - if debit card is lost, you can withdraw up to £300 from RBS, Natwest or Ulster Bank cash machine Natwest - Save money on the things you may already spend on. European travel insurance, mobile phone insurance, five music downloads every month from hmvdigital, three DVD rentals and up to 2 hours online streaming every month from LOVEFiLM. Get access to these benefits for just £8 per month.
HSBC - Easy switching, handy extras. Get all the benefits you’d expect from a bank account and more, including access to one of our highest-earning savings accounts. Representative example (assumed overdraft £1,200): 19.9% EAR variable.
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uSwitch uSwitch is a free, impartial online and telephone comparison and switching service that helps you to compare prices on a range of products and services. They can help you save money on gas, electricity, heating cover, insurance etc. By working closely with other suppliers from these services they can make the switching process as convenient as possible for the customer. In some cases they can offer exclusive deals that aren’t available directly from the supplier. How to switch your gas and electricity? First of all, you’ll need these to begin with: - Your full postcode - Your latest gas and/or electricity bill - Having your annual consumption in kWh will give you the most accurate comparison, but this is not essential. Next you need to answer some of their questions: 1) What is your postcode 2 What are your current suppliers and energy use? 3) What type of energy plan and how do you want to pay? 4) List of suppliers to choose from. 5) Few more details about yourself and confirmation of “switch”. Application is sent to your new energy supplier, who will notify your old supplier about switching accounts. 6) Pay your final bill to “old supplier”; cancel any direct debits to “old supplier”; take final meter reading for old and new suppliers.
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Types Of Online Fraud
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- Account takeover - Advance fee frauds - Bank card and cheque fraud - Business directory fraud - Business opportunity fraud - Charity donation fraud - Clairvoyant or psychic scams - Click fraud - Domain name scams - Fraud recovery fraud - Government agency scams - Health scams - Holiday fraud - Identity fraud - Inheritance fraud - Internet auction fraud - Internet dialler scam - Land banking scams - Loan scams - Lottery scams - Mass marketing fraud - Miracle health scams - Money muling - Online shopping fraud - Plastic card fraud - Romance scams - Vehicle matching scams - West African or 419 scams - Work from home scams
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Online frauds can include:
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Some fraudsters rely on the internet to commit their crimes. Learn about some different types of internet frauds that and how to protect yourself and get safe online.
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Different Types Of Credit Card Fraud
Applications Fraud This form of fraud involves using stolen or fake ID such as passports, birth certificates, driving licences etc to open a fraudulent account with an unsuspecting victims’ identity. Criminals can also use information that they have stolen, either through burglaries or the process of dumpster-diving (link to dumpster diving), enough details that they are able to carry out an identity theft. Fake Copy-Cat Web Sites One recent trend in on-line fraud is the emergence of fake ‘copy-cat’ web sites that take advantage of consumers that are unfamiliar with the Internet or do not know the exact web address of the legitimate Lost and Stolen Credit Cards company that they wish to visit. The In 2001, thieves stole £114m in the UK consumer, believing that they are entering through the use of lost and stolen credit their credit details in order to purchase cards. Most fraud on lost and stolen credit goods from the intended company, are cards will take place at commercial outlets instead unwittingly entering their details into or Internet and telephone shops prior to the a fraudster’s personal database. He is then genuine card holder reporting its’ loss. Cards able to make use of this information at a are often stolen during burglaries or pick later stage, either for his own purposes or to pocketing in the street and then used almost sell on to others interested in perpetrating instantaneously. credit card fraud. Mail Non-Receipt Credit Card Fraud This form of fraud had its’ heyday in the early 1990’s peaking in 1991 when it cost the British banking industry £33m alone and In 20 represented 20% of total plastic fraud. This 01, th represents one of the success stories for t ieves h e UK those fighting credit card fraud. Since 1991 t h roug stole £11 credi the banking industry, governments and mail h los t card delivery services have combined to try to t and 4 s s t . o C stamp out mail non-receipt fraud as much as len d uring ards are o sto possible. po There are many different types of credit card fraud, these vary from where both the card and criminal are present to where the criminal has acquired a card holder’s details and is able to purchase goods fraudulently over the phone or Internet. The Internet and telephone shopping has proved a breeding ground for credit card fraud. The reason for this is not only the anonymity that is made possible through not having to go to the shop in person but through the pressure that retailers have found themselves under to have a quick turn around between the time of an order being placed and the time that it arrives at the customer’s door.
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Personal Details - Tips And Advice
Cash Machine - when using your card at a ATM machine make sure you keep your pin covered at all times. Also, have a good look at the machine to see if anything’s dodgy. Fake fascia, pin camera or people who are around you.
Online banking - make sure you use a proper online banking website so you know your money is safe and make sure your pin is protected.You know a website is safe where there is a padlock symbol next to the web address bar and the URL starts with https://
Email Scams - never believe the email scams you get sent if you receive any, always contact your bank and ask them, you will never get a real email where you will have to give all your bank details as they don’t ask this.
Bank Statements - always check properly that in a bank statement only you have been spending money and that nobody has forged your account. When throwing away bank statements always shred them.
Online banking - example of padlock symbol
4m in olen n pick 11
Citizens Advice Bureau The CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau) service helps people resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing free, independent and confidential advice, and by influencing policymakers. As part of the government’s ‘financial inclusion fund’ (FIF), which was first established in 2004, £45 million was set aside for 2006-2008 to expand the capacity of the advice sector to deliver face to face debt advice. This support is targeted in particular at financially excluded clients. Over 82,000 clients have had appointments with money advisors as part of this service between May 2006 and March 2008. Citizens Advice successfully bid to lead 10 of the projects in England and Wales. It has meant that it has enabled the employment of an additional 350 money advisors, working in many of the most deprived communities. In 2007, debt enquiries to CAB in England and Wales hit a record high, increasing by 20% from the previous year to a total 1.7 million. The number of debt problems brought to the bureau has doubled in the last 10 years. Debt is now the number one issue advised on in bureaux, accounting for 1 in 3 of all enquiries, and the CAB network is the largest single provider of free, independent and expert debt advice in the UK.
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This increase is partly due to the increased number of money advisors in bureaux to see clients on this matter as a result of FIF funding. In December 2007, the government announced that it would be continuing funding for FIF between 2008-2011, and in May 2008 this commitment was enhanced with additional resources.
Index - Useful Contacts Southend Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) For information and help with finances 1 Church Road, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 2AL 01702 610 610 10am - 4pm Monday to Friday www.southendcab.org.uk Consumer Credit Counselling Service UK’s leading Debt Advice Charity, Free Debt Advice & Solutions 0800 138 1111 www.cccs.co.uk uSwitch Compare prices of gas, electricity and insurance providers and receive help with easy switching of the best deals 0800 051 5493 8am - 9pm Monday to Thursday 8am - 6pm Friday 9am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 4pm Sunday www.uswitch.com DirectGov Official UK government website for citizens who need help with benefits and finance/ budgeting www.direct.gov.uk Money Saving Expert Website helping you to save money on anything and everything by finding the best deals www.moneysavingexpert.com
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Southend YMCA Newlands, 85 Ambleside Drive, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 2FY Tel: 01702 301301 This booklet has been funded by Youth In Action, designed and collated by the Southend Priorities Project at Southend YMCA. Credits Editorial: Design:
Southchurch Vocational College Students David Cheung
An online, downloadable version of this booklet is available with extra content at: www.southendymca.org.uk