Citizens Advice Oxford sees rise in calls from people struggling with household bills
Debt caseworker urges people to create budgets as costs continue to rise
People in and around Oxford are struggling to manage household costs, with a local Citizens Advice reporting a rise in the number of people seeking help.
Tina Szucs, a debt caseworker in Oxford, believes the service is seeing increase in demand as the price of essentials continues to climb.
“We’re getting more and more calls about people in financial distress due to rising bills,” she said.
Her comments come after the national Citizens Advice service revealed it is providing “crisis support” every 30 seconds, ahead of further increases to household bills, including council tax and water, expected from April.
The overall charity says it has helped more than 51,000 people with crisis support so far this year, with the wider number seeking help for cost-of-living pressures reaching 175,000.
Average debt has also hit a record £9,500, with a significant proportion linked to essential bills.
Tina says that pressure is clearly reflected locally, where many people are struggling to keep on top of multiple rising costs at once.
“It’s not only energy, we all know that water bills have gone up, gas, electricity, water bills, council tax and if you’re in private rented accommodation, your rent goes up quite substantially as well,” she said.
The strain is not just financial but emotional, with some residents becoming overwhelmed by their situation.
“It's really stressful and I often see people that come in with a couple of carrier bags full of letters, which they don’t open because they’re too scared,” she said.
She added that the issue is affecting a wide range of households, not just those traditionally seen as vulnerable.
“People on benefits struggle, but actually people who are working and not on benefits are struggling just as much,” she said.
As more residents turn to Citizens Advice, Tina says a key part of the support involves helping people better understand and manage their finances.
“The first thing we do is make a budget for them as a lot of people don’t actually know how much money they’ve got coming in and going out,” she said.
She recommends that people split their income across three areas: "Separate out the non-negotiables - so rent or mortgage, electricity, council tax. Then have a separate budget for food, which you also need but can economise. And then you can have another one for 'nice to have' so going out or saving for holidays."
Tina also advised that people check for unnecessary payments and transactions that they may not even realise they were ougoing.
"A lot of people have got dormant accounts for subscriptions, duplicate accounts or mobile phone accounts they've forgotten about," she said
Finally, Tina suggests that anyone struggling finds out if they are eligible for council tax reductions, for example the single person discount or if they are on a low income.
With further bill increases on the horizon, she is urging people not to wait until the situation becomes unmanageable.
“If you’re worried at all about a bill or if you can’t make ends meet at the end of the month, go and seek advice,” she said. “We take at your whole situation and we can often help.”