Woman on video call at home

Often referred to as the most depressing day of the year, Blue Monday is supposedly the saddest day of the year, due to a combination of bad weather, long nights and personal debt following the Christmas period. This year – after a tricky 2020 for many of us – the Samaritans opens in new window are turning Blue Monday on its head. –The idea behind Brew Monday is for a more positive approach, encouraging people to get together for a virtual cup of tea and a chat – an opportunity to check in with family and friends to make sure they are okay.

This sounds like a great idea to us at CCW; we definitely want to be more ‘brew’ than ‘blue’ this year. We know that lots of you may have financial concerns at this time of year, perhaps more so given the impact Coronavirus is having on so many of us. With this in mind, we want to reach out and share some of our help and advice for those that may need it.

Let our online tools do the sums

One of the easiest ways to find out if you could qualify for additional financial support is by using our free benefits calculator and grants search tool provided to us by debt relief charity Turn2us. The benefits calculator can be used to identify whether you could be missing out on a range of benefits including Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support and Working Tax Credit. The grants search tool lets you check to see whether you might qualify for assistance from over 3,000 charitable funds

Speak to your water company about priority services

All water companies in England and Wales offer schemes which allow customers to register for free additional support when they need it. Anyone’s circumstances can change in an instant, so having access to a range of additional support can be an important lifeline for many. Speak to your water company for details.

Social tariffs

All water companies have support schemes to help customers struggling to pay. These include social tariffs – these reduce bills for people on low incomes or receiving certain benefits. Find out about the different schemes your water company offers here.

Make it your business to know

It may not be just your personal finances that have taken a hit this past year. Amidst a third national lockdown, many businesses are struggling too. If your business is one of them, head to our Coronavirus advice page to see what help you may be entitled to.

Spread the word

This Brew Monday, why not take the opportunity to have a virtual cuppa and a chat to someone who might need a bit of extra support. Point them in the right direction by letting them know about the range of help we’ve detailed above. More information about organisations that offer free financial help and advice can be found here.

At CCW, we’re committed to improving the help available to financially vulnerable households. At the moment, we are undertaking an independent review of financial support measures, which aims to identify opportunities to improve the help available to those of us who struggle to pay our water bills. You can find out more about the work we do on our website.