Financial Inclusion Officer - London, United Kingdom - Adecco UK

Adecco UK

Verified Company

London, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

JOB TITLE:
Financial Inclusion Officer

LOCATION:
Office based & home visits in Ealing

PAY RATE:
£19.30 Per hour PAYE/ £25.36 per hour Umbrella

START DATE:
ASAP

DURATION/Hours: 3-month initial contract/ 36 hours a week (Mon-Fri)

Role Purpose:

Improve the outcomes for Ealing residents by providing customer orientated service in line with Council values and objectives.
Minimise the impact of welfare reform on residents in council or temporary accommodation through the provision of support with income maximisation, employment/training advice, budgeting, and money/debt management.
Work closely with the Neighbourhood Manager to capture learning outcomes from the universal credit experience of customers and feed into improvement plans for service development.
Effectively manage a caseload of UC claimants, providing timely and comprehensive advice and guidance to ensure claims are managed successfully and that arrears are minimised, through facetoface contact in the office and in customers homes and over the phone.

Key accountabilities:

Reduce the need for legal action against residents, reducing the Council's legal costs and homelessness and promoting the importance of paying rent and service charges through presentations and publications.
Check cases referred for legal action to ensure everything has been done in accordance with the pre court action protocol and to interview/visit the tenant to offer expert advice, aiming to reach a payment agreement that will prevent the need for legal action and avoid legal costs for the tenant and the council
Work with the Court Officers to check cases prior to requesting council authority to commence eviction proceedings, to interview/visit the resident
Support the implementation of UC delivery and provide relevant advice and support to residents
Build close relationships with colleagues in the DWP to provide a joined up, comprehensive referral and advice service for UC claimants.
Update and maintain IT systems for UC and welfare reform changes for the purposes of monitoring and providing statistical information to management as and when required.
Work with Neighbourhood Managers to draft presentations and publications for residents, that promote the importance of paying rent and income maximisation.
Work with Sheltered Housing Officers and to visit Sheltered Housing schemes to provide information and to advise individual and groups of Sheltered Housing residents on rent payments and welfare benefits
Undertake visits to residents in their homes to verify their circumstances and authenticate any documentation seen
Provide advice and information to residents on rent payments and legal implications of nonpayment, to negotiate an acceptable repayment of rent arrears and advise on the easiest way to pay, promoting direct debit
Where suspicion is raised in respect of a case whilst visiting, refer the matter to the Audit & Investigation team on the appropriate documentation giving details of the suspected fraud.
Liaise with Banks, Credit unions, DWP, Local Welfare Assistance team, other agencies, and internal departments.
Negotiate debt recovery rates with Rent officers, Council Tax officers and external agencies on behalf of tenants

Knowledge & experience:

Knowledge of housing law, housing benefit legislation and welfare reform.
Ability to negotiate rent/debt repayments with third parties on behalf of residents
High standard of communication skills, demonstrated by the ability to draft correspondence without supervision; the ability to compile information into simple factual reports; and the ability to explain complex rules to service users over the telephone and face to face.
Experience of dealing with welfare benefits and basic money advice

Adecco acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and an employment business for the supply of temporary workers. The Adecco Group UK & Ireland is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

To speak to a recruitment expert please contact Rebecca Evans