Press release issued: 16 August 2010.
Over £1.5m in extra income has been won for blind or partially sighted people in Scotland thanks to a one-man telephone helpline.
The free service, run by the Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland with funding from Standard Life plc, has to date helped over 800 clients and is now in its third year of operation.
Welfare Rights Officer Paul Barrowman provides telephone advice and assistance across Scotland from his office in Falkirk.
One client was helped to claim a higher rate of Disability Living Allowance, up from £35 to £61 a week. "This extra money has gone a long way to enabling me to use a taxi to get around," she said. "If Paul hadn't been there to assist me with the forms I don't think I could have applied for this."
Another client is £64.50 a week better off after being informed she could claim Attendance Allowance: "A benefit I never even knew existed or that I was entitled to," she says. "This has made a huge difference to my weekly income. I am delighted with the help that Paul has given me."
Paul Barrowman said that an estimated 70 per cent of people with sight loss live in poverty.
"But the benefits system can be very bureaucratic for anyone to get their head round, especially so if you have difficulty seeing," he said. "The Disability Living Allowance claim form, for instance, runs to 39 pages. It is very complex to complete as it all depends on how you answer the questions. Some people just give up trying to understand it. But this means they can be living in very reduced circumstances, unable to afford basic things they need like heating their home or using public transport.
"Yet people with sight loss may be eligible for a range of benefits such as employment support allowance, disability living allowance, attendance allowance, income support, pension credit and tax credits. These might also qualify you for housing and council tax benefit.
"Many older people are unaware they can claim them because they have not had any dealings with the benefit system as they worked until pension age."
Other concessions for those registered as blind include free rail and bus travel (and free bus travel for a companion), blind person's tax allowance and 50 per cent off your TV licence fee. People who are partially sighted can apply for free bus and rail travel for themselves. "Again, these could mean huge savings for people on limited incomes," points out Paul. "But only if you know about them."
With the impending cuts in public spending, and the services they fund, Barrowman foresees more of the most vulnerable people needing help. Welfare benefits are likely to be even harder to access, placing advisors like himself under increased pressure.
"We will have to become even more adept at making our client's case against ever tighter eligibility criteria in a contracting welfare system," he said.
Karen Frost at Standard Life plc said; "We'd like to congratulate Paul on winning £1.5m for his clients to date, a remarkable achievement. Sponsoring the RNIB helpline has formed an important part of our investment in the community in Scotland. It has been wonderful to see how the helpline has enabled so many people to gain access to the help they are entitled to."
To contact RNIB Scotland's benefits helpline, phone 0845 602 4033 on weekdays between 10am and 3pm.