Contact’s advice secures benefits for parent carers

2 mins read

Tuesday 10 October 2023

Tags: survey, benefits, information and advice, contact's support

Parent carers who’ve used our information and advice services report securing welfare benefits they weren’t previously successful in claiming.

Better off financially after a call to our helpline

One parent carer told our bi-annual information and advice feedback survey:

“Accessing the telephone appointment guided me through the minefield of moving two young people to adult benefits, which I was finding extremely stressful and daunting. We are now fully sorted with one, nearly there with the other and better off financially as a result. Thank you so much.”

Another parent carer said:

“I got advice on complex benefits applications for my sons and also gave me great advice to get Carer’s Allowance for me when I was refused for 20 months. It eventually came through.”

And a third parent carer said:

“You have helped me so much over the last year. I would never have been able to get Universal Credit to backdate payments for my son without your help.”

91% better informed after using our services

Our information and advice team help families tackle any issue to do with caring for a disabled child, from diagnosis to social care.

We helped one parent with their child’s education:

“I was put at ease after panicking about a meeting and changes to my child’s EHC plan. It is nice to speak it out!”

And another find support from other families:

“[Contact’s Facebook group] has helped me meet more families and feel part of a community that help each other.”

We run our bi-annual information and advice survey every March and September. Hearing from service users helps us measure the impact of our work and see how we can improve our support to thousands more families. Over 400 took part in our survey this September.

We want to say a big thank you to everyone who took part in our survey.

* Over 400 respondents took part in our survey overall, but the number of responses to individual questions varies.