Most people claim benefits at some point in their lives depending on their circumstances. The welfare benefits system can be complicated and it is not always clear what benefits, if any, someone may be entitled to.
- The Welfare Rights Team aims to ensure that the residents of Perth and Kinross are not missing out on their entitlement to benefits and other related help by providing a free, confidential and impartial benefits advice, information and appeal representation service.
- Our Macmillan workers provide an enhanced Welfare Rights service for people affected by cancer funded by Macmillan Cancer Support.
- The Welfare Rights service is accredited to the Scottish Government's National Standards for Information and Advice Providers.
How to contact the Welfare Rights Team
- You can refer yourself (or someone else) to the Welfare Rights Team using our Online Form
Please note that all inbound and outbound calls to our team are recorded for quality and monitoring purposes.
The Welfare Rights Team do not have access to income and savings information. In order for advice to be given on potential means-tested benefit entitlement this will need to be supplied.
If you are seeking advice and assistance with challenging a benefit decision the Welfare Rights Team will require information that can be found on the benefit decision letter, so please have this to hand.
If you are referring someone else to the Welfare Rights Team then please make them aware of this.
- If it's just information you are after, you can also browse our Benefits and Advice webpages.
- If social media is more of your thing then you can get regular updates online. Simply like our PKC Welfare Rights Team Facebook page.
Why contact the Welfare Rights Team?
People have contact the Welfare Rights Team with a variety of benefit related issues but it is usually for one or more of the following reasons:
| Reason for contact | Help that can be given |
|---|---|
You have had a significant live event or change in circumstances such as being made unemployed, giving birth, being diagnosed with a health problem, etc. |
|
| You are struggling financially. |
|
| You have been turned down for benefit or you are unhappy with the decision |
|
What to expect from our service
You or the person/household being referred should expect contact from our service within 3 working days. We will endeavour to make contact via your or the person you are referring's preferred method of contact, however if contact is unsuccessful, as a minimum, we will phone, leave a voicemail, send a text and/or send an email where contact information allows, inviting you or the person being referred to contact us. Once contact is made we will offer a comprehensive welfare benefit check, this means that we will gather information from you regarding your capital, income, household composition, health and property situation in order to provide advice and/or assistance regarding your entitlement to state benefits, concessions and onward referrals for other/additional support.
Other ways we provide support
We also provide the following services:
- delivering training to council staff and voluntary organisations on a range of welfare rights issues.
- delivering talks to community groups and organisations
Partnership Working
We also work in partnership with a range of local agencies such as PKAVS, Perth Citizen's Advice Bureau, NHS Tayside, Aberlour and national organisations such as Macmillan Cancer Support, Turning Point, Simon Community, Social Security Scotland, Scottish Prison Service and the Department for Work and Pensions as well as internal teams within the Council such as Social Work and Housing. This ensures that you are offered a wide range of help and support.
We also accept general queries and requests for talks and training.
Welfare Rights Facts and Figures
View useful facts and figures about the work done by Perth & Kinross Council's Welfare Rights Service including benefit gains and appeal statistics.
Click the Link and Tell Us What You Think
If you have used our service please take a few minutes to complete our Welfare Rights Customer Feedback Survey.
Worrying About Money?
If you are struggling to make ends meet advice and support is available.
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