A focus on tackling poverty
Our clients are those who are most disadvantaged and socially excluded. They experience multiple and interlinked problems but the most prevalent issue defining their lives is poverty and this has significantly worsened since the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living emergency. People risk increasing homelessness, family breakdown and a deterioration in physical and mental health over the coming months as a result of the extreme financial pressures caused by the cost-of-living crisis. Already, many are experiencing untold hardship and the law centre anticipates an increase in demand for its services.
Welfare reform, first introduced in 2010, has left many people much worse off and we continue to see the impacts of the changes when supporting those experiencing hardship. The complexity of the benefits system and the structures for managing it means that there are few people within the system who are expert in all aspects of it; so it is common for claimants to be disadvantaged by lack of knowledge amongst those they deal with. During the pandemic there has been a repeated failure to progress benefit-related medical assessments for claimants and a positive outcome from these is often key to gaining an increase in income and being able to better manage financial pressures.
The law centre’s welfare benefits team represents at appeals up to the highest tribunal - The Upper Tribunal - and in Coventry, the law centre is the only advice agency in Coventry that provides face-to-face representation for clients. We have a success rate of over 80% (well in excess of national averages).
Increasingly, our clients do not have the resources to meet their needs. Their lives are constrained and they have very restricted choices, and their physical health and wellbeing is likely to be compromised by lack of funds for food and heating.
Through our legal casework we can make a direct impact on poverty by:
Maximising the support people get from benefits
Working intensively with families on money management and debt
Helping people gain secure immigration status, which in turn allows them to access services and financial support
Preventing unfair dismissal and discrimination in employment – keeping people in jobs or securing compensation where that’s not possible
Helping survivors of domestic and financial abuse to secure safety and financial support
Preventing evictions and negotiating arrangements that ensure tenants can pay their rent
Ensuring people living with long-term conditions and disabilities get the services and support they need to live independently.
Funded by Coventry Building Society and in partnership with Coventry City Council, the law centre provided legal advocacy and advice to Coventry residents subject to the benefits cap Read more
When Betty's financial support for her disability and medical conditions was suddenly stopped, she and her son faced extreme financial hardship. The Law Centre successfully supported Betty to have her PIP reinstated so that she was able to pay their rent, bills and buy food without falling into debt. Read more
In partnership with Grapevine Coventry & Warwickshire, we have formed the Coventry Poverty Alliance, bringing together more than 60 organisations in the voluntary, community, faith and statutory sector who work on the front line responding to the cost-of-living crisis. Read more