In touching distance: why people with mental health problems are missing out on vital income

Amidst a continuing cost-of-living crisis and stagnating incomes, millions of people in the UK are under immense financial pressure, forced to try and make their money stretch further. People with mental health problems, already at a greater likelihood of being in financial difficulty, are among those hit hardest. 

Despite this, support is out there. An estimated £24.1 billion worth of financial support goes unclaimed in this country each year. 

Income maximisation services are the bridge that can connect people in financial difficulty to the support which they are entitled to. This involves reviewing someone’s financial circumstances to identify any additional support they may be eligible for, and can also involve reviewing their spending to find potential savings. This can be done with an adviser or through an online benefits calculator, and can also be a part of another service (for example debt advice).

Our new report In touching distance shows how income maximisation services are generally not meeting the needs of people with mental health problems, causing them to miss out on life changing financial support.

So, why are people with mental health problems struggling to access support through income maximisation services? To answer that question, we turned to our Research Community of over 5,000 people with lived experience of mental health problems. We found that only a third (35%) had accessed income maximisation services at all. Nearly three quarters (72%) of people who could benefit but had not accessed a service said that this was simply because they were not aware such services existed.

Concerningly, many Research Community members shared that even when they did reach out, they were often met with long waiting lists, or services that were simply too overstretched and underresourced to provide support.

With millions of people in this country facing financial hardship, many income maximisation providers have turned to online benefits calculators to meet the growing demand while keeping costs low. These online calculators work for some. But, for many people with mental health problems, the symptoms of their condition make it difficult to overcome the significant concentration and information processing that calculators require. In fact, fewer than one in five (17%) survey respondents said it gave them all the help they needed, and nearly half (45%) found it difficult to act on the advice provided.

Tailored, adviser-led income maximisation support is the alternative for those who are unable to access online calculators, and they can be life-changing. However, the way services are currently commissioned means that resources are stretched, and high-quality, intensive support is only available to a small minority. 

Too often, services are limited to functioning largely as signposters, leaving people with more complex needs without the right support. This creates significant challenges for people with mental health problems with more complex needs, who will find it incredibly tricky, or sometimes impossible, to navigate the complicated income maximisation process without adequate support. Of the Research Community members who had used an income maximisation service, only four in ten found services easy to engage with (39%) or felt understood by advisers (37%).

While the financial issues people with mental health problems have are complex, a lot can be done to help them get access to the financial support they urgently need. There is a shining opportunity, here, to make a material difference to the lives of people in vulnerable circumstances, and we’ve outlined some key steps that should be taken to that end. 

• The Money and Pensions Service should require debt advice providers to offer a minimum of ‘advice only’ income maximisation services as standard. There should be no debt advice without full and comprehensive income maximisation being available where required, and debt advice services should be equipped to deliver this in full, according to a client’s needs.
• Banks and essential services providers should commission income maximisation tools and services, and ensure that they refer customers to this support at multiple points of the customer journey – especially when customers are experiencing (or are at risk of) financial difficulty.

In addition to our new report, we are also publishing a Best Practice Guide for income maximisation providers which includes a wealth of changes services could make to become more accessible for people with mental health problems.