Sheila Fitzgerald's Blog

The Minister finding out about the Carers Passport

2011-04-18T08:51:00.006+01:00

The photograph above shows Jill Rundle, the Carers Passport Coordinator for the Fund and myself meeting the Minister for Health Michael McGimpsey at a recent Carers Convention held in Castle Buildings Belfast. The Minister was very interested in the work of the Fund and seemed particularly interested in the work we do with Carers.

There are growing numbers of people approaching the Fund for help with their caring duties. Research carried out on behalf of Carer's Week shows that over 6 million people across the UK are carers, of which half will be juggling their caring responsibilities with their work. Based on that research, we estimate that there could be as many as 30,000 civil servants in this position in all of the UK.

What Will Carer's Passport Do?

Carer’s Passport is designed to provide them, and their line managers, with a full set of information about their needs in the workplace and to identify solutions to those needs, whether financial or otherwise. Ideally, the passport will stay with the employee should they be transferred across the department, would be available to any new line manager so they can instantly see their responsibilities, and any solutions previously agreed between the employee and their former manager.

How Does Someone Apply?

Anyone wanting to know more about Carer's Passport, particularly to see if it's something they might qualify for, should e-mail Jill Rundle, Carer's Passport Project Manager. We've seen plenty of examples where applicants to the Fund could have benefitted from Carer's Passport.

In my own experience of individuals in Northern Ireland who have spoken with Jill and received their Carers Passport, there is a real sense of support and relief, knowing that they now have tangible recognition of the work they do and 'something to show' if anyone wants to discuss their situation. In some cases, individuals may never have shared their home responsiblities with anyone at work and the Carers Passport may give them the voice to do so. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you think you would benefit from talking about this great scheme.

You don't HAVE to spend it, you know

2011-04-14T16:27:00.006+01:00

My last 2 posts looked at the two main areas of the money pyramid: Your essential housing costs which should account for about 30% of household income and your neccesary spending which should account for up to 50% of income. We now move on to that elusive last section, the non-essential spending. This will include things like gym membership, socialising, unsecured debt and the miscellany of life. This should roughly be about 20% of your income.

The psychology of debt means that you should approach your finances in this order, you need to be sure that these areas of expenditure come after everything else is paid and in good order. If you feel that you are spending well out of the proportions I have mentioned here, you can either contact me directly for advice or contact one of my Fund colleagues on 0800 056 2424. I will be covering methods of dealing with debt in the coming weeks, so you might also want to wait for that post if you feel it's not urgent.

If you've been following the posts, you know that I believe that every penny we bring into the household is a prisoner and is only released for the best of reasons! I have no issue at all with spending money and for me to say otherwise would be hypocrisy. However, what I have learned over the years is to make sure that if I spend it, I have it in the first place and to be more careful about planning for events and expenditures. We have cultivated a 'must have' culture and we no longer are able to wait to consume the goods we want, be it a car, new phone or holiday. I don't think that we can re-cultivate this mind set overnight, but it's worth remembering if something is worth having, it's worth waiting for.

Control of your finances is the key issue in all of my threads, and this spreads to this area. If you have a gym membership, do you know how much it is and do you use it? Have you checked the best price for your broadband, cable and telephone packages? Do you need a landline or could you save money using mobile broadband?

When we reach this stage of financial scrutiny, people will often cry that they have done everything I suggested and on paper they have a surplus of £200 a month that seems to disappear before the next payday comes. I have long ascribed this disappearing money to the Evil Money Fairy who comes by at night when you sleep and takes £20 notes from your purse. The only way of trapping and humanely catching the Evil Money Fairy is to keep a spending diary for at least a week and preferably a month. Put all your ATM reciepts into your diary and try to make a note of where you spend the money. You'll be surprised at how many times you take money out for milk and you won't convince me it costs £20 per litre. Scrutinise your bank statement and be confident that you know what each and every transaction stands for.

In short, start to take full and total control of your money and let it know that you are the boss if it and your money is not the boss of you.

Next time, I want to look at how households manage money and some good techniques to control direct debits. After that, I will look at debt before moving on to savings, insurance and pensions.

To spend or not to spend

2011-04-12T11:36:00.004+01:00

Thanks for the feedback I have been getting from you, both in phone calls and via e-mails. I have had one or two queries that I have answered for people directly, but I hope to be able to answer them directly here, once I get this series of Money Matters articles out of the way.

In my last post, I looked at the beginnings of starting a budget or a monthly list of income and expenditure that you can use to establish control over your household finances. If you have all been good boys and girls, I hope you now have this list and consult it regularly! As I often say in my talks, I didn't come across these methods by accident. I was a single parent who raised 3 children alone, so every penny mattered to me when I had a full house. I worked off a strict budget and got into the habit of looking at my spreadsheets and bank statements almost every day and I found it an excellent way to stay in control.

Today I wanted to look more closely at spending. We spend for all sorts of reasons, from neccesity to frivolity and all points in between. Sometimes we spend in the belief it will cheer us up or we might buy something to demonstrate to someone else just that we can afford to. I ask people to be wary of this 'L'Oreal factor'. I know you are worth it, you know you are worth it, but really can you afford it? Affordabilty needs to be the cornerstone of your purchases and the idea of reward, treat, conspicuous consumption or anything else needs to be put aside. Treat yourself in other ways and find ways that don't cost money.

To further break down spending, I will refer to the pyramid I used in the last post. I broke household spending into 3 categories that are simply for guidance or reference and not for slavish adherence or to cause anxiety.

In that diagram, you will see that I have determined that household costs including rent, mortgage, Council Tax or Rates should be about 30% of total household income. It makes sense that the more income or incomes into a household, the more achievable this figure is going to be and that households with one individual are probably going to exceed that figure and edge closer to 50 or 60%. If you are spending more than 60% of your take home pay on your housing costs, it is going to be difficult for you to meet your other out-goings comfortably. If this is the case, you might want to consider renting a room, sharing a house or finding cheaper accommodation if you rent.

For people with mortgages, no matter where you stand on the expenditure line, you should confidently know what kind of a mortgage you have, what rate you have and what kind of period you are tied in to if it is fixed. Better men than me regularly debate whether or not interest rates will rise and how much mortgage interest will then rise. I am loathe to tell people to leave or stay with their tracker mortgages, but I do feel that you should be fully informed and make your choice based on that information. Although your bank may not advise a specific product, they are very willing and able to explain the different mortgages on the market, the implications of each one and you should take advantage of that.

Council Tax or Rates in Northern Ireland are a painful topic for everyone and there is little good news there. However, in England and Wales if you live alone you will be eligible for 25% discount. In Northern Ireland that applies only to people over 70. However, Rate rebate in NI became a little more accesible a couple of years ago so you should definitely make enquiries if you are disabled, a Carer or on low income as help may be available.

Moving past housing costs, the next tranche of spending we do as a household should be about 40% of our income on essential goods. This includes insurances, food, housekeeping, utilities and transportation costs. I advise people to take this list very slowly and make sure you are paying the most competitive amounts possible for each of these items. Once you start working on it, a lot of progress can be made over the course of a year.

If we start with insurance, you should know exactly how much you are paying for each policy and be very certain about what every single policy is for. Insurance is good, too much or incorrect insurance is a waste of money. Many people take out Building and Contents insurance when they take out a mortgage, but this may prove to be more costly than an open product. Look at comparison sites, such as moneysupermarket.com or gocompare.com. For civil and public servants you should certainly consider getting a quote from our good friends at Civil Service Insurance Society.

Utilities are next for the examination and again you should be sure you are paying by the cheapest method and getting the best deal. Interestingly, a good way to save money on utilities is making sure you house is in order! By this I mean that your loft insulation is up to date, you have good thick curtains (that you pull closed) for the colder months and that you switch to energy savings bulbs. You can do an on-line audit at Energy Savings Trust. It never ceases to surprise me how much money people report back at having saved once they undertake these measures. And without wishing to sound like my father, the best way to make sure you aren't paying for electricity is to turn off lights when they aren't being used or use a side lamp in the evening. If you have a problem with 'teenager electricity syndrome', think about installing a meter or use an OWL to monitor usage.

Food and housekeeping is an interesting area and certainly one where we spend a significant proportion of our budget. The internet has literally millions of sites dedicated to ways of saving money here and there is no doubt it's worth being mindful of. Personally, I try to be mindful of waste and certainly look for ways of extending the use of foodstuffs. It's an area of personal preference, but it is certainly one worth keeping in mind and knowing how much you spend every week per person per household.

Finally in this part of the spending review, we look at transport. At my Whitehall presentation last month, one of the attendees told us that she had recently sold her car, bought a bike and cancelled her gym membership. It was a win/win situation for her as she saved money, found a way to keep fit and cut back on spending. It won't suit everyone, but don't be shy about looking at carpools, park and ride or taking public transport and monthly tickets to save money.

In my next post, I will look at the base of my spending triangle and discuss different ways of dealing with spending on debt and think about ways to become debt free.

Part 1: Budgeting and Managing your money

2011-04-06T12:26:00.006+01:00

For many people, money is a background issue to life. It comes in, it goes out and very often problems aren't appreciated or reconised until that terrible day when your card goes into the ATM machine and the machine says 'NO'!At that point, people will wonder why there is more month than money and sadly too often will then go on to borrow from friends, family or one of the on-line sites with horrendous interest rates. Over the years at the presentations of Money Matters that I have given, I have been surprised that the number of people who manage their money with a monthly budget is quite low, probably less than 10%. A budget is quite simply a list of all your incomings on one side and your outgoings on the other side. It should provide a picture of whether you have enough money coming in to meet your needs or whether there is a problem with your expenditure. No matter how well off we think we are, a budget is an essential tool for gaining control of your money and remaining in control. If we don't have enough money to meet our bills, we can look at our outgoings and see if they can be reduced, or if things are worse than that, we can recognise the size of the problem and take steps to get help. If there is more coming in than going out, it's time to plan, set goals and decide on how to make the most of saving.

People have found this simple diagram very useful when trying to figure out where they sit on the traffic light for budgets, so take some time to look at this as well. In setting up your budget, you can take a simple pen and paper approach to it, but in my experience a spread sheet is probably the best way to approach it. You keep your income on the left side, and generally this is a stable figure. Include all your income such as salary, partner's salary, tax credits, child benefit and disability allowances. It's a good time to make sure you are mazimising your income and making sure you have the correct tax code and receiving any benefit you are entitled to. This is also a good time to review who lives in the house and what they are contributing. With the big increase in adult children returning home to live, it's worth having an adult conversation to discuss a reasonable contribution to the household. I know that this is an issue many people shy away from, and parents particuarly feel that they should be able to 'provide' for their children. Another way of looking at this is that we need to make sure children understand the value of goods and that giving them free bed and board for life doesn't really help in their fuller understanding of the personal financial world. On the other side of your spresdsheet, list your outgoings for the month. It is useful to have your bank statement to hand for this, as there may be items you forgotten or amounts you need to check. We can look at spending in terms of priority spending that includes housing costs, transport costs and food/ housekeeping and then non-priority spending which includes cards, unsecured debts and non-essentials like gym membership, SKY TV and so on. Again, I have devised a little diagram below that people find useful:

I would normally split expenditure into 2 columns for essential and non-essential spending, just to give an idea of where things sit at the time and to be sure there is enough income to meet the essentials.

Once you have all this information, you will know where you sit on the traffic light diagram for earlier. In the next post, I will start breaking down those areas and look at ways of managing money depending on where you stand in relation to your position.

History of Women in the Civil Service

2011-03-29T15:02:00.005+01:00

For anyone with an interest in history, please have a look at the Civil Service Live on-line exhibition of Women in the Civil Service. This was the exhibition organised last year for the event in the London Olympia and we've mentioned it a couple of times on the Fund website in the meantime. However, the full set of photos, images and script is now on the site and is a worthwhile read. For people of a certain age, including myself, I have clear memories of friends and family memebers who worked in the Civil Service but who had to resign because of the Marriage Bar. I have been very surprised at the number of women and indeed men who are quite shocked at the idea that women used to have to resign their post on marriage. One of the more interesting files found in the Archives during the research for the project was the 'Jilted Engagement' file. This existed for women who had resigned prior to their wedding day but were stood up either at the altar or at some point en route. They had to make a special application to be consdiered to have their posts back. We were able to make sure the Fund was well represented on the time line, so do look out for us, beginning in 1886 when the Fund started, a mere 125 years ago.

Money Matters at International Women's Day

2011-03-29T13:11:00.005+01:00

The 100th anniversary of International Women's Day was celebrated across the world on March 8th this year and I was delighted to have been invited to Whitehall for the occasion.

Over the past 3 years, I have been delivering one-hour sessions on positive money management throughout the Northern Ireland Civil Service, with about 100 sessions delivered now to just under 3,000 serving officers. The talks have been really well received with excellent feedback. I was asked to deliver a session for Home Office Women in January this year, which then led to the invite for IWD. Once again, the feedback was exceptionally positive for the session and the attendees found it to be very useful, practical and relevant to their daily lives.

I thought it might be useful to deliver an 'on-line' version of the presentation over the course of 4 sessions covering the essential elements of Positive Money Management. Over the next 4 contributions I will look at 1. Budgeting and Control of Money 2. Savings and Investments 3. Pensions and planning for the future 4. Insurance and Comparison shopping.

There are 2 manin factors to the background of these Money Matters presentations that are worth explaining in a little detail. Since the Liberalisation of Financial Services in the late 1980's more people have had more access to more money and financial products than ever before in history. The range and availability of financial products burgeoned in a short space of time and individuals were making some decisions that they had never been asked to consider before. It took quite a while for the powers that be to recognise that in addtion to the provision of this awesome display of choice, people MIGHT need just a little guidance and education about those choices.

The Consumer Financial Education Body or CFEB is now the main body for the development and management of financial capability in the UK. The presentations that I referred to earlier were largely based on and run in conjunction with the FSA Money Made Clear programme that was launched in 2008. So you can see that there is great interest and investment in the general area of personal financial capability.

However, my own interest went further than that! I have worked with the Fund for 12 years now and many of the people that I worked with seemed to have problems making ends meet, although in theory they shouldn't have been in that position. I wanted to develop a bespoke programme that was relevant and informative for civil servants and also made sure that the Fund was an integral part of these presentations.

The Fund is here for all civil servants, for life and what better way to work in partnership with individuals than to inform, educate and excite them about managing money! In the next installment, we will look at the basics of Money Management, including understanding income and expenditure, creating a household budget and setting traps for the Money Fairy. See you soon

Back to blogging

2009-02-13T11:34:00.005Z

Well, it's been quite a while since I visited my site, and my apologies for anyone who came along in the meantime. The months of December and January are traditionally the very busiest for the Fund, and everything else takes a bit of a back seat to the business of helping our clients.

In speaking to my clients, people seem to have been very affected by the general messages of doom and gloom that are abundant at the moment. There is no doubt that the economic difficulties remain real and present, and probably unprecendented. But on a personal and individual level we can remain in control.

In fact, remaining in control of our personal financial life is probably a really good way to try and insulate yourself from what you are hearing every day. There are so many things that we are unable to control, but if we can remain in charge of our budgets and household economies we will stay ahead of the game.

I spoke a little about this late last year, but perhaps its time to repeat the message. I firmly believe that each household should have a firm idea of how the money is managed within it. Households can vary very significantly in composition, but it should hold that if someone is able to contribute financially, they should be doing so. I often meet parents who are struggling to manage to put food on the table but are too nervous or ashamed to ask their working chidlren who are still living at home to contribute. I appreciate that the kids may be saving for the future, but I am also fairly certain that open and honest communication about the costs of every day living is more useful than pretending that everything is OK and becoming stressed.

There are really two positions to be in at the moment. Either you have been affected financially through the loss of an income, or you haven't. If you are in the position of being directly affected, there is no excuse not to look for guidance from an experienced adviser as soon as possible. You may have savings and insurance policies to help you over a period of time, but an objective overview of your personal situation might also be very helpful. An advier may also help you to negotiate with your bank or creditors while you are going through a difficult period.

In the context of my work, I am finding it pretty common for women in the civil service to have husbands who have lost work in the building trade or other industry and are suffering from the loss of income. I have spent quite a lot of time over the past couple of weeks helping families such as this to make arrangements to keep their head above water for as long as possible.

The second category of people are those who are still working, but have been affected by the uncertainty that is percolating. I've been doing 1-hour lunch time sessions at various civil service locations since last December on Money and Budgeting advice. The sessions cover looking at your present and future requirements and provide advice on how to best manage your finances. My next set of presentations will be in Dundonald House on February 25th, so if you want any details just let me know. Those sessions are largely based on the FSA workshops, but adapted for the Civil Service. I may have mentioned it before but the best website for information is the one run by the FSA.

As always, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly as so many of you are doing.

Safe and happy holidays to all!

2008-12-16T09:17:00.002Z

My goodness, the past few weeks have just flown by, and I am a little embarrassed that I have been so remiss in keeping up my blog. I'll have to move 'keep up with blog' to the top of my New Year's resolution list.

As you might imagine, this is an exceptionally busy time of year for the Fund. Although we cannot help with the cost of Christmas, there is an overwhelming sense of panic that seems to come at this time when people realise that there are expectations that they have placed on themselves and they may not be able to deliver on them financially.

It's the wrong time of year to give out preventive advice about saving for Christmas, but it is worth asking yourself what the true cost of spending money at this time of year is. It's not just interest rates or rising bills, it becomes an endorsement of the need to spend to have fun. I caught a little of Watchdog last night, and I heard about a man who did all his Christmas shopping for £60 and I was charmed to hear it.

I visited my son in St Andrews (no apostrophe) last week, and he was bemoaning the fact he couldn't buy me a Christmas present. I hope he knows I meant it when I said that every day of his life has been a gift for me, and I don't need or want anything else. In these times of increasing economic gloom, let's enjoy the company and gift of each other, and remove ourselves from the race to buy and spend, even just a little. Warmth and sincerity beat glitz and expense every time for me.

I hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas, and I look forward to renewing the Blog next year and continue to promote the great work of the Fund.

Staying in control in difficult times

2008-10-23T12:00:00.005+01:00

I wasn’t sure if it was my new perfume or my generally charming nature, but I found myself unprecedentedly busy at the Department of Health ‘Healthy Lifestyle Convention’ that was held in Castle Buildings on October 14th. Many people might wonder what the connection between Healthy Living and the Civil Service Benevolent Fund might be, but there was a very lively and genuine interest in the dozens of people who stopped by to have a chat. All joking aside, I am quite aware that the current climate is really affecting people, in a real or an imagined way and more than ever people are turning to the Fund for advice, reassurance and financial assistance where it is needed.

Every day that we turn on the television or radio, and indeed almost every conceivable form of print media we are assailed by news of the credit crunch and the economic downturn. Even if we are not directly affected by what is happening, the impact of the continuing coverage is to make us feel quite negative and under siege. It is at times like this that it is particularly important to stop a moment, stand back and assess our own personal financial status so that we know exactly where we are positioned and if we need to be a bit more careful or prudent with our spending. I know that for me personally there was a feeling of panic and anxiety until I sat down and made very sure of where all of my spending was going and how I could budget for the coming winter months.

The Fund is produces 2 booklets that can help you assess your financial position. One of them is specifically about ‘Dealing with Debt’ but the other one is a more general booklet on Managing your Finances. There is a simple financial balance sheet inside the booklet where you can have a look at your income and expenditure and see exactly which runs out for you first: the money or the month! At our stand at the Convention, we distributed more than 50 booklets to people who had some concerns and who were interested in being in control of their personal financial situation and understand it fully.

I live by the dictum that ‘every penny is a prisoner’ in my household and I identify where it came from and where it will be going. A daily excel spreadsheet is a very useful device for controlling spending, so that you remain fully in charge of your affairs. The FSA have an excellent website for people who want to manage their finances with knowledge, and its a great place for a range of advice. These money saving tips are also well worth having a look at.

I hope you find that useful for now. Thanks to the many people who continue to e-mail me through the site. I wish you wouldn't be so shy about posting comments, it can be done anonymously if you like, and I think it would be great to get a discussion going on the issues of the day.

Before I go, a big thanks to Pat and Marylou who organised the Convention. They did an excellent job for the attendees as well as the organisations in attendance and the huge attendance was a great testament to their hard work. The relationship between your money and your health may not be obvious to everyone, but to anyone worried about their position, it can be very detrimental. I look forward to my next invite!

Benevolence Today

2008-10-06T09:58:00.002+01:00

It's hard for me to believe that I have been with the Fund for 9 years now, and that I am as passionate about my work today as I was when I began. Of course, I had very little idea what a Benevolent Fund was when I started all those years ago, but I think I am becoing a bit of an expert now!

I love to find out more about the history and background of everything, and the nature of my own employment was no different. And once you start digging, the story goes deeper and gets much more interesting. Finding out about Benevolent funds takes us backwards through some very fascinatung times and perspectives of how society has been formed and changed. Our own Fund has had many different functions over the years, including the running of different kinds of 'homes' at different points in time, including orphanages and nursing homes. But even before that, Benevolent Funds played an essential part in society particularly prior to the introduction of what we now know as the welfare state.

It is very hard to imagine, but there was a time no so long ago when not being in work meant not having the means to survive outside a workhouse or poorhouse. This was the driver for people coming together with a common background to ensure that their fellows and their dependants would have some means of survival in hard times. Commonly people formed these societies when there was a shared interest, such as religion, occupation or location. There was quite a range of societies in those early days, particularly after the industrial revolution. This was a time when government did not provide for those less well off in society, and again this presents a difficult notion now that we have become so accustomed to the safety net of welfare provision as we know it today.

The great challenge to benevolent funds has obviously been to remain relevant as times change. With social welfare benefits available, the theory is that people will not need any further intervention in tough times. But of course, it hasn't worked like that completely, and benevolent funds are busier and as relevant today as they ever were. If you'd like to know more about the wider range of organisations that's out there, you can check this link. Benevolence Today is a collaborative project of over 30 benevolent funds who have come together to promote awareness of benevolence and remind people of the value of such funds and organisations.

The Empty Nest

2008-09-24T15:45:00.005+01:00

I've been up to my eyes for the past few weeks, helping my youngest son get ready for University. My daughter and I brought him to St Andrew's last week, and he slipped into the place like a little yellow duckling plopping into a pond and paddling away. We wanted to be available to him for the first few days to allow him to settle in, but his hectic new life started immediately and once we had hung up all his clothes and stocked his larder we were dismissed. It felt a lot like his first day at school for P1, but more permanent.

Scotland seems very, very far away at the moment of course, even if St. Andrew's is one of the most beautiful places on earth! It's a university town, and a very compact one, so I don't have to stay awake at night worrying about the traffic.

While this might seem like a strange subject for my blog, I have been quite surprised at how widespread this empty nesting can be, and how many other women have spoken to me about it recently as well. There is the overwhelming feeling that your job or function in life is over, and that there isn't much left out there. Of course, anyone who knows me knows that couldn't be much further from the truth about my hectic life, but we all have to deal with the reality of how we are feeling.

As with any other emotional area, the best remedy is to share how you feel with friends, colleagues and family. I have had such great support from my friends and colleagues at the Fund today, and I feel blessed for it. But it is so important to seek the right help and at the right times. If you click on this link, you will find an article with further information about the best ways to deal with your empty nest. I must say some of it hit home for me: for instance, I saw no reason not to phone my son every day to make sure he was OK. Although I had suggested we speak only on a Sunday, I was making the other calls to him 'just in case'. I'm going to stop that now, and wait until the weekend to talk to him. The article goes on to look at other areas of our lives that might be affected by children leaving home for good, and while it makes good reading, be prepared to take the next step if you recognise some problems or issues there for you.

My first thought was to sell my house and wander around the world, but then I remembered that I'm really not too keen on travelling, so I might give that one a skip! But I will remember to be good to myself and take advantage of all my friends who have offered me a meal or a coffee or even just a listening ear. So to all the newly liberated mothers out there- I salute you and hope you all take very good care of yourselves!

The wonders of insurance

2008-09-10T11:46:00.004+01:00

It was coincidental that my last blog was about insurance on two counts: Just last weekend, I had my renewal notice from CSIS. Perhaps because I had just 'preached' about the subject, I actually took out my policy and read it from beginning to end. There was a very helpful leaflet enclosed that takes you from room to room and enables you to make a valuation of your property in case it ever has to be replaced by insurance.

I blush as I say it, but I was pretty out of date with some of my estimates! I phoned CSIS and as always they were helpful and had me sorted out in a jiffy! In the little booklet that they send out are also details of home security, a subject very close to my heart. So, the next time your renewal comes in, do take a few moments to make sure that you are fully up to date with all of your contents and belongings in case of the worst.

I should add that CSIS are always the cheapest quote when I compare my policies at renewal time. Interestingly, the Fund have now teamed up with a company called Switch and Give. Unfortunately, they won't give quotes on insurance policies, but if you are looking for better prices on electricity, oil, gas and phone you can make some savings through this site while at the same time making sure that the Fund will benefit as well. I also use the excellent Moneysupermarket for comparing products and prices when I need to.

As is often the case, we are limited in Northern Ireland for electricity and gas suppliers, but the telephone information is quite good on the site. You may have heard that Northern Ireland is facing some very severe rises in the cost of electricty this winter. The Stephen Nolan show dedicated its entire time slot to the subject, and it is very painful to hear how people are struggling and wonder how they are going to survive. We have been told that the government is looking at emergency measures to help those who are worst off, so I will keep an eye on those developments as they happen. It's also very comforting to know that the Fund is there to help members of the Civil Service family who are most in need during difficult times.

Well, on a more positive note for today, I mentioned that I felt my insurance blog was coincidental on two counts. As I said on that previous post, the CSIS contribute their profits each year to the Civil Service Widows and Orphans Fund, who in turn make a generous contribution to the Fund. This year, that help will be more widely available to civil servants who qualify for assistance whose children are entering third level education or who are currently in third level but have more than one year to complete. There are some conditions and restrictions, but on the whole it is a very generous and appropriate way to help families who are trying support their children in this way.

I suppose this is yet another subject particularly close to my heart, as my youngest child is about to pack up leave home for the wilds of Scotland in 2 weeks time. We went and did a little 'basic' shopping for him yesterday, and while we both survived the experience, I was pretty staggered at how much it cost to buy so little. It was a little easier with my daughters as they were closer to home, but I guess I feel my son needs to be prepared for any and all eventualities as he is going so far away. Perhaps I really feel he needs to have me there for those eventualities, but thats a good a sign as any that its time to let him go.

If you want to get any information on the education grants that may be available, please dont hesitate to contact me directly or phone the Fund on 0800 056 2424.

Housing relief

2008-09-03T09:45:00.002+01:00

Over the weekend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer described our current economic situtation as the worst in 60 years. He sounded quite bleak and admitted that there was no clear indication of how far it would develop or how much further damage would be done to the economy. As you will have seen, much of the weekend was spent by the politicians trying to 'limit the damage' that could be done by such comments, but it's always very difficult to take back something once it has been said.

My own view is that we are in somewhat unchartered waters when it comes to the economy. In the 1970's, the government of the time introduced a liberalisation of the financial services market, and those moves profoundly changed how we use and view money. I can remember my first pay of £11 per week, being paid to me in cash in a small brown envelope. As a society, that method of payment has almost completely ceased with our pay now coming into our accounts and our use of cash reducing all the time. Increasingly, we are a cash-less society with plastic being used for all ranges of transactions.

The other major impact of the Thatcher governement that has continued to affect our economy was the sale of rental property to tenants through the 1980 'Right to Buy' legislation. Over 2 million homes were purchased through the scheme, and this changed the face of the property market in the UK for all time. With ownership came access to home equity, and increased spending power. And of most of us now know, once you owned a house, your access to finance became more of a right than a challenge. But we have now come full circle in many ways, and those heady days of free access to money have turned into the credit crunch and soaring rates of re-possession of houses.

While I will come back to managing debt in later blogs, I thought I would bring you the Chancellor's package of measures that were introduced yesterday to help people who now find themselves in serious financial difficulty with their homes, or indeed younger people who are unable to access home ownwership at all.

One of the key measures announced was the suspension of stamp duty on houses worth up to £175,000 for 12 months. This will mean a saving of up to £1750 for home buyers. Of great importance and interest is the news that the waiting time for income support relief is coming down frmo 39 weeks to 13 weeks. I know that this will provide much needed support for many families, although the detail has not yet been finalised.

Other measures will include:

Extension of powers for councils and housing associations to be able to pay off debt for homeowners who can no longer afford mortgage payments and then charge rent.
Bringing forward spending from future years to encourage more social housing to be built
Free" five year loans of up to 30% of a property's value for first time buyers of new homes in England

The loans won't apply in Northern Ireland, where a separate scheme known as 'Own a Home' was launched yesterday by Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie. Although there were only 20 houses involved in the scheme, we will be watching with great interest to see what other measures will be introduced to help those in dire need here. This is a partnership scheme with 100% finance available to prospective owners.

All in all, we are seeing some very rapid changes in a very fluid economy. As I said at the start, it is unchartered territory in many ways, but I hope we can keep an on the developments and bring them to you. Please leave a comment if you have an opinion, or you would like to start a discussion on this issue.

Back to normal?

2008-08-26T13:26:00.003+01:00

It's hard to belive it's only been a week since the deluge here. It's been raining on and off since then, but not to the extent of the phenomenal watering we experienced. When I wrote my original post on the flooding, it was more of a curiousity piece, as I had no idea at the time how extensive or serious the situation was.

For most of us, things have now returned to normal, if a little damp. For 1500 other households however, the agony is really only starting. Some families will have to be out of their homes for 6 months while repairs are being carried out, while many other families have lost precious mementoes that can never be recovered. While I was out on my travels last week, I heard some ladies talking in the post office in Aughnacloy. They were a little overcome by the story of a farmer who lost 50 sheep when they drowned in the flood waters. I also heard of an 85 year old lady in Newcastle who was half way up a ladder to her attic when she was rescued. She was terrified of drowning in her own home.

The Department of the Environment has announced that 891 applications for the emergency grant of £1,000 have been issued now. This should provide some assistance to those houses who have been affected. So far, the Fund has received a very low number of enquiries about assistance at this time. Our past experience would indicate that when the intitial crisis is over, we may see that number rising somewhat, as people count the cost.

One of the more important issues to have been raised at this time has been that of appropriate insurance products to protect our homes and possessions at such times. The Fund has had a very long and enduring relationship with the Civil Service Insurance Society, and its probably a good time to mention them once again. In addition to providing very competitive insurance, the CSIS also contributes all of it's surplus income each year to various civil service charities through its Civil Service Widows and Orphans Fund arm. Last year it donated £660,000 to the Civil Service Benevolent Fund, Civil Service Retirement Fellowship, BT Benevolent Fund, Rowland Hill Fund and the NHS Retirement Fellowship. Taking insurance with CSIS is a great way of obtaining cover with yourself while at the same time making an ethical choice about the profits being made.

I am often asked if the CSIS will provide cover in Northern Ireland, and the answer to that is yes, they do! You can use the link above if you want to read more about them or you can phone them on 0845 60 77 444.

Help for the flooding in Northern Ireland

2008-08-18T09:09:00.003+01:00

Although the floods have begun to recede in Northern Ireland, and most roads are beginning to re-open, the cost is still being counted by many households here. The government has announced a package of assistance for individuals who have been affected. This will consist of an emergency grant of £1,000 and is intended to enable individuals to make their homes habitable as quickly as possible.

In order to access this grant assistance, the householder will need to contact their local council office and report the flood damage. The Environmental Health officer will confirm that the house has been affected, and approve the payment. This payment will be available whether or not the householder has an insurance policy.

The Minister for Regional Development, Conor Murphy confirmed this morning that a joint emergency line to cover such emergencies in the future will be launched in October. We will bring you details of that service once details become available.

If you need any further details, please dont hesitate to contact us at the Fund on 0800 056 2424 or add a comment below.

Northern Ireland flooding

2008-08-16T18:37:00.006+01:00

There seem to be very few words left to describe our recent rainfall, so I thought that a picture might give a more precise idea of what is happening and what we have been enduring. Over the past couple of weeks, we have been deluged with rain that seem to know no way of stopping itself from falling. You can read more by clicking here

This is the Fairy Glen in the village where I live, and it is normally a very sedate stream, meandering quietly at the bottom of the village. It has turned into a raging flood that has threatened to rise over the bridge. The floods aren't confined to South Down however, with many roads throughout Northern Ireland flooded and impassable. This link will give you more pictures and information.

Last year, during the severe floods in parts of England, the Fund repsonded to the need by introducing a streamlined application that can be used in cases of emergency. There may be times when urgent assistance is required, and we hope that the Fund will be able to respond quickly and appropriately if you find yourself in that type of situation.

Well, here's hoping that you are safe and dry wherever you are, and that the sun will start to shine any day now! However, if you have been affected and need help, please contact the Fund on 0800 056 2424, or visit the website www.csbf.org.uk

Welcome to the Blog!

2008-08-08T11:03:00.009+01:00

This is my first post to my new blog, and it is very exciting indeed! My good friend and colleague from Wales, Stella Wells was asked to be a 'pilot' several years ago for the Fund, and now the baton passes to me to pilot this new approach to raising awareness for the organisation.

I presume that to have come to this site, you have some familiarity with the Fund, but perhaps you have stumbled upon us quite by accident. If you look at the previous post in my blog from Jamie Hill, you can link to the very excellent DVD that was produced for us and gives a very good idea of the kind of work we do and the people that we are able to help. Please have a look at it, and feel free to leave any comments that you care to make about the DVD or indeed the Fund in general.

Speaking of comments leads me to the kind of blog I think I intend creating here and the conditions in which we will operate. Although I have done a little blogging in the past, the focus on this site will be on matters relating to the work of the Fund, but I hope to be able to refer to wider issues and ideas as well. We are living in a period of great economic change and challenge, and I hope to deal with those kind of themes on a regular basis.

However, the first issues that needs to be dealt with concerns confidentiality. I will never divulge or reveal the details of any of the clients that I have dealings with, unless there is express permission to do so. However, even with this, I don't foresee using these kinds of details, so I hope that this provides reassurance to anyone who feels that this type of approach could prove to be threatening in that way. The Fund offers a completely confidential and independent service, and I intend to uphold and promote that central value on this site as well.

There may be times when people would like to contact me personally for advice through the Blog, or perhaps for a referral to one of my regional colleagues or Fund House. Please feel free to do this as well, and you will be guaranteed the same level of confidentiality as with all our other contact points. You can leave a comment here, or contact me at sheila.fitzgerald@csbf.org.uk

Finally, I think a word about who I am and what I do is in order! I am the Regional Services Coordinator for the Fund in Northern Ireland. In this role, I am mainly concerned with helping former, retired and serving Civil Servants who find themselves in a position of need for one reason or another. I will use this blog to demonstrate more fully how we can help people, but the short answer is always: If you need help, please ask us to see what we can do. There may be times when our advice and information service can be as valuable if not more valuable than financial assistance, so I think that there is nearly always a way in which we can provide help to you.

Please feel free to leave a comment here if you would like to make any comments or suggestions, or if there is a topic that you would like to see discussed. See you all soon!
Sheila

Help At Hand

2008-06-13T15:04:00.001+01:00

The Civil Service Benevolent Fund provides help and support to thousands of people every year. This video explains how our advice and funds gets things done; quickly, efficiently, and in complete confidence.

Please note: all the people featured in this video have given their express consent to have their stories featured.