Tom’s Story
Tom lives with his partner and 3 children.
After being made redundant, he and his partner began claiming Universal Credit. The financial strain took a serious toll on Tom’s mental health, which deteriorated to the point where he felt unable to work and became suicidal. His partner also struggles with mental health issues, and their children have ongoing health conditions.
As Tom’s mental health declined, managing his finances became overwhelming. He fell behind on rent, energy bills, council tax, and advance benefit loans, leading to significant deductions from his Universal Credit each week. This left him struggling to cover essentials like food and ongoing energy costs, and eventually, bailiffs began visiting his home.
Faced with impossible choices, Tom stopped using his heating so that he could afford food for his family. Because his children need specific foods for their health, he prioritised their meals over heating. As a result, energy arrears built up, worsened by the use of old, inefficient appliances such as his cooker, washing machine, and fridge-freezer.
To make ends meet, Tom turned to his local foodbank and was often only able to eat one or two hot meals a week himself. Following an emergency assessment by an adviser, we provided an immediate food voucher to help the family access healthy meals, along with an emergency fuel top-up. We also supplied three new winter duvets to help keep the family warm at night.
Crucially, we were able to completely clear Tom’s energy arrears. This eased his financial burden, allowing him to focus on managing his ongoing energy use and helping to reduce the stress and anxiety the whole family had been experiencing.
However, Tom still faces significant deductions from his Universal Credit and high energy costs due to his old appliances. We are now providing new energy-efficient appliances including a gas cooker, washing machine, and fridge-freezer – to help lower his ongoing bills.
To support him further, Tom has been referred to one of our specialist Debt Advisers through One Call, That’s All. They will review his rent and council tax arrears, explore ways to reduce or remove benefit deductions, and offer long-term debt management advice.
Now, with the weight of the crisis beginning to lift, Tom feels more hopeful about the future and is looking to return to work.