Luxury or non-essential items
There are some items of expenditure that may, in comparison to the possible loss of other goods or services, be less essential.
•Cars are generally more expensive than is realised to buy, run, maintain, tax and insure. If a car is not necessary for personal and family mobility or work requirements, the client may need to consider either getting a cheaper car, selling it and/or doing without.
•In the past, telephones, particularly mobiles, have been considered a luxury. This is not always the case – eg, if someone’s health might require them to call for assistance in an emergency or if someone has experienced racial abuse or domestic abuse and that could happen again. The phone may also be an important social lifeline or a means of making emergency help available to another person outside the client’s home. However, if no such factors exist, particularly if phone bills are large, the possibility of doing without or changing to incoming calls only could be considered. If a mobile phone is used, the cost (which may be less than that for a landline on some tariffs and usage patterns) and the appropriateness of this should be explained. Clients who get universal credit (UC) (and have no earnings), income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance or the guarantee credit of pension credit may be able to benefit from a low-cost phone package available from BT known as BT Essentials. BT and some other broadband providers, including Virgin Media, are now offering low-cost tariffs to clients on benefits. More details are available from Ofcom at The National Databank provides free mobile data, texts and calls to clients in need via the Good Things Foundation’s network of community partners in partnership with Virgin Media, O2, Vodafone and Three. To find out how your agency can apply to join this network and the criteria for eligibility for assistance to clients, see goodthingsfoundation.org/our-services/national-databank.
•Cable or satellite television is expensive. If a client has an agreement that has already run for its minimum period, the adviser could discuss whether satellite TV is more important than other items on which the money could be spent. On the other hand, it may be part of a package, including the phone, in which case the overall cost may be justified.