Paying your rent pays off

Published by Michelle Hallmark for Walsall Housing Group in Housing

Residents can save as they spend, thanks to an incentive package worth almost £40 for opening up a new type of financial account.

To help customers impacted by changes to benefits coming into force later this year, whg is pledging to pay the administration costs and set-up fee for a jam jar account with Walsave Credit Union. This means the account will be fee-free for 12 months, saving £23.

It will also put £10 in the saving element of the account and – if the customer keeps a clear rent account – pop in another £5 to boost the savings fund.

The most important feature of a jam jar account is the money-managing feature.

The account is usually divided into ‘pots’ or ‘jars’ containing money. For example, one pot could be for rent, one for each of the bills, one for spending and perhaps another for savings.

The account holder decides how much money goes into each by working out how much you need for your rent and bills and how much is left over.

Mark Causer, Welfare Reform Technical Specialist at whg, said: “We want to ensure that customers affected by the wide-sweeping changes to benefit payments are firstly aware of the impact on their income, and secondly have the tools to prepare for it.

“We want to reward those who make positive financial choices to protect themselves, their home and their families.”

whg has also developed a bedroom calculator and hired a new team of money mentors to help customers impacted by Welfare Reform. To support this work, in the next two months it will talk to every customer affected to make sure they understand what the reforms mean to them. 

All new whg customers will be invited to sign up for an account before they receive their keys. The offer is also available to existing whg customers.

whg customers wanting advice on benefit changes or wishing to open an account can call 0300 555 6666.