Our Welfare Advice Team has helped customers secure more than £1.8 million in unclaimed benefits and grants during 2025/26, providing vital financial support to households across our communities.
We support customers to access a range of benefits, including housing benefit, Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA), while also signposting people to wider financial advice and support services.
Despite being a relatively small team, we continue to deliver a high standard of support through our personalised approach and the strong relationships we build with customers.
We also supported customers through the Universal Credit migration process, helping people move from legacy benefits onto the new system and ensuring they continued to receive the financial support they were entitled to. During the process, we supported a total of 217 customers and helped secure nearly £740,000 in financial support. The migration process has now been successfully completed.
To help streamline the service and improve response times, we recently recruited a Welfare Benefits Support Officer to act as a dedicated referral point through our telephone advice line, ensuring customer enquiries are assessed quickly and directed to the right support.
Lee Ryan, Financial Inclusion Lead at Cobalt Housing, said: “We know that many people in our communities are facing increasing financial pressures, so being able to support customers in accessing money they are entitled to can make a real difference to their lives.
We’re incredibly proud of the work our Welfare Advice Team has achieved over the past year. We work hard to build trusted relationships with customers and provide personalised support tailored to individual circumstances, whether that’s over the phone, online or through home visits.
Helping customers secure more than £1.8 million in benefits and grants is a fantastic achievement, but just as importantly, we have helped give people reassurance, stability and confidence during what can often be a very difficult time.”
The service has built a strong reputation among customers, many of whom return to us for support because of the trust and relationships developed over time, particularly with vulnerable customers.
While many cases can be handled over the phone or online, we also carry out home visits for customers who would prefer face-to-face support, providing a more personal service tailored to individual needs.
Keeping the service in-house and training key staff members has also allowed Cobalt to maintain a high standard of support and ensure customers benefit from a consistent and trusted relationship with the organisation.
Alongside benefit support, we regularly provided food and fuel vouchers to customers experiencing financial hardship and delivered advice sessions at community hubs and local events, with plans to expand this further following the reopening of Cobalt’s office in September 2026. A total of 367 food and fuel vouchers were issued to Cobalt customers during 2025/26.
By helping customers maximise their income and manage household costs, we also play a key role in helping sustain tenancies and supporting long-term financial wellbeing for the most vulnerable in our communities.
