IncomeMax

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It’s going to become EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for UK pensioners to claim Pension Credit if entitled to it. There’s more to Pension Credit than just the basic rates. 2024/2025 rates Standard minimum guarantee Single £218.15 pw Couple £332.95 pw Additional amount for severe disability Single £81.50 pw Couple when both qualify £163.00 pw Additional amount for carers £45.60 pw Savings credit Maximum - single £17.01 pw Maximum - couple £19.04 pw If you own your home, you might also be eligible for help with mortgage interest, ground rent and service charges. SEEK ADVICE FROM AN EXPERIENCED BENEFITS SPECIALIST TO ESTABLISH ENTITLEMENT. Be extremely cautious of advice involving ‘to qualify you need income below xxx’ because if you have a disability, caring responsibility or housing costs, then your Pension Credit calculation might be very different. Disabled pensioners might need to claim benefits like Attendance Allowance FIRST, or they might need to establish what’s called an UNDERLYING ENTITLEMENT TO CARERS ALLOWANCE. As I said above, SPECIALIST PENSION CREDIT ADVICE is going to be vitally important for a lot of pensioners. We do this day in, day out at @income_max for our customers. Organisations that can help with Pension Credit include @CitAdviceScot @CitizensAdvice @age_uk #WinterFuelPayment #PensionCredit PS. I’ll get some calculation examples up over the next couple of days. Really hoping @leicesterliz @stephenctimms @MayorofLondon @10DowningStreet @RachelReevesMP @Alison_McGovern @DWPgovuk will support the advice sector to provide the expert advice pensioners need to maximise their income CC: @paullewismoney @MartinSLewis @andyverity @PeacheyK @RecordMoney_ @InstituteGC @TheIFS @InstituteMA @MoneyPensionsUK

Ending the week on a massive high with the news that @income_max adviser Harry has found and confirmed over TWO MILLION POUNDS of new income for our customers. Harry is one of our very best - he’s super talented, extremely reliable and vastly knowledgeable. Not only is he a brilliant adviser but as a senior team member he keeps our benefits checklist updated. Harry and the team are on 🔥🔥🔥 …they confirmed A QUARTER OF A MILLION POUNDS of new income for our customers JUST THIS WEEK. That’s a lotta lives changed - including ELEVEN PIP awards for Harry! We don’t mess about at IncomeMax. While the policy debates rage on, the politics gets messy and social media gets itself all worked up, we just crack on with getting those missing billions to the British people. Thanks for your continued support and kind words this week everyone, have a blessed and restful weekend. Lee

Something we’ve been calling for at @income_max for many years is something akin to a new ‘Beveridge Report’ for a 21st century United Kingdom, so that @DWP and our social security system can be re-imagined and re-designed for what society and vulnerability looks like today. My worry is that technology like AI will shape the future of public services without Government ensuring that it meets the actual needs of the most vulnerable. Now is the time to tackle hardship, poverty and destitution. I think the vulnerable customer sector needs to come together urgently to ask for this, but we also really need the help of organisations like @InstituteGC @jrf_uk @NEF @turinginst @TheIFS to help @Keir_Starmer @RachelReevesMP @leicesterliz @stephenctimms @Alison_McGovern make DWP truly fit for purpose. The excellent, recent AI & DWP report I tweeted today is a fantastic start - but I think a ‘Beveridge’ for the 21st century is the next logical step. It would future proof the social security system for the next twenty to thirty years potentially. CC @MALG_UK @scope @CPAGUK @MartinSLewis @paullewismoney @mmhpi @StepChange @BennettInst @MelJStride @CitizensAdvice @TrussellTrust @RecordMoney_ @MoneySavingExp @MoneyPensionsUK @Fair4AllFinance @johnnytimpson1 @age_uk @CarersUK @DisRightsUK @10DowningStreet @Lexcommuk @Money_Advice @chris_fitch @LizBarclay @PeacheyK

Well done our Glancy! 🏆

Congrats @leicesterliz on being appointed as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions @DWP It really is one of the most important jobs in Government and we’re wishing you the best from us all at @income_max It’s vital that our welfare system provides the safety net and support our nation’s most vulnerable people need to thrive. Please work to join the dots on our welfare system - the money people need is imperative - but it’s also about support, compassion, kindness and love. The social security system doesn’t need to hurt people - it CAN be designed in a way that balances empowerment, responsibility, vulnerability, fairness, support and respect. Our request is for yourself, @UKLabour @Keir_Starmer @10DowningStreet @RachelReevesMP and the team to focus on LIFE and making LIFE better for people. Work will always be central to everything for working age people. We support that. We place the same importance on pension provision. Please never abandon our pensioners. But it is also about… physical health, disability, mental health, caring for loved ones, bringing up children, dealing with trauma, abuse or difficult life situations, housing issues, community issues… even spiritual health and purpose. Then there are skills… including education and training opportunities. Some areas have been left behind, and communities are suffering. It all needs carefully piecing together. It’s a complex puzzle 🧩 and it’s not going to be an easy task. All of this is why we at IncomeMax advocate for a new focus on LIFE. Please… build a new DWP, based on trust. Please… create a new, supportive DWP which embraces vulnerability and promotes resilience. Please….create a new DWP which focuses on LIFE and improving the lives of vulnerable people. It’s the perfect time to remember the spirit and nature of Beveridge and how he envisioned our social security system. Our nation’s social security system has moved so far away from the values of Beveridge but those values are just waiting to be rediscovered and re-ignited. Poverty, hardship and destitution has no place in our society. It really is time for CHANGE in our social security and welfare system. Please don’t let us down. 🙏

I want to say the biggest THANK YOU to everyone that came along to our very first @income_max #AIforGood event in London last night. We were thrilled to see so many friends and colleagues in attendance, and it was a pleasure to introduce everyone to MAX and to outline our vision for using AI in the money advice space. I want to thank my team especially Leigh Thompson and Pippa Fisher for helping to create MAX and of course, we must say a huge thank you to Timothy Cannon and all the amazing people at @AEStudioLA for helping bring MAX to life. I felt extremely lucky to share a stage with you all last night, and to be in a space with so many people that care about making positive change in the world. If you missed the event last night don’t worry - I’ll be sharing insights over the next week so stay tuned for more MAX buzz 🤖 In the meantime, please do get in touch if you’d like a MAX demo. We’re in the first stages of forming long-term, impactful and sustainable MAX partnerships, so it’s the perfect time to chat and find out how to be involved. It feels like one of those pivotal moments in history, with AI 🤖 disrupting everything in the business world. We’re really grateful and excited to be innovating in this space.

It was great to meet MAX ("an AI chatbot with a human heart"), at @income_max's 'How can AI be used for good?' event last night. Definitely much food for thought about the future of AI for social good. Well done IncomeMax, it was inspiring to hear about your journey so far🤩

DEFICIT BUDGETS Income maximisation missed! There was a good feature on @BBCMorningLive about families in deficit budgets - with lots of info - BUT it missed the ONE really important piece of advice for families - income maximisation. Let me explain… bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h…

Customer service has always been a top priority at @income_max. I’m a customer service FREAK, always have been. When you’re delivering a service I feel it’s important to deliver it not just well, but to strive for excellence. It’s a complex subject that we advise on - and we’re helping and supporting people that are struggling, worrying or stressed. If we can be by a customer’s side with love, kindness and compassion in our hearts then that makes the rest of the experience the best it can possibly be, especially when it comes to the bumps in the road that inevitably come during the income maximisation journey (applications, challenging decisions, making phone calls to DWP etc!). Well done to our advisers Jess and Naomi. Receiving customer feedback like this is never taken for granted. It’s brilliant to get feedback like this. Is customer service a priority in your organisation? Do you foster love, kindness and compassion in your approach to customer service? Let me know! Lee

RT @leehealey_: Team @income_max were delighted to take our special brand of income maximisation and energy advice on the road and into the…

We’re so excited about MAX 🤖 - our income maximisation AI chatbot with a human heart 🩷 . MAX will operate seamlessly alongside our human advisers, enhancing our ability to provide unparalleled support to customers. So why has MAX got a human heart? Well, MAX is being trained using the very best call examples from our wonderful human income maximisation advisers Pippa, Sharon, Carly, Harry, Lynette and Sammie. We are at incredible moment in time, where we now have the technology to train AI just like we would a human being. I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long. I’ve always been deeply frustrated by technology, but now for the first time I’m truly excited by the possibilities we have at our fingertips. AI isn’t a replacement for the human spirit - that can NEVER be replicated. Our human advice team will ALWAYS be central to our work at @income_max. But we can now develop complimentary AI technology which has a human heart. The possibilities are limitless and infinite. MAX will enable our human advisers to do more of what they do best, which is to connect with our customers on a human level and provide the deep support and expertise our customers need to fully maximise their income. #MAX #AI #artificialintelligence #MachineLearning #IncomeMax

I received my final results from @UniofOxford today and I’m delighted to say that I’ve now officially passed my Oxford Artificial Intelligence Programme 🧑‍🎓 It’s an incrediblly exciting moment in my career, as I lead @income_max into the next stage of our development. Human to human advice will ALWAYS be central to our service provision but I’m thrilled to be building and testing the WORLD’S FIRST income maximisation AI chatbot, ready for an imminent launch. I can’t wait for you all to meet MAX. My AI team, based in London, Los Angeles and New York are INCREDIBLE and it’s truly remarkable watching MAX come alive. MAX, the AI Chatbot with a human heart, will operate seamlessly alongside our human advisers, enhancing our ability to provide unparalleled support to customers. Look out for updates on MAX in the coming weeks. The next chapter of IncomeMax has truly begun… #AI #artificialintelligence #airevolution #machinelearning #Max #IncomeMax

It’s been an exciting start to the week for the @income_max team as we’ve been providing advice to the public as part of the @BritishGas and @PostOffice community pop-ups programme, alongside our friends at @EnergyBritish Research from British Gas Energy Trust shows more than a quarter (27%) of adults in Britain are struggling with their mental health because of the cost-of-living crisis, and 40% of people are dreading the winter and the increased bills it will bring. With more than half of people believing their mental health would improve if they were more financially stable, the British Gas Energy Trust is rolling out the next phase of the British Gas Post Office Pop-Ups programme. The aim of this third phase of the British Gas Post Office Pop-Ups is to reach even more of the country and help thousands more people access money and energy advice from British Gas Energy Trust funded advisers.

Out today: new RF analysis shows that freezing working-age benefits next April would reduce the incomes of more than four-in-ten working-age households in the UK, and plunge an additional 400,000 children into poverty: resolutionfoundation.org/publications/r…

Thanks Simone - we’d appreciate if you could look into this urgently under vulnerability guidance. @ProducToFsocAT please message OVO urgently. Keep in touch and let us know how you get on. You can also ask OVO for a referral to IncomeMax. We’d be able to take a look at income maximisation requirements, help for energy bills and of course, debt advice needs. Fingers crossed 🤞 we can help you make sense of it all from here on in.

@ProducToFsocAT Hi there, I'm really sorry this is happening to you and I'd like to try and help. I've raised feedback about this for you, but so I can look into it more can you please send us a PM with your full name, account number and DoB please? Thanks ^Simone

⁦@OVOEnergy⁩ taken me to court for 200 I Appherently owed, even thou I wasn’t with them anymore.ccj now 1300 and bailiffs ⁦@scope⁩ ⁦@CitizensAdvice⁩ sudstainableenergy ⁦@StepChange⁩ ⁦@income_max⁩ all left this happen to me ! Disabled alone and afraid

@ProducToFsocAT @OVOEnergy @scope @CitizensAdvice @StepChange Hi @OVOEnergy could someone get in touch with the customer urgently to understand the details of the case and to outline what support is available. Thanks 🙏

AN INCREDIBLE CASE STUDY WITH AN AMAZING OUTCOME. We had some really good news yesterday. @income_max adviser Lorraine has been working on a case for over a year. When Lorraie first spoke to the customer last year, they were very distressed and initially terminated the call. The customer wasn’t eating and was in such a vulnerable situation. Lorraine was worried, so checked in with Paula and Carly, our senior team. Lorraine gained the customer’s trust, and offered to complete PIP and UC50 forms. Lorraine completed the PIP form and supported them through the assessment. They were awarded the enhanced rate. Lorraine also completed the UC50 form for Universal Credit. However to her surprise this was refused. Lorraine submitted a Mandatory Reconsideration and this was also refused. Yesterday, the appeal was successful and the customer has been awarded the LCFWRA element. The customer completely broke down during the hearing. Lorraine was in tears herself at the end. She was just so pleased that the customer is now finally going to get the financial support they deserve. I asked Lorraine how she was feeling. “Emotionally drained, but so happy” was her reply. “I was so worried when we first spoke and I am so grateful that Paula and Carly allowed me to give them so much support.” Thankfully not every case we work on needs this level of support, but I think it’s one of those cases that highlights just how long, drawn out and emotionally challenging the income maximisation process can be for vulnerable people. Completing forms, going through medical assessments and challenging decisions are exhausting for customers. We’re grateful to be there for them at times like this. The customer referral was made by our friends at @edfenergy - without their kind support, we wouldn’t be able to provide this level of support to customers.

It’s so sad to once again see the language being used by politicians when talking about the social security system / benefits. It sets us back as a nation, as a society and as compassionate human beings. ‘Shirkers’ ‘a life on benefits’ ‘deadbeats’ just three terrible examples. Look. I’m not saying the system is perfect. I’m not saying there aren’t examples of households in the UK solely reliant on benefits to survive. I’m not saying there aren’t people with disabilities or health issues who could find work which helps them to thrive on their own terms. Or that there aren’t Dad’s that need to step up and pay towards their kids wellbeing. But let’s not lose sight of how difficult life can be for people. How the system often works against people, scaring them to the point where they just desperately hope they don’t lose the very basic financial stability they need to survive. Then there’s the fact that vulnerability is a broad spectrum; issues like limited skills, a lack of opportunities, health inequalities and other factors getting in the way of thriving. We’ve got to build the systems to help people be self-sufficient. Health. Education. Good work. Community safety. Support when life gets tough. We’re all human beings. Some people don’t have it easy. It’s not always someone’s fault exclusively that life is tough for them. Humans fuck up. They make mistakes. They get ill. They might be disabled. We have different skills, abilities and experiences that shape our life. We’re all just trying to be OK, and survive this crazy journey called life. Don’t hate. Don’t blame others. Love, kindness and compassion is what we need, along with a vision for a society with first class public services which provides the foundation for more of us to thrive. It’s too easy to blame others. It is the people in power that need to step up.