Your feedback matters: what you told us in the financial support survey
Thank you to the 849 customers who took the time to fill out our financial support survey – your feedback helps us to improve services and offer tailored support that best suits our customers’ needs.
Managing your money
56% of respondents told us that managing their money has become much more difficult over the past year.
55% of customers reported that their financial situation has shifted since the start of 2024. Rising household costs, job changes, and personal life events have made budgeting more difficult.
76% of respondents highlighted that reducing costs would be most useful to help managing money. The most common areas where customers need help include:
- Energy bills, food vouchers, and everyday essentials
- Emergency support for unexpected costs such as car or appliance repairs
- Help with household improvements, including white goods and better flooring
We know that in the last few years, lots of everyday things have become more expensive including food, energy costs, school uniforms, and petrol, so it’s not a surprise that lots of people are finding it harder to manage their money. Plus – life happens, and nobody can predict when a change in your family, job or relationship is going to happen.
We’re here for you through all of these challenges, from discounts of essential items, help getting the benefits you’re entitled to, grants, right through to career advice and support – you can find all the ways we can support you in our help with money guide.
Information about the support available
Only 19% of customers were aware of the financial support flyer included with the survey. This means that many may be missing out on help that’s available.
In the survey, you told us that you’d prefer to receive financial support information via email (68%), followed by newsletters (43%) and text messages (37%). Some customers also said they would like to receive details by post. We’ll make sure we share the information in this way throughout the year.
We’ve committed to sending the financial support flyer out to customers by email or post at least once year, and we have done since 2022. We also make the information available on our website, in our customer newsletter, in our rent and service charge review letters, on social media and we have financial support events annually on Facebook. We’ll continue to work to make sure this information is easy to find when you need it, and accessible. We’ll also make sure that all of our colleagues have a copy so whoever you speak to, they’ll be able to refer you to support if you need it.
Check out our help with money guide here
Help and advice
Customers said they would turn to friends or family (47%) for financial advice, while 29% said they wouldn’t tell anyone. Others said they would contact Citizens Advice (28%) or reach out to Stonewater (11%).
We want to remove the stigma around talking about finances. We’re glad that some customers would talk to us if they were finding things hard – but we want you to know that we’ve got help available for all of our customers, no matter who you are or what your financial circumstances are. We can refer you to independent organisations and financial advice charities who you can talk to in confidence. They’ll never share your information with us unless you want them to.
Rent and service charge information
76% of people who filled out the survey said they find the information Stonewater provides about rent and service charges easy to understand.
We’re really pleased that a high number of our customers find our rent and service charge information easy to understand. You can find information about this year’s rent and service charge review here.
Next Steps
Thank you to the customers who said they’d be interested in joining an online conversation about financial support. We’ll be in touch with more details, but in the meantime, have you joined the hubb? It’s a great please to speak to Stonewater colleagues and customers about the things you care about in your community.
If you need to speak to us about money or need any help with anything you’ve read in this article, please fill out the form on our Money Matter webpage and we’ll get in touch with you as soon as we can.
If you know someone in your community that needs help – please share the link with them or ask them to call us on 01202 312715 and a member of our team will call them for a chat about the help available.