Protecting vulnerable people from exploitation in Caerphilly
Posted on Tue 23 August 2011
Case Study: Disability Can Do Awarded: £127,063
Community action in Caerphilly, Wales, is concerned with improving the life of disabled people and their carers through confidence-building and increased awareness amongst the general population to the needs of those living with disabilities. To protect vulnerable people from exploitation, Fair Share Trust funds the Disability Can Do Information and Advocacy Services.
One such case was that of Henry, a disabled elderly gentleman who lived alone and relied on his family to shop and pay for his bills for many years. Social Services identified that he was not dealing with his correspondence and had received several intimidating letters from creditors claiming a large debt and threatening legal action. He also had visits from creditors, raising a concern amongst the social workers that this vulnerable senior was a victim of financial abuse.
While the gentleman admitted the debts were not his, Henry refused to involve the police, indicating that someone within the family had been fraudulently signing credit agreements in his name, as well as taking money from his Post Office account while collecting benefits.
Social Services contacted Disability Can Do to advocate on behalf of the elder. The organisation representative realised Henry was unwilling to dispute the debts and would rather pay them to avoid problems with the family. To resolve the situation, first the advocate engaged the support of a reliable relative to deal with the gentleman’s future finances, changing all account passwords and ensuring no one else had access to the bank cards.
Then, since he could not afford to pay the debt in full, creditors were contacted to negotiate a repayment plan and establish provisions for these to be made each month. All were made aware of the gentleman’s condition so that in the future they can be more understanding if a payment is missed. Through its advocacy initiatives, Disability Can Do managed to effectively prevent further exploitation of a vulnerable community member.
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