WELCOME TO GLOUCESTERSHIRE MONEY ADVICE SERVICE
(GLOMAS) WEB SITE!
WHAT WE DO AND WHO WE ARE
GLOMAS was established in 1990 as a specialist money advice service for Gloucestershire. We are grant funded in the main, by Gloucestershire County Council; their web site is well worth a visit if you would like to find out about all their services they provide within the County
- www.gloscc.gov.ukWe provide money advice expertise through:
We deliver these services to all voluntary and statutory agencies within Gloucestershire who deal with people who have debt problems. We are not, however, directly available to the general public. GLOMAS is a member of the National Association of Citizen Advice Bureaux (NACAB) and also the Money Advice Association (MAA). If you would like more information about these services, why don't you visit their sites -
www.nacab.org.uk and www.maa.ndirect.co.uk Although not a member of FIAC (Federation of Independent Advice Centres), they do work to promote our training courses. Do visit their web site to find out more about this organisation - www.fiac.org.ukOur offices are situated at the Voluntary Resource Centre, Sandford Park, College Road, CHELTENHAM, GL53 7HX. Our e-mail address is:
glomas@dial.pipex.com and fax number 01242 257996.
PLEASE NOTE:
THE OFFICE IS NOT OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLICBut first, a brief introduction to the members of staff .................
THIS IS DAVID HAWKES, THE MANAGER AT GLOMAS
(photo to be supplied)
Before joining GLOMAS in May 2000, David worked in the CAB Service in London for over seven years, most recently for three years at Pimlico CAB. He had lead responsibility there for money advice and participated in the duty advice scheme at the Central London County Court. David was also a voluntary Director of the Pride Trust for three years with responsibility for fundraising and PR.
David is keen to see GLOMAS building on its key strengths in specialist casework, as a consultancy service and as a training provider. He also hopes to develop GLOMAS’s role in supporting money advisers throughout the county. As part of this he is facilitating a Gloucestershire Money Advisers Forum which is intended to give advisers an opportunity to exchange information, discuss local issues and promote social policy work.
David is a keen walker and cyclist and has studied medieval art and architecture. He looks forward to the opportunities that Gloucestershire offers to pursue all of these interests.
THIS IS LORRAINE CHARLTON AND SHE IS THE MONEY ADVICE SPECIALIST.
Lorraine joined GLOMAS in September 1992 as a caseworker, with a specialist remit of assisting self-employed people with debt problems. Lorraine particularly enjoys training others in the delights of Income Support Mortgage Interest and the Child Support Act! Working with individuals facing multiple debts whose creditors often include the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise remains the most challenging and rewarding aspect of her work with GLOMAS.
THIS IS JACQUI DODSWORTH AND SHE IS THE ADMINISTRATOR.
(Photo to be supplied)She is also the publisher of this page so any criticisms refer to her!
THIS IS MARINA GALLAGHER AND SHE IS A MONEY ADVICE SPECIALIST (Photo to be supplied)
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
GLOMAS is governed by a Management Committee of 6 members:-
SUE COYNE - Business Link
PETER FROST - Insolvency Practitioner, Hazlewoods Accountants
BOB JOHNSON - General Manager, Stroud & Swindon Building Society
DEREK JONES - Solicitor, Rickerby Watterson
SARAH McLELLAN - Manager, Forest of Dean CAB
Supported by:-
ANNA KULISA - Area Development Officer, West Region NACAB
The obvious expertise that lies in this Committee is essential to the high professional level of service GLOMAS is able to offer to the county. They give their time freely and are available to the staff to consult on particularly specialist or complex financial matters relating to legal services, insolvency, lenders' practices and service delivery.
MORE ABOUT THE SERVICES THAT GLOMAS PROVIDES
GLOMAS provides a telephone consultancy service for all its users and places a great emphasis on offering a speedy and efficient service. The service is there to offer advisers an opportunity to discuss tactics and also confirm technical details on cases. We can look at the wider implications for any options the client could pursue. Through the consultancy line we are able to provide support for advisers who can often feel weighed down and confused by the complex cases they are dealing with.
GLOMAS runs three
training programmes a year. The courses are open to all service users and are free to all voluntary and statutory agencies within Gloucestershire. A small charge is made to those organisations outside the County who wish to take advantage of our training facilities and slightly more to commercial organisations.We shall be publishing these programmes on this site, approximate times for publishing will be March/April, July/August and November/December so keep an eye out for them.
Course topics include Bankruptcy, Debt Awareness, County Court Procedures, High Court Procedures, Mortgage Possessions, Administration Orders, Child Support Act, Bailiffs.
GLOMAS also provides in-house training and courses are designed to suit agencies' requirements. We charge tutor fees + travelling and administration expenses for this service. We welcome any requests and are happy to accommodate organisations by providing training. Please e-mail or fax us for more information
.CASEWORK
We take on casework where the issues are complex multiple debt or where the client has debts relating to their self-employment as a sole trader or small business. This may be as one-off telephone advice to guide clients through their financial problems. Our approach is to present the options available and discuss the implications of each option, ensuring we have informed clients of their rights and liabilities. We take into account their personal circumstances when advising on business debts where appropriate. We can discuss the implications of bankruptcy, I.V.A.'s trading out and continuing to trade.
PLEASE NOTE: OUR CASEWORK SERVICE IS NOT DIRECTLY AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC.
Every month we send out 170+ newsletters to service users. This is particularly well received by the small agencies and statutory services such as Social Services Departments. We use it to inform people of relevant changes in legislation affecting money and case law affecting court procedures for debt. We report on benefit entitlement and changes announced in the Budget. We will endeavour to publish our newsletter on this site monthly so watch this space.................!
GLOMAS provides a duty advice and representation service in Gloucester and Cheltenham County Courts during mortgage possession hearings. People attending their mortgage possession hearings can use our service to support their proposals for repayments terms and clarify their rights and responsibilities for the mortgage. GLOMAS provides representation in the hearing and looks at options following the hearing. We refer defendants for ongoing money advice and to consider housing options when appropriate.
GLOMAS co-ordinates a duty advice service for defendants attending rent possession hearings in Cheltenham, and more recently, Gloucester. We participate in the scheme on a rota with other local advice agencies.
___________________________GLOUCESTERSHIRE
MONEY ADVICE SERVICE
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NEWSLETTER NO. 102 - /JULY 2001
THE OFT AND igroup
The Office of Fair trading (OFT) is monitoring the practices of igroup and its previous companies, the City Mortgage Corporation and Ocwen.
Igroup have undertaken to investigate complaints referred to it by CABx and Trading Standards and report the outcome to the OFT. The OFT is therefore seeking details of complaints so that they can monitor whether or not igroup are complying with this undertaking.
The OFT have produced a questionnaire for clients who wants to make a formal complaint about igroup. However, this mainly relates to how loans were sold through brokers. A further questionnaire will be drafted addressing issues more relevant to advisers and GLOMAS will distribute this with a future newsletter.
MORTGAGE UNDERFUNDING
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has recently been consulting on the subject of mortgage underfunding. This is where mortgage lenders have calculated mortgage repayments incorrectly and the borrower paid the amount quoted by the lender only to discover later that the outstanding balance on the loan is more than it should be.
The FOS intends to develop a new compensation scheme that will apply to both banks and building societies. The new scheme is likely to prove more favourable to borrowers and clients may therefore be best advised to delay any claim for compensation until the new scheme is introduced.
Further information can be obtained for the FSO's website:
www.financialombudsman.org.uk.WESTERN AREA MONEY ADVISERS' FORUM
The Western Area Money Advisers' Forum(WAMAF) met on 18th May in Bristol. Guest speaker was Tony Walker, Operations Manager of Lloyds TSB Collections, who gave a presentation on the bank's recovery procedures. This was followed by a question and answer session.
Money advisers can contact Tony Walker directly if they have clients who are experiencing problems with Lloyds TSB. His telephone number is 01273 636599
HOUSING BENEFIT AND COUNCIL TAX BENEFITS APPEALS
From 2nd July 2001 appeals concerning Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit decisions will become part of the decision Making and Appeals (DMA) regime.
The main changes are:-
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Reviews will be replaced by revisions and supersessions |
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Time limits for requesting revisions and supersessions are reduced from six weeks to one month |
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Housing Benefit Review Boards have been abolished. Claimants have a right to an appeal tribunal instead. Appeals will be administered by the Appeals Service |
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Anti-test case provisions will now apply to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit |
DEATH DURING BANKRUPTCY
An important change to the law on this subject came into force on 2nd April. Until then, if someone died insolvent, leaving behind property owned under a joint tenancy(normally the matrimonial home) no account would be taken of the value of the deceased's share in that property.
This rule has now been changed by section 12 of the Insolvency Act 2000. In future, a trustee appointed under an insolvency administration order will be able to apply to the court for an order requiring the surviving owner of the property to pay up to half its value. This may mean that the property will have to be sold.
The court does have power to refuse the trustee's request and must take into account the interests of the survivor but, unless the circumstances are exceptional, the court will assume that the interest of the creditors outweigh all other considerations.
DAVID HAWKES JULY 2001
TRAINING
The programme has been based on the responses we got from the training questionnaires we sent out earlier this year. In other words, the courses we are offering are those that got the most requests. In this way we hope that they match your training needs.
Four different tutors will run the courses:
If a course you were looking for is not included please let us know we may be able to include it in our spring programme next year.
! WATCH OUT FOR OUR NEXT NEWSLETTER DUE OUT IN AUGUST 2001!
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TRAINING PROGRAMMEAUTUMN 2001
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SEPTEMBER Tuesday 18th |
1 Day Income Support for Mortgage Interest Tutor - L Charlton Closing date Tues 4th Sept |
Skilled |
Cheltenham Voluntary Resource Centre Sandford Park Cheltenham GL53 7HX |
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OCTOBER Monday 15th
OCTOBER Wednesday 10th
NOVEMBER Monday 5th and 12th
NOVEMBER Mon 19th
DECEMBER Mon 3rd and 10th
DECEMBER Mon 17th |
1 Day Administration Orders Tutor - M GallagherClosing date Mon 1st Oct
1 Day Tax Credits Tutor - L Charlton Closing date Weds 26th Sept
2 DAY Benefits & Income Maximisation Tutor - D Hawkes Closing date Mon 22nd Oct
1 DAY Enforcement of Count Court Judgments Tutor - D Hawkes Closing date Mon 5th Nov
2 DAY The Money Advice Process Tutor - D Hawkes Closing date Mon 19th Nov
1 DAY Bankruptcy Tutor - M Gallagher Closing date Mon 3rd Dec
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Skilled
Skilled
Generalist
Skilled
Generalis t
Skilled |
Glos Centre for Voluntary Services Eastgate St Gloucester
Cheltenham Voluntary Resource Centre Sandford Park Cheltenham GL53 7HX
Cheltenham Voluntary Resource Centre Sandford Park Cheltenham GL53 7HX
Glos Centre for Voluntary Services Eastgate St Gloucester
Cheltenham Voluntary Resource Centre Sandford Park Cheltenham GL53 7HX
Glos Centre for Voluntary Services Eastgate St Gloucester
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Jacqui Dodsworth
updated July 2001
GLOMAS is a registered charity (No. 1022317) and is a member of the National Association of Citizen Advice Bureaux
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