Helen Undy

Great news! 🎉

The government is consulting on changing the council tax system to make it fairer - including giving people more time between missing a payment and having to pay their full annual bill.

This is a big win for our Council Tax Trap campaign with
@martinlewis.moneysavingexpert.com.

Huge thank you to Rachel who shared her personal experience with You and Yours too - not an easy thing to do but so powerful to hear.

Listen at 17.45 mins:

lnkd.in/ermYJFPv

I spoke to You and Yours yesterday about our report on debt collection by energy, water and telecoms firms. We found that people with Severe Mental Illnesses are 4 times as likely to be behind on utilities bills and twice as likely to be disconnected.

For someone living with severe mental illness, cutting off their phone & broadband means losing access to mental health crisis support, their Universal Credit account & contact family who are often the ones who keep us safe.

Yet that's exactly what our new Money and Mental Health research exposed.

And honestly, while I'm feeling angry, a lot of the people will be feeling scared. Scared about what this means for whether they can pay their bills, their debts, feed their kids. The OBR impact assessment doesn't cover the psychological impact, if it did it wouldn't make for pleasant reading.

Today's spring statement has left me feeling angry. The changes will drive an extra 250,000 people into poverty, including 50,000 children. 96% of households who lose financially contain someone with a disability. We need to balance the books, but not at the expense of the most vulnerable people.

Today the Financial Conduct Authority published its review of firms’ treatment of customers in vulnerable circumstances. A quick 🧵 on the findings and our some of our reaction/thoughts at @moneyandmentalhealth.org

‘We have to protect people’: Martin Lewis on his fight to stop money worries worsening mental health The money-saving expert’s charity has changed policies – and is now gearing up to take on regulators and insurers

Great profile of our work & Martin Lewis' vision for the charity in The Guardian - including our supercomplainant status announcement. Delighted to hear we're apparently entering the 'top tier' of consumer organisations!

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Here's a little blog from me on what's happened, and why it's a big deal: www.moneyandmentalhealth.org/were-going-t...

It's a REALLY big day at Money and Mental Health 🎉🎉🎉

Thanks @charlotteajohn.bsky.social & @liam-hill.bsky.social for putting me on the spot - but I completed the challenge with seven seconds to spare! 💪 🕐 🎉

Please join me in welcoming @moneyandmentalhealth.org to Bluesky! Help us get started by giving us a follow and a share! 💪🏼

Thank you 🙏🏼

That's a full house on our amendments to the Bill - with the Minister committing to addressing all 3 in the code of practice or guidance. We'll be working closely on the next stages to make sure the change is delivered. Big thank you to Lord Davies of Brixton, & all the Peers who spoke in support.

Money and Mental Health on LinkedIn: Highlights from Mental Health Bill debate in the House of Lords -… We have some more good news to share on the Mental Health Bill! 🎉 Yesterday in the UK House of Lords, Baron Davies of Brixton proposed an amendment to the…

We have another win in the Mental Health Bill! 💥

Last night the Minister commited that there will be an 'explicit requirement' to offer access to the Mental Health Breathing Space scheme - giving more people respite from debt fees, charges and collection activity.

www.linkedin.com/videos/urn:l...

One thing that stood out to me, is that around half of Cit A clients have a negative budget, with the average deficit around £15. I think firms often don't realise that just a few ££s a month extra on a bill can be the difference between building up more debt, or finding a route back out of it.

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Enjoyed speaking at today's @citizensadvice.bsky.social data insights event on debt alongside the always impressive @tommacinnes.bsky.social - even if it is rather terrifying when over 1,000 people turn up to watch! You can catch up here: app.sli.do/event/1gjb6p...

Just had a Treasury meet with Tulip Siddiq on behalf of my Money & Mental Health Policy Institute charity to discuss potential unfair treatment of people with mental health problems when getting insurance (eg travel) + needed change to debt collection practices which damage mental health

Just joined Bluesky! 👋🏼

Counselling charity Relate goes into administration Charity on verge of insolvency amid collapse in funding from NHS, school and local authority contracts

I spent a couple of years working at Relate and was struck by the transformative impact their services have. Few things are as important to our mental health as our relationships, and few other organisations know how to help with that like Relate does.

www.theguardian.com/society/2024...

It's the very bare bones of a list, but it's a start! Lovely to see you as always.

Thanks for having us! It was a great discussion. Hopefully the first of many.

As far as I can tell quite a few of the obvious contenders are not on this platform yet. Or I haven't found them. No slight intended to those not on the list!

This evening I was lucky enough to have dinner with a group of mental health leaders (thank you @mirandawolpert.bsky.social) - & realised that we're not connected on here. So I got a 'mental health leaders' starter pack going: go.bsky.app/DqTaxQj - please do tell me all the great people I've missed!

I’ve one clear memory of John Prescott making a difference when I was working in DWP in the 2000s

No 10 was heavily briefing a scheme to dock housing benefit for anti-social behaviour

He refused to sign up to it & killed it on basis “you can’t have a punishment that’s only for the poor”

Looking forward to spending today with a couple of our funders. First with @impurbanhealth.bsky.social discussing our exciting plans for next year. Then joining the Aviva Foundation learning day to present on the potential for data sharing to support people with mental health problems.

We have a doll with a hat, and playing putting his hat on and off does seem to have made a difference! The rain cover though, you'd think I was trying to shove him in an actual bin bag. Not. Happening.

Trying to encourage the littlest that hoods are cool...

It's time to end the Council Tax Trap! Missing just one payment triggers aggressive demands for escalating amounts of money. Together we can end the Council Tax Trap.

We're campaigning for change: www.moneyandmentalhealth.org/council-tax-...

And to intro our latest work - no one explains it better than @martinlewismse.bsky.social

Within 3 weeks of missing a council tax payment you can be billed for the whole year. Within 6 weeks - bailiffs at your door. Credit card providers aren't allowed to act so aggressively, why is your council?

Morning all. No snow in this part of London. Very much just extra cold rain. Promise I will get onto the work content soon. But thought I'd say hello first... 👋🏼