A TIRABAD woman has hit out at Powys County Council, saying the authority is making it ‘very difficult’ for vulnerable residents to claim a £150 payment to help with the cost of living.

Nicola Ratnett says that she received a generic letter from Powys County Council informing her that she was entitled to apply for a grant under the Cost of Living Support Scheme but was suprised to find that the letter was written on plain paper, with no official indication that it was from the council.

“In addition to this, the letter was dated April 7 but I didn’t receive it until April 22. The letter said that I had 30 days from the date marked to apply for the grant,” said Nicola.

“I have spoken to quite a few people who are either disabled or elderly and most of them have said that they have thrown the letter away, as they were afraid it was a scam because there was nothing to show that it had come from Powys County Council,” she added.

“To make matters worse, the only way to apply is to type a very long code into your computer which even I would struggle with, let alone someone in their 80s or 90s.

“The whole process is just ridiculous. It’s just not good enough,” she said.

“I don’t think anyone would be happy to provide their bank details as a result of a letter with no indication where it came from.

“One elderly sobbed down the phone when I spoke to her. She really needed the money but was too scared to try to apply because she thought her bank account would be emptied. Councillors should be aware of the distress this has caused,” she added.

A furious Nicola decided to contact Powys to complain about the process, but to make matters worse, found that the helpline, set up to offer assistance, was only available between 9am-1pm on a Monday.

“By the time most people could get hold of any help, it will probably be too late for them to apply for the £150,” said Nicola.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve had problems.Back in December we were told we would received £100 to help with the rising cost of fuel. This was later upped to £200, which was good news, but we didn’t actually get it until March.

“A lot of elderly, vulnerable and disabled people rely on this help and its wrong that it being made so difficult to access,” said Nicola.

“I’m lucky because I have the skills to be able to deal with this, but what about people who are neural diverse, are old or who have learning disabilities. How do they manage?”

Powys County Council said last week that it would use its council tax and council tax reduction scheme records to identify households eligible under the scheme, saying that anyone paying council tax by direct debut would receive the money directly into their bank account, if eligible

It added that if the council did not have bank details a letter with a unique code would be sent out. It was hoped that money would be paid out by May.

A spokesperson for the Powys County Council said: “The council has posted letters to some Powys residents requesting their bank details, to allow us to make the £150 Cost of Living Support Scheme payments on behalf of Welsh Government.

“These letters are genuine – although we are aware they have not been printed on headed paper – so we would ask anyone who has received one to go onto the Powys County Council website and enter their details, as this is a genuine request and not a scam.

“The letters, dated 7 April contain a unique code to enter as part of the online form registration. Go to this page on our website, scroll down and follow the link to ‘Apply for the cost of living support scheme’: en.powys.gov.uk/article/12397/Cost-of-Living-Support-Scheme

“If your letter is a fake, the unique code will not work with the link provided above.

“The codes will last for 30 days from the date of the letter, but new codes will be reissued by the council if needed.

“If you need to contact us, please bear in mind our phone lines are very busy and you may have to wait in a queue.”