Whanganui Budget Advisers: Residents 'squashed' by economy

Pauline Hagerty, Michelle Kui, Sandy Fage and Russell Thompson of Whanganui Budget Advisory Service. Photo / Bevan Conley

More people than ever are in need of help with their finances, according to the Whanganui Budget Advisory Service.

Having been operating in Whanganui for about 60 years, the service has had to increase its operations to accommodate the rising need of the community.

Because of recent issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic as well as rapidly inflating rent prices, many people for whom money was never a problem are suddenly in need of help, Whanganui Budget Advisory Service Sandy Fage said.

"The youngest person I've spoken to here was 16, and the oldest person here would have been 85."

And across this range of people, similar issues prevail- a lack of opportunities and a lack of available housing, with many of the service's clients living in emergency and transitional housing and unable to find another place to live.

This has also led to a number of clients living in potentially dangerous situations.

"We've got a father and a son who definitely should not be living together," Fage said.

Further exacerbating these issues is the persistent use of credit checks by landlords, insurers, and power, internet and telephone companies as risk assessments of potential customers.

With credit bureau Centrix claiming to have account payment data and credit information on 95 per cent of all New Zealanders, credit checks are a prevalent hindrance to many people's ability to gain access to life's essentials.

This is an issue the Budget Advisory Service is concerned about as a poor credit check, resulting from falling into debt or missing a bill payment, can haunt a person for many years, even if their debts have been paid off.

Having your credit checked frequently can also have a negative effect on a person's credit, but service volunteers said many of their clients were desperate for a home in Whanganui's low-supply market, resulting in them undergoing credit checks once every few weeks.

One volunteer said many people became "squashed in the financial world".

Service volunteers would like to see the way credit checks are undertaken changed. Instead of being weighted towards what a person has done wrong with their spending, they should be weighted to what they have done right, with missed or late payments having less of an influence on people's lives, they say.

"Our job is to present Joe Bloggs out on the street with options," Fage said.

The service is free and confidential.

And for anyone looking instead to help their community, they are also always looking for new volunteers.

The Whanganui Budgetary Advisory Service is open from 9am till 2pm on weekdays, and can be contacted through their website, Facebook, by phone at (06) 344 3746, or in-person at 183 Wicksteed St.