Client Agreement
Citizens Advice Bury & Bolton will provide you with:
● Confidential advice. We will not tell anyone about your case and will not pass on anything from our records (which are subject to quality control) to anyone outside the Citizens Advice service without your permission, unless we are required to do so by law or it is the right and necessary thing to do. We will respect your data protection rights for any information you provide us. Please ask to see our Privacy Policy if you would like to know more. Please click here to read about how we use your personal information.
● Follow-up work, as agreed between your adviser and yourself. This may include negotiating by letter or phone on your behalf with other bodies. Unless we have specific instructions from you, we shall discuss any offer with you before accepting it. We may be able to offer a ‘holding hand’ at some benefit tribunals or small claims in the county court if the case is appropriate, we have the resources and you comply with what we expect from you (see below).
● A complaints procedure, if you are not satisfied with the service we have provided. If you wish to complain, you can complete our online form, or email us at feedback@cabb.org.uk Our complaint information leaflet can be found by clicking here.
We cannot guarantee to take on all our clients’ cases. We may also have to stop advising you if we believe we cannot progress your case for you or there is no further benefit, or if you fail to do what we expect of you (see below).
In return, we expect you:
● To keep appointments you have made with us, please let us know in advance if you can’t.
● To inform us of any changes in your circumstances (such as change of address, birth of a child, additional income etc) which may be relevant to your case.
● To bring in all the papers relevant to your case which your adviser asks for. This includes notification of court or tribunal dates etc.
● Not to negotiate on your own behalf without discussing it first with your adviser.
● Not to turn down an offer from the other party which your adviser considers reasonable in the circumstances in order to have a tribunal or court hearing.
● To provide written evidence of your income, debts or other financial matters where appropriate. Your adviser will let you know what is needed.
● To follow our advice – unless you and your adviser agree you should do something different.
● To be honest with us e.g. by telling us about your situation and how it came about.
● To always treat our staff and volunteers with courtesy and respect.
If we are representing you and you fail to keep to these undertakings, we may decide it is no longer possible to represent you.
You should also remember that if a tribunal or court considers that you have pursued your case in an unreasonable way or without any real chance of success, or you have failed (without good reason) to meet its deadlines, it can make you pay the other side’s costs.