About Citizens Advice Exeter

At Citizens Advice Exeter we can help you sort out your money, legal and other problems.

We can give you free, confidential, impartial and independent information and advice on a wide range of subjects including

benefits
employment
housing
debt
consumer rights
legal issues

And it’s not just advice. We campaign for change using your experiences to influence local and national policymakers and service providers to improve policies and services which aren’t working.

Please read Citizens Advice Exeter’s Client Agreement

The Aims of Citizens Advice Exeter

The Citizens Advice service aims to

provide the advice people need for the problems they face.
improve the policies and practices that affect people’s lives.

Advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, sex, disability, sexuality or nationality.

Citizens Advice Exeter is a member of national charity Citizens Advice, which produces and updates AdviserNet (the web-based system we use to advise clients) and sets quality standards for our advice, training, equal opportunities and accessibility.

Citizens Advice Exeter Service Statement

Our aim is to focus our resources on those most in need of help while retaining the dedicated staff and volunteers who deliver advice to the people of Exeter. This approach has been based on our learnings from the past year and informed by recent client and workforce surveys.

Client satisfaction (across a range of client groups) has remained incredibly high – over 80% – while our face-to-face services have been suspended due to Covid-19. In addition, our staff and volunteers tell us they would like to keep some of the working arrangements we have put in place during the pandemic.

How to access our services

Step 1 – Please visit citizensadvice.org.uk where you will find a range of advice and information, together with an option to webchat with a member of the team about your issue
Step 2 – If you are unable to use the internet or require further help, please call our free Helpline on 0808 278 7845 (Monday – Friday, 10am – 4pm)

If you need help to claim Universal Credit for the first time, please call our dedicated helpline on 0800 144 8 444

Step 3 – If you can’t hear or speak on the phone, you can use our textphone service via Relay UK – 18001 then 0800 144 8884. This service can also help with Universal Credit claims.
Step 4 – A member of our team will answer your call or textphone enquiry and assess your advice need and ascertain the next steps. These may include: a telephone or face-to-face appointment; referral or signposting to another advice provider; or providing further information. We also have access to translation services, including sign language.
Step 5 – We are open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 10am – 1pm for self-help information services. If you are unable to access our service using steps 1 to 4, please call into our office during our opening times hours to discuss options or services which may be available to you.Due to the impact of COVID 19 we are experiencing staff shortages. This means that on occasions we may need to close early or may not even be able to open. Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Much has changed over the past year, and we want to ensure we have a full picture of local developments with partners before we decide how to introduce face-to-face services. We are talking to a range of local agencies that continued to offer a face-to-face service during the Covid-19 pandemic to find out about their experiences and gather their views on how we can work together to best serve our local community to support our most vulnerable clients.

Moreover, with client satisfaction levels remaining high in the last year, and our staff and volunteers telling us they want the opportunity to work remotely to continue, we will not be operating a drop-in service until we have conducted the necessary research with partner agencies and considered opportunities to pilot different approaches. We continue to be committed to supporting the most vulnerable clients in our community and will put them at the centre of any future service delivery plans.

All of the above is subject to change should further restrictions be put in place.

Information, Advice and Advocacy Service

Citizen Advice Exeter were appointed by the Council in October 2019 to provide a city wide Independent Information Advice and Advocacy Service.

The purpose of the service is to:

– Ensure free, independent, confidential and impartial advice, information and advocacy is available to help people resolve the problems they face.
– Help address the widening inequality gap for Exeter communities in terms of health, income, employment and access to services.
– Work alongside the Council’s Housing Needs Team to support customers who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and are experiencing financial and budgeting difficulties

For more information click here

Our Story

Impact of Our Work

Every year thousands of people come to us for advice and help with solving their problems.