Home Visits
We know every situation is different, and we find face-to-face meetings are an effective way to understand individual needs and offer the most relevant advice. We can arrange for our advisers to make home visits to discuss your circumstances, and advise on your benefit entitlements and ways in which the Fund can help.
Debt Management Advice
We can also refer you to specialist money advisers for help with managing debts and reducing monthly expenditure.
Short-term Loans
We can give short-term loans to members who have an unexpected financial crisis. We assess your circumstances to agree an amount and a timescale for paying it back.
Regular financial assistance
We can arrange for regular small grants (up to £20 a week) to help members who are receiving benefits but still aren't able to maintain basic standards of living. We can also help pay for things like telephone and TV rental and licence, gas and heating bills.
One-off Grants
We are able to provide one-off grants in the case of unexpected crisis, and well as to elderly or disabled members who are finding it difficult to meet their living costs despite receiving all the benefits they are entitled to. It might be for anything from essential property repairs to replacing a broken fridge.
Specialist Health Assessments
Together with our partners the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM), we provide a free and confidential medical service specially tailored to performers experiencing work-connected health problems.
BAPAM have in-depth understanding of the kind of physical and psychological problems that performing artists may experience and have been providing specialist diagnostic assessments to people in the music industry for the last 25 years.
BAPAM doesn't deal with emergencies and isn't a general medical service, but every appointment involves a thorough evaluation, practical advice and tips, and a referral for further treatment if it's required.
A free diagnostic appointment with BAPAM is the gateway to understanding the problem, and a genuine chance to getting on the road to recovery.
Sheltered Accommodation
In some circumstances we are able to help members find sheltered accommodation. This is arranged in association with Cyril Wood Court in Bere Regis, Dorset.
Debt Management Advice
The Citizen's Advice Bureau advises that you make a list of all the people and companies that you owe money to, the amount that you owe, and then work out which ones to deal with first. These will be your priority debts and should include:
- Mortgage or rent payments
- Fuel bills
- Council tax bills
- Income tax or VAT bills
- Maintenance payments
All other debts are considered non-priority debts. To work out your budget, write down all the money you have coming in each week or month, and use your bank account statements and/or bills to work our how much you spend on all essential expenditure, such as food and fuel bills.
Work out how much you have left then contact all your priority debt holders and make an arrangement to pay them back. Then do the same for your non-priority debts. If you need help with this or if you don't have enough to make ends meet then try contacting one of the organisations listed in the "Specialist debt and financial advice" section below.
Specialist Debt and Financial Advice
We can refer members and ex-members who are stuggling to cope with the worry of debt, to our specialist financial advice partners, Bankruptcy-Insolvency.co.uk, who can provide you with free and confidential advice to clear your debts. If you'd like to use this service, contact us at fund@prsformusic.com or 020 7306 4067.
Many songwriters and composers with debt problems do not know where to turn for help. The secrecy of debt often leads to futher borrowing, making the problem worse. Debt affects relationships, work performance and health. Bankruptcy-Insolvency.co.uk's debt advice service offers PRS for Music members and their dependants, quick access to a way out from the downward spiral of debt. They provide continued personal support to their clients, assigning each case with a case officer who is readily available to help with problems or concerns that may arise. The service is completely free to contact, confidential and non-judgemental. Members will be offered a solution that best meets their individual circumstance.
The service includes:
- Reduction of multiple debts to a single payment
- Access to advice on bankruptcy, IVA, debt mamagement and budgeting
- An assigned case officer to call for advice throughout the repayment programme
- Supported self-help if you'd prefer
- Free initial advice – however fees may be payable depending on the solution provided. E.g. professional fees or court costs
We work together with Bankruptcy-Insolvency.co.uk, and they will contact us if they believe that a grant from the PRS for Music Members Benevolent Fund will help ease your situation.
Address:
Bankruptcy-Insolvency.co.uk – debt advice service
Room 4, Gable House
239 Regents Park Road
London
N3 3LF
Freephone: 0800 074 6918
www.bankruptcy-insolvency.co.uk
Make A Donation
You can make one-off donation or set up a regular monthly gift simply and securely at www.justgiving.com/prsformusic or send a cheque payable to "PRS for Music Members Benevolent Fund" at 29/33 Berners Street, London W1T 3AB.
Don't forget if you're a UK tax payer, we can receive an extra 28p from the Inland Revenue for every £1 you donate. Please tick the Gift Aid box when making an online donation on Justgiving or download the Gift Aid form and send it to us with your cheque.
Donate Copyright And Royalties
It is because of members who bequeath us their PRS payments, royalties and copyrights, that we can be there to support members who need our help.
If these are made a Gift of Will, they will be exempt from Inheritance Tax. We recommend that you ask a solicitor for advice and we have produced Will drafting notes to help you.
Alternatively you can donate a percentage of your PRS royalties at each PRS distribution. If you'd like to do this please download the PRS royalties form and your donations will start from the next PRS distribution.
Leave A Legacy
You can either leave a residuary legacy or a pecuniary legacy.
A residuary legacy is what is left of your estate after tax, expenses and other legacies have been paid. You can leave a percentage of your residuary legacy to the PRS for Music Members Benevolent Fund. A pecuniary legacy is a fixed sum of money that may decrease in value over time.
You can make a new Will or change your existing Will at any point, and we recommend that you ask a solicitor for advice. We have produced Will drafting notes to help you.
