Elderly Porirua woman gets a helping hand to sort financial loose ends

For 85-year-old Betty, tackling complicated paperwork and tangled finances was becoming increasingly overwhelming, until she found help through the Porirua Whānau Centre.

Betty, a regular attendee of the Centre’s Mātua Power programme for kaumātua, has been working with Building Financial Capability Facilitator Christine Tawhara to quietly sort out a few persistent financial issues, ones that could have easily gone unnoticed.

“It started with her Sky account,” says Christine. “She showed it to me, and I could see she had hundreds of dollars sitting there as a credit. Her automatic payment was too high, and it had been building up for months.”

Together, they called Sky, with Christine guiding the conversation and keeping the phone on speaker so Betty could follow along.

“We lowered her payment and got that credit refunded straight into her bank account. She was so happy when it came through.”

But the work didn’t stop there. Christine also took a closer look at Betty’s funeral insurance policy.

“She was paying more than what the policy would ever pay out. If she lived to 95, she’d be well over the limit. That didn’t sit right with me.”

After persistent emails and phone calls, Christine got a written assurance from the insurance company confirming that any amount paid over the cover limit would be returned to Betty’s estate.

“I’ve got the email printed and filed away in a little folder just for her.”

The most complex case, though, involves shares in Māori land that Betty once gifted half of to a whānau member.

The land earns money, but payments have been held up for years because the necessary tax details and bank account information for the shared ownership were never finalised.

“Today we’re meeting with a community law advocate to see if we can get this sorted once and for all,” says Christine.

“Betty’s owed money, and we just need to find a workable way to unlock it.”

Christine says she’s proud to help clients like Betty, who aren’t in dire financial straits but simply need someone in their corner.

“Sometimes, we’re all they’ve got. And if I can save her from being charged to get something done, then that’s what I’ll do.”