Richard Hunt

FLOODED? Report it!

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Please take a moment to report any flooding as set out below.  Lets get on the list.

Report a flood  CLICK HERE

If there is any risk of danger to people or property from floodwater ring 999 immediately. This is an emergency service – non-emergencies such as domestic leaks are treated differently.

Report it

Use the contact numbers below to direct your report to the appropriate agency to deal with it:

  • Flooding on a road or footpath – call us on 01432 261800
  • Flooding from a burst water main or sewer flooding – call Welsh Water on 0800 085 3968 (24-hour service) or Severn Trent Water on 0800 783 4444 (24-hour service)
  • Flooding to your property from river or groundwater flooding – call the Environment Agency Floodline on 0345 988 1188 (24-hour service)
  • Flooding to your property from an ordinary watercourse (such as a stream, drain, ditch or brook) – call us on 01432 261800. Any information you give us may be shared with other organisations to help prevent and improve our response to flooding in the county

Report flooding to your property

This service is not for emergencies.

If you have suffered from flooding, let us know where and what happened as this may help us to minimise flooding problems there in the future. You don’t need to leave your name.

You can also use the form to tell us about past flooding that has affected your property or community.

KEEP HEREFORDSHIRE WARM

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Keep Herefordshire Warm is Herefordshire Council’s home energy advice service. By providing a freephone advice line, dedicated 

home energy advisors and grant funding for eligible homes, Keep Herefordshire Warm supports households to use less energy, lower their bills and make energy-saving improvements to their properties.

Homes relying on electric heating may be eligible for free first-time central heating, grants are available for insulation and support for when your boiler needs repairing or replacing. Warm, affordable homes are vital to health and quality of life – and Keep Herefordshire Warm is here to help make the winter months more comfortable.

 

Call our friendly advisors for free on 0800 677 1432, or visit keepherefordshirewarm.co.uk.

 

KEEP WARM – help and advice for Herefordshire

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Keep Herefordshire Warm

Keep Herefordshire Warm is a partnership between Herefordshire Council and Severn Wye Energy Agency. Run by a charity, Keep Herefordshire Warm provides a Freephone advice line and is available to all residents of Herefordshire offering the following:

Key Support Services

Freephone 0800 677 1432 open Mon-Fri, 9am – 5pm
o Money-saving tips, advice on heating controls and bills, help with tariff switching
 Home Visits (COVID restrictions allowing)
 Fuel Poverty and Energy Awareness training for frontline staff working in people’s homes
 Access to grants for loft and cavity-wall insulation (dependent on meeting eligibility criteria*)
* The impact of COVID-19 on the employment market may mean some residents are on a lower income than last winter: they may therefore be newly eligible for support and grant funding from KHW

First-time central heating and gas connections
Free gas central heating systems are available for households without an existing system. In partnership with E.ON and Herefordshire Council, Keep Herefordshire Warm is able to support eligible households to receive a free central heating system. Gas connections to off-gas properties may also be available in some areas.
Call: 0333 202 4481 Apply online: https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/warmer-homes

First-time central heating for off-gas properthttps://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/warmer-homeses
Free Air-Source Heat Pump central heating systems will soon be available for households off the gas-grid. In partnership with Herefordshire Council, Keep Herefordshire Warm is able to support eligible households to receive a free central heating system. Call: 0800 677 1432

Energy Advocate now available to support Herefordshire residents
Keep Herefordshire Warm have added an Energy Advocate to their advice team. Amy Lunt will be based in the community and available to support residents who are becoming overwhelmed by high energy bills or struggling to keep their home warm. As an Energy Advocate, she is able to act as a go-between for residents and their energy providers, working on the resident’s behalf to manage debt, negotiate credits and access funding and support. She can work with a resident for as long as it takes to help them get on top of things.
Find out more: keepherefordshirewarm.co.uk/advocate

Green Homes Grant
The Government Green Homes Grant scheme can help some residents to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes by receiving up to £5,000 (£10,000 for lower-income households) as a contribution towards topping up insulation and installing low carbon heating – like air source heat pumps instead of LPG tanks, for instance. The scheme is complex and each home is different, so it’s worth contacting Keep Herefordshire Warm’s Green Homes Grant advisors on 01452 937996.
Find out more: https://keepherefordshirewarm.co.uk/grants-and-funding/green-homes-gran

For more information please call 0800 677 1432 or visit www.keepherefordshirewarm.org.uk

Suspicious email reporting tool available

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The suspicious email reporting tool report@phishing.gov.uk from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has received thousands of reports which in turn lead to over 50 phishing sites being removed.

Cyber criminals love phishing. Unfortunately, this is not a harmless riverbank pursuit. When criminals go phishing, you are the fish and the bait is usually contained in a scam email or text message.

The criminal’s goal is to convince you to click on the links within their scam email or text message, or to give away sensitive information (such as bank details).  And look out for online quizzes that are disguising their phishing activity as answers.

These messages may look like the real thing but are malicious. Once clicked, you may be sent to a dodgy website which could download viruses onto your computer, or steal your passwords.

Have you spotted a suspicious email?

If you have received an email which you’re not quite sure about, forward it to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) report@phishing.gov.uk

Stay Safe. Stay Connected. Stay Cyber Aware

For further information to stay cyber safe please go to:
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/report-suspicious-emails

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/section/about-ncsc/what-is-cyber-security

Courier Fraud – Urgent information from West Mercia Police

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Fraudsters are back in action claiming to be from the police, banks and fraud squads in order to extort money from the vulnerable.

There have been a couple of incidents in Hereford where couples in their eighties have been targeted.
One man was conned into withdrawing an amount of cash from his personal bank account after being told his credit cards had been cloned. They then sent out two separate couriers to collect the cash from his home address.

In a second incident they asked for an amount of cash which has been collected by a “courier”. Before the individual was about to send over a much larger amount of cash West Mercia Police officers were able to step in and offer the support needed to the victim and prevent the transaction taking place.

Detective Inspector Emma Wright said: “This type of fraud often targets older and more vulnerable people and we would urge everyone to tell someone, by passing on the information about the bogus callers to relatives, friends and neighbours who may not have heard about the local telephone scam in operation.

“There are many alias’ that the imposters use but always remember that no police officer from any force or department will ever ask you to hand over money or transfer funds, regardless of their name or unit.”

The deception can also be carried out in several ways, such as –
• A phone caller pretending to be a police officer who is investigating unidentified activity/ fraud in their bank account and that they must cooperate with the ‘investigation’.
• The victim is then persuaded to withdraw funds and hand them over to the ‘investigators’, either by some remote means or in person to a courier.
• The victim is told that if the bank cashier queries the large withdrawal that they are to say it is for a large purchase e.g. work/repairs in the home.
• Alternatively the victim may be asked to hand over bank cards, vouchers or other valuable items. They may also be asked to transfer funds to another account, which is controlled by the fraudsters.

“These scams can be extremely convincing and manipulative. The fraudsters may give (alleged) crime numbers, investigation details, and job titles. They will always claim that the transaction must be done in secret. The fraudsters condition their victim not to trust bank branch staff, which can make it hard for those staff to help.

“These calls are not genuine and payments should not be made. No legitimate bank/building society, police officer, or business will ever phone you to ask you to give them your card, your PIN, or your cash in the way we’ve described above.

“Don’t trust anyone who calls you about your bank details. Always hang up and wait 10 minutes to ensure the call has disconnected.

Could You spot a loan shark?

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We have been forwarded information about these help sessions by Herefordshire Council.  At a time when so many may be financially vulnerable every little helps to stop the unscrupulous making lives harder.

Select your Session (places are limited)

to book a place please follow the link to Eventbrite

 

14:30 – Tuesday 21st JULY

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stop-loan-sharks-project-free-online-45-minute-training-seminar-tickets-113630269194

 

14:30 – tuesday 28th july

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stop-loan-sharks-project-free-online-45-minute-training-seminar-tickets-113654006192

 

14:30 – TUESDAY 4TH august

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stop-loan-sharks-project-free-online-45-minute-training-seminar-tickets-113654754430

 

14:30 – TUESDAY 11TH AUGUST

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stop-loan-sharks-project-free-online-45-minute-training-seminar-tickets-113657253906

 

14:30 – TUESDAY 18TH AUGUST

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/copy-of-loan-sharks-project-free-online-45-minute-training-seminar-tickets-113658499632

 

14:30 – TUESDAY 25TH AUGUST

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/loan-sharks-project-free-online-45-minute-training-seminar-tickets-113657526722

 

Link to training will be sent to you the day before YOUR SESSION!

 

If you would prefer me to pop into one of your online team meetings to chat about the loan shark project please just let me know and I would be more than happy to do that.

 

Thanks,

 

Wendy Loades

Liaise Officer (South West)

National Illegal Money Lending Team(England)

PO Box 12971

Birmingham B33 3BD

Email: wendy.loades@birmingham.gov.uk

Telephone No: 07557203145