8.5 Other Examples of signposting
Activity 6
What can make signposting less effective or even lead to negative consequences?
Comment
There are a number of things which can lead to a poor client experience following a signposting activity. The volunteer may make assumptions about what the client wants, and the suggested signposting can offend or alienate the client. You may signpost the client to an organisation which cannot help them, either because the issue is outside their area of expertise or because they are not accepting new referrals at this time. You may give incorrect or out of date contact information so the client cannot get in touch with that organisation.
Consider the following scenario.
You are volunteering in the Support Through Court office and a client arrives without an appointment. He is very agitated. He tells you that he has been to see another advice agency who have suggested that he comes to Support Through Court as we can represent him in court and help with paperwork. You ask some open questions and establish that the client is a taxi driver and he has been involved in a car accident. He is not clear about what has happened or why he needs help but he keeps saying he wants to ‘appeal’. He is clutching some official looking paperwork.
You take him to a quieter area of the office and offer him a drink. You ask some more questions and he shows you the paperwork. He shows you a summons to the magistrate’s court for ‘careless driving’ and a letter from an insurance company offering to settle a claim for injury caused to the passenger he was carrying at the time of the accident. He is to appear in the magistrate’s court next week about the driving offence. He keeps telling you he wants to appeal and the advice agency he has spoken with have told him we can help.
You realise that there are several issues:
- He has been involved in a car accident
- His passenger is bringing a claim through his insurance
- He is also being prosecuted for careless driving and is due in court
- There are no civil court cases involved
- By ‘appealing’ he actually means he intends to contest the driving offence allegation.
Activity 7
Answer the following multiple-choice questions:
a.
Yes, we have an ex-police officer among the volunteers who can tell him how to defend the charge against him,
b.
Yes, the claim the passenger is making is a civil claim so we can help him complete paperwork to get the insurance company’s decision set aside.
c.
No, the driving offence is criminal law and will be heard in the criminal court and the insurance company appear to be settling the claim from the passenger out of court.
The correct answer is c.
Answer
Although it might be tempting to try and be helpful and resolve the issues, the client has been inappropriately signposted to Support Through Court. These are not matters we can directly help with.
a.
Send the client back to the organisation who signposted him to Support Through Court and tell him to get them to help him as it’s their mistake that he was signposted to us.
b.
Explain what Support Through Court can help with and why we cannot directly help him with the issues he has. Help him to identify who would be the most appropriate organisation to help him.
c.
Tell the client to contact Citizens’ Advice as they can help him work out what to do next.
The correct answer is b.
Answer
Even though Support Through Court cannot directly support him with his issue, we should provide the best service we can and ensure that he is signposted appropriately to get the help he needs. The referral from Support Through Court should, where possible, be the final referral for the client.
a.
To the police officer that attended the scene of the accident and to a no-win-no-fee solicitor.
b.
To
c.
To a solicitor who specialises in criminal motoring law. A list can be found on the Law Society’s website or may be available through his insurance company, and to the author of the letter about the insurance claim.
The correct answer is c.
Answer
If the taxi driver wants to contest the careless driving allegation he would certainly need legal advice. The insurance claim is being dealt with by the person who wrote to him to advise him about how they intended to deal with it. Therefore, they are in the best position to talk to him about what to do next.
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8.4 Examples of good practice when signposting