What To Expect

Birmingham CAB

When you have chosen the most convenient office from the list in the left hand column you will need to visit us. We operate a 'drop-in' (or 'first-come first-served') service at all our offices - see the opening times for each one in the appropriate web page - and all clients start by using this.

When you Arrive

Go to reception; who will ask you to complete a form giving brief details about the problem you would like help with.

Initial Interview

Reception will call people, in order, for an initial interview, which will take not more than 15 minutes. This ‘triage’ or ‘gateway assessment’ enables us to understand the nature of the problem and determine how we can best help you. At the end of the initial interview we will do one of the following:

  • Provide you with written information to help explain and solve your issue
  • Direct you to an agency specializing in your type of issue
  • Suggest you contact a solicitor – we have a list of solicitors and also a limited number of appointments with solicitors at the city centre bureau
  • Suggest you see one of our generalist advisors (see the next section)
  • Suggest an appointment with one of our specialist advisors for debt or benefits. There can be a delay of up to four weeks for this.

General Interview

After the initial interview, we may suggest an interview with one of our general advisors. Unfortunately we only have limited number of volunteer advisers on duty each day and we may not be able to give a full interview to everybody who is waiting. When this happens we will tell you, and the following options are available:

  • For urgent issues we will endeavour to help - see here
  • Return on another drop-in day
  • Go to another CAB in the area (see left panel and links). Reception will also have a leaflet with these details
  • Ring the Birmingham CAB telephone helpline on 08444 77 10 10
  • Get advice on-line from www.adviceguide.org.uk

Duty Solicitors Appointments

After the initial interview, we may suggest an interview with a duty solicitor. There is normally a wait of a week or two for these appointments due to demand but if the legal issue has a deadline/time limit we will endeavour to comply with this. The issues covered by duty solicitors are:

  • Family and personal
  • Employment
  • Small claims
  • Personal injury
  • Childrens issues
  • Clinical negligence
  • Professional negligence
  • Landlord/tenant
  • Wills and probate
  • Property and conveyance
  • Immigration