Our expertise
We are specialists in what used to be called application forms for grants and other specialist services. Our mission is to make it quick, straightforward and stress-free for would-be applicants. And cost- and staff-efficient for the service provider. We’re experts with eligibility, real-time calculations, and ordering applications against complex criteria. We excel at economy and clarity in our products. And we’re enthusiasts for making optimal use of data.
Right from the start, our approach was recognised as distinctive. Our systems were easy to use and accessible to non-specialists. Our customers included Halifax Building Society, major charities such as SSAFA, and local authorities including London Borough of Hounslow, Wychavon District Council and Cumbria County Council.
In 2008 we extended the scope of our software for Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) to cover the application process as well as the means-test in a single concise system. With this ground-breaking product, staff could complete the whole of the application, from start to signed acceptance, in a single visit to the client’s home.
Our innovative approach
Today our Advance system questionnaires break free from the constraints of old-fashioned application forms to follow the natural order of conversation. Determining eligibility, calculating amounts and evaluating priority is a routine part of the treatment. Tailoring a generic system to the precise needs of the purchaser is quick, easy and economical. And an Advance system can cover a broad array of applications in a single questionnaire, in which every question is relevant to the individual client.
On-line is now part of this versatile but goal-directed process. In 2021 we launched an on-line version of the DFG financial assessment. It does the complete means-test for applicants in a friendly and relaxed manner. It calculates in real time to give an authoritative statement of the grant amount and a detailed record of the client’s financial circumstances. And the captured data will seamlessly populate our other Friendly Forms systems. So our digital self-service application can streamline applications for all of the Council’s statutory and discretionary Housing Grants.
What we can do for you
We turn your requirements for applications for services or grants into structured questionnaires. They’re conversational for the applicant, quick and effective for management, requiring no special skills or training. They are always relevant to each individual client, they’re succinct and they deal with every anticipated circumstance.
The outcome for management is the data that you need in the format you require. And an applicant who found the process much easier and the result much quicker than anticipated.
Who We are
Chris Beer is the founder of Friendly Forms. He was Director of London Welfare Benefits, a London-wide body which, amongst other activities, created and supported portable computer systems for welfare benefits and grants. Chris acquired and developed these systems when LWB was privatised, specialising in the clarity of the questionnaires and their ability to cover the wide range of circumstances which clients encountered.
In 2008 we began our association with Purple Crane, the developers who have undertaken all of the technical work in our current systems. They share our commitment to creating software which is genuinely user-friendly whilst delivering high quality results economically. Purple Crane are remarkable in using their substantial technical skills creatively. Owen Fowler is our precision forms designer and internal critic. Ben Rich, a barrister at 2 Hare Court Chambers, provides advice on statutory interpretation of DFG and benefits legislation.