The body of a disabled man was found in his flat in distressing, squalid conditions, just weeks after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wrongly removed his disability benefits because he had failed to return a claim form.
His sister, his only surviving close relative, believes he may have been left without enough credit on his phone to call for help, while he had not had enough money to fix his broken mobility scooter.
Susan believes the wrongful removal of his personal independence payment (PIP) played a significant part in his death.
She told Disability News Service (DNS): “He was already on the breadline, so I think it would have been devastating for him.”
She also believes DWP failed to make the necessary safeguarding checks before removing his PIP.
She has now warned that the death of her much-loved brother must act as a warning of the horrors to come if the government goes ahead with its planned £4.5 billion cuts to PIP.
i don’t understand why admin workers are so consistently horrible, you’re literally just dealing with documents and you can’t be arsed to just err on the side of caution to save lives? come on
Their bosses give them targets for denying as much in benefits as they can. The front line workers are traumatised by their own actions and tend to develop unhealthy coping strategies. One of those strategies is dehumanising claimants but there are many other terrible strategies.
When I was made unemployed a few years ago, I didn’t make any benefit claims in order avoid having contact with the DWP.