For 20 years this naval widow cared for her husband, now the state won’t care for her
LAST Armistice Day, Patricia Hopkins-Whalley joined other navy widows at the River Mersey to scatter the ashes of her beloved husband.
She cared for Maurice for
20 years through three cancers, dementia and osteoarthritis – but Patricia is now ill, near-destitute and in longterm arrears at her care home thanks to being trapped in a benefits nightmare.
Aged 63, she has been living on food vouchers since last July and says she would be “on the streets” and would have taken her own life without handouts from the Royal British Legion.
The Legion even had to step in to pay Maurice’s funeral costs.
He did national service in the army as a Lance Corporal, then joined the Merchant Navy – and later worked as a consultant in the NHS. But Patricia’s years of care for her husband count for nothing because she grew up in France and Maurice was British.
Despite the fact she arrived in the UK over 40 years ago in 1976, Patricia is classed as a ‘European Economic Area citizen’. She doesn’t have ‘worker status’ under Universal Credit because she worked only four years – not five – and her 20 years’ caring do not count.
The British Legion says that, ironically, had Maurice been an EEA citizen, she would have had status through him.
Meanwhile, because she has no right to reside, she is not entitled to Universal Credit because she is not looking for work.
But 63-yearold Patricia is disabled.
She is recovering from major heart surgery last year, and has chronic asthma.
The fear of destitution has affected her mental health. “My heart valve repair may be leaking again due to all the stress,” Patricia says. “I was healing well after the op, but this has taken away all my self-confidence and is making me ill again.” Despite this, the DWP awarded her zero points on her application for Personal Independence Payments. Sabine Isaac at the Royal British Legion says: “We’re exploring every possible avenue, but the
situation has reached a critical point as Patricia’s Universal Credit nightmare has left her ill, hungry and desperate.
“She underwent major heart surgery this year, she is still grieving the loss of her husband and could be left homeless.” Patricia, who still lives at the care home in Maghull, Merseyside, where her husband died, is surviving on just £23.80 a week bereavement payment – but this will end later this year, leaving her completely penniless until her state pension starts in three years’ time.
Meanwhile, her debts, including rent and council tax arrears, are racking up. “The care home has also been very understanding, but I owe them thousands in back rent and I can’t stay here indefinitely,” she says.
“I’m at my wits’ end. My husband was so proud to serve his country, and I supported him for all those years.
“It’s crazy that I will be entitled to a state pension but I’m currently denied benefits.”
Sabine, Benefits Advisor for the Legion, has now lodged a human rights-based appeal because of the “extreme circumstances”. “
“This is a potential test case,” Isaac says.
“Patricia is effectively being penalised for looking after an ex-military man during years of illness.”
Patricia arrived in the UK in 1976 as an au pair. She met Maurice in 1980 at the Royal Free Hospital where he worked as a consultant in Orthotics after leaving the military.
Patricia was a temp on the reception counter and it was love at first sight with no thought of the 24-year age gap.
“I thought he was like James Bond,” she says. The couple lived for years in Southport, before moving into sheltered accommodation together in Maghull in 2010.
“Maurice died on June 29 last year while I was in hospital,” Patricia says. “I’d had heart surgery 10 days earlier. He was a wonderful man and I worshipped him.
“I gave up any thoughts of having a career and dedicated myself to him, but now I’m being penalised for it.
“Without the support of the Royal British Legion, I would have killed myself, and that’s not an exaggeration.
“When I got the letter to say I failed the DWP’s habitual residency test and wasn’t entitled to anything, I was shattered, but the Legion have been my guardian angels and I wouldn’t be here without them.”
Patricia applied for support on July 4 – but nine months later is yet to receive the help she desperately needs.
Without the British Legion support I would have killed myself