Agony of couple trapped in middle of benefits wrangle
MOVE TO UNIVERSAL CREDIT LED TO MONTHS OF RENT DEMANDS, ARGUMENTS AND EVICTION THREATS
ADAM McLelland and his wife Bee had been living in their adapted home for just two weeks when they received their first enforcement letter demanding unpaid rent.
It was the beginning of six months of arguments, counter arguments and overwhelming stress that coincided with the couple’s move to the all-in-one benefit known as Universal Credit.
The McLellands rapidly found themselves caught between the Department for Work and Pensions, which administers Universal Credit, and Kirklees Council, which provides their rented home in Birkby.
And at the heart of their problem was money. Or rather the lack of it.
Adam, 29 and Bee, 22, were married in 2017, just 10 months after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Adam gave up his job as a retail store manager to become her full-time carer.
In January 2018 they moved into an adapted property geared towards Bee’s illness.
Via a combination of Universal Credit, Bee’s Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and a monthly insurance payment, they estimated that they could get by.
But they were then caught out by the Universal Credit assessment period and the inbuilt delay in receiving payment, which left them without benefits for five weeks.
“In the first two weeks we got an enforcement letter because the money hadn’t cleared,” said Adam. “The council was wanting its rent but we didn’t have the money to pay them.
“It’s all to do with the day that your assessment period falls on. Ours fell on January 27.
“Our rent payment was due on March 5, which came within the assessment period. With Universal Credit paying the council directly, the money didn’t clear until the end of March. On a technicality that put us eight weeks in arrears.
“It’s all down to how Universal Credit pays the council. The council blames Universal Credit. It blames the council. We’re stuck in the middle.”
Adam says part of the problem is what he describes as the “outmoded technology” used by the government to manage the benefit.
But combined with the council’s automated system, which sends out enforcement letters to anyone defaulting on payments, it piles on the pressure.
“The government thought it was a great policy but they haven’t checked the systems that the council uses and given the council training to give information to people.
“You get a different answer every time.
“We got an enforcement order within a week asking us for rent. After two weeks they rang. Then the phone calls started going back between Universal Credit and the council.
I feel screwed by the system. Completely
abandoned.
“That was the first instance of them threatening us with eviction because they weren’t getting their rent. They threatened us with the bailiffs.
“It was distressing enough for me, but worse for Bee. I try to shield her from it. She had two relapses last year. They were entirely due to this.
“How many more people are in this situation? Elderly people? Disabled people? It’s a massive scandal for the government to have caused what it has caused.
“If people are working part-time and they fall into the assessment period they get penalised twice. They get hardly any money. It’s wrong.
“I’ve spent two-and-a-half years fighting with the DWP. I’m surprised that I’ve not had a mental breakdown before now.”
Bee was also receiving a carer’s allowance but as that payment is classified as meanstested income she was losing more than half. The couple have since stopped claiming it.
They could have sought daily carer support from the council, with a cost to the tax payer of around £15,000 a year, but chose not to do so.
To add to the McLellands’ misery Bee, who should be exempt from Council Tax due to her disability, fell outside a category for Council Tax reduction. That resulted in another enforcement order for non-payment.
Adam commented: “Ever since then the council has been demanding £800, or £140 a month. They said we were six months in arrears. That’s just stupid.
“The council now says Bee has been assessed incorrectly and should be in a special category. That means we should be eligible for a special refund.
“I feel screwed by the system. Completely abandoned.
“So many people are playing the system. We are being honest with them and this is how we are treated. It’s an absolute joke.
“They need more empathy. Stop putting people in one category and then stop making assumptions that are untrue.
“You can’t put a disabled person in the same category as someone who doesn’t want to work. You’re definitely let down by your government when this is happening.”