Mum, 80, wins battle for benefits
MOTHER PUT UP A FIGHT...
AN 80-year-old woman is celebrating after winning her battle against the government to safeguard benefits for her disabled son.
Eileen Knight has dedicated her entire life to looking after her severely disabled son, Trevor, 53.
Trevor has had severe learning difficulties since birth.
He is unable to read or write, and has a number of physical health issues related to his condition.
He lives at home with Eileen in Wigan and she washes him, dresses him and helps him with day-to-day activities.
The pair rely on benefits to support them as neither is able to work.
But following their assessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) it was found that Trevor did not have ANY care or mobility needs – meaning they lost their benefit entitlements.
Eileen had to battle against the benefits system to have her son’s needs recognised, taking the case to a tribunal so she could argue it out in person.
Trevor, who has never been able to work, claimed DLA and Eileen also received a Carer’s Allowance.
But despite his obvious disabilities he scored nil points on the daily living and mobility tests for PIP, and a person needs to score eight to qualify for the standard rate of benefit.
Eileen said: “It was heartbreaking. I couldn’t believe it when I heard Trevor had scored no points. How they could even think he is able to look after himself I’ll never know. He is so reliant on me for everything. I’m 80 years old. How was I supposed to support us?
“The tests were so cruel. I felt like the assessor was being very aggressive with us. It was not a fair process and it was very hard to explain that Trevor was not able to do a lot of things.”
Stripped of their only income, Eileen turned to Citizens Advice for help, and they appealed Trevor’s case at a tribunal. It found in his favour and they had their benefits reinstated and more than £3,500 in backdated payments.
Eileen added: “The team at Citizens Advice were amazing. They made sure we got the payment back.
“I don’t know what we would’ve done without them.”
But despite winning the case, life remains a struggle for Eileen and Trevor and many others who are dealing with complex care needs into adult life.
Citizens Advice is now calling for a shake-up of the assessment process to make it easier to understand, speed up decision-making and scrap reassessments for people with long-term conditions that are not going to improve.
It is also asking for financial penalties for assessors such as Capita and ATOS for each case overturned at appeal.
For more information, call the CAB Adviceline on 03444 111 222.