PLEASE GIVE US BACK OUR BENEFITS
Mum: Losing cash is taking its toll on family
A man with an incurable neurological condition has had his benefits cut and now faces a long fight to claw back cash he says should never have been taken away.
Simon Noonan, who has Tourette’s Syndrome ( TS) and battles with other conditions such as ADHD and OCD, was deemed unsuitable for Personal Independence Payment ( PIP) money in February after a year of receiving the benefit.
Simon, 31, and his partner Sarah Brodie, who live in Renfrew with Sarah’s two young children, have now lost £ 618 of their monthly income.
Simon has been told he must contest the decision made by
the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
His worried partner Sarah, 35, said the situation is taking its toll on their family and they fear it could be at least six months before they get the cash back.
She says losing the vital income is affecting both her and Simon’s mental health, especially during the uncertainty of the coronavirus crisis.
Sarah, who has also lost her carers allowance payments, told the Express: “Simon has a neurological condition. It does not go away. His money should not be stopped.
“We only found out at the start of April that he would no longer be getting the payments. That is a lot of money for us to be losing out on, especially just now.
“We feel that the government is supposed to be helping everyone during this virus yet they decide to stop payments in the midst of it.
“It could be months before we can get this resolved. It is taking its toll on us all.
“I am constantly worried about Simon and he has a hard time telling me what is going on.”
Simon, who moved to Renfrew from the Republic of Ireland in 2017, spent seven months trying to set up his PIP payments before finally being told he was eligible.
He had been receiving monthly payments when he was informed he would have to undergo an assessment at the beginning of the year.
Sarah says she and Simon attended a benefits assessment in Glasgow - a situation that left him stressed and agitated.
Simon’s appointment was one of the final face-to-face meetings, as the DWP suspended assessments for three months due to the ongoing pandemic.
She added: “Everything that is going on just now, Simon’s OCD and Tourette’s have been massively affected.
“He has other conditions alongside Tourette’s which he deals with every day such as ADHD and ADD.
“When he received his last assessment in February, I do not think it was indepth enough to really determine the effect his condition has on him.
“The appointment only lasted five minutes and the report we received said that he was fine and did not present as showing any signs of Tourette’s.
“But someone who knows about the condition would know that people with Tourette’s suppress their tics until they are in a place they feel comfortable.
“There is no cure - he will always have it. There doesn’t seem to be enough understanding of people who have hidden disabilities.
“It is a lot more complex than a fiveminute meeting.”
Simon and Sarah have now enlisted the help of charity Tourette Scotland to help them reverse the decision by the DWP.
They have 30 days to fill out an application for a mandatory consideration and then could have to take their appeal to the HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
Sarah hopes by speaking out they will highlight the misconceptions around Tourette’s and how it affects people.
She added: “There is so much people don’t know about Tourette’s and we hope that people will understand how this can affect every aspect of your life.”
A spokeswoman from the Department for Work and Pensions said they had been in contact with Mr Noonan and on the basis of him providing more information in regards to his mandatory reconsideration, they hoped there would be a positive resolution that could be worked out for him.