My assessor was not sympathetic

ALAN Trewhitt, 56, suffers from terminal lung disease pulmonary fibrosis.

He only received financial support in April after a four-year battle in which he found the application process deeply distressing and the assessor unsympathetic.

He said: “I felt bullied into agreeing rather than her accepting what I said. You have to lay yourself bare in terms of all your medical issues and what you can’t do. I just find it very, very upsetting.

“As I’ve become more ill, I don’t know if I want to put myself through that.”

Alan, of Yorkshire, said sorting out the benefits process would help people like him make the most of their limited time, without wasting it worrying about money. He said: “I want to be able to enjoy this last period of my life.”