DWP denied claim as mum was dying

Fighting on… Michelle McCluskey

MICHELLE McCluskey’s mother Christine had her benefits stopped four months before she died aged 62 in 2018.

She had suffered from terminal chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and double lung cancer and was being fed through a tube.

Michelle, 42, of Dalbeattie, Dumfries and Galloway, said the stress of trying to get financial support may have hastened her mother’s death.

She said: “She was totally housebound but denied benefits. My mum started a claim, it went back and forth but was denied. During all this time my mum was suffering and worrying about money.

“The DWP stopped her money. It went to a tribunal but it should never have gone that far.

“Just before she died she said: ‘Don’t give up. Keep fighting this’.” ‘I felt bullied to agree’…Alan Trewhitt