‘They have made me feel like a scrounger and a liar’
DISABLED WOMAN STRUGGLING AFTER BENEFITS ARE CUT BACK
A DISABLED woman claims she has been left isolated after changes to her benefits caused her to lose her mobility car.
Pat Higgins worked most of her adult life but was forced to give up her parttime job in a pharmacy after her health started to deteriorate.
The 64-year-old suffers from multiple sclerosis, which affects the brain and spinal cord, and osteoporosis – a condition that weakens the bones, making them fragile and more likely to break.
Pat, of Benton, Newcastle, now struggles to walk and uses a wheelchair on a daily basis.
Initially, she received a high rate of care and mobility components as part of her Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
But Pat claims after being told to apply for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and undergoing a mandatory assessment, she is no longer entitled to the benefits she had been receiving.
She said her benefits were halved and her car was taken away, leaving her struggling to pay her rent.
Pat said: “After the assessment my car had to go back – that was my independence.
“If someone could not take me, I would have to pay for a taxi, which is not cheap if you want to go out more than once.
“If I wanted to go and visit my family, I couldn’t do that.
“I have to go for hospital appointments, I couldn’t do that anymore. I was having to pay for a taxi.”
Pat, who also has autism, OCD, depression, anxiety and liver problems, took along additional documentation to her assessment but said her health concerns were dismissed.
She said: “I went in my wheelchair and took along documentation which had my doctor’s notes in it.
“But she didn’t want to look at it because my mental health was irrelevant.
“It is meant to include my physical and mental health.
“I got very upset and anxious as I have autism. I started to cry.
“She said, now bearing in mind she didn’t ask me to get out of my wheelchair, I could walk 200 metres.”
After complaining a number of times about the assessment, Pat went for a second but was again awarded a standard rate of care, not enhanced and mobility, meaning she still couldn’t have her car.
Pat said the ordeal has had a detrimental impact on her mental health and she has sought help from mental health charity MIND.
“I wasn’t entitled to housing benefit so I was falling behind with my rent and council tax,” she said.
“If it isn’t affecting their life, then they aren’t bothered.”
Despite her health problems, Pat said she was keen to try to return to work.
But she said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) needs to understand that not all people can work.
“Some people can’t go to work,” she said.
“These people are being penalised and it is a total disgrace. We are going back to Victorian England.
“They have made me feel like a scrounger and outright liar despite having the documentation.”
A DWP spokesperson said people leaving the Motability scheme following a DLA to PIP re-assessment can keep their vehicle for up to three months and are offered a payment of up to £2,000 to help meet their needs.
But Pat said she was not offered this because she didn’t qualify for it.
She said: “It was extended by three months but I wasn’t offered anything else..”
She added: “I have another car now but I have had to take it out on hire purchase, which means I have money coming out of my account for it every month.”
The DWP spokesperson added: “We’re committed to ensuring that disabled people get the support they’re entitled to.”