‘Benefit switch has left me right in the lurch’
Geraldine Hill has survived for more than two decades on benefits without falling into debt – then she became part of the Universal Credit pilot project in Swansea. Now she’s hundreds of pounds in arrears. Liz Perkins reports...
A56-year-old grandmother, Geraldine Hill – who is unable to work due to anxiety and depression, along with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – has single-handedly brought up three children with little to get by on.
But following a switch to Universal Credit, through a pilot scheme in August, she has turned to food banks, has been unable to afford to watch TV and has been left in arrears of hundreds of pounds.
Miss Hill, who has already been forced to move by the bedroom tax into a smaller home, is considering moving again from her Sandfields property in Port Talbot just to be able to make ends meet.
She said: “It’s been a struggle, I have to rely on a food bank and I’m living in the living-room.
“All my housing, rent and DLA (Disability Living Allowance) was stopped, I ended up accumulating arrears through no fault of my own.
“I’m in debt as I did not know they had stopped my benefits.
“I was told to apply for Universal Credit and make my appointment down the job centre in July and I did not have my first payment until August 9.”
She added: “I was a couple of hundred pounds in debt and I told everyone what was going on, including the bank.
“I couldn’t pay anyone until I got my monthly payment.
“People need paying and want paying as soon as, I can’t pay when they want.
“The TV licence took a chunk out of my payment.
“It’s a vicious circle, I have had to borrow money from my family. I rely on kind people to get a bag of food for me. “I went to the food bank.” Miss Hill, who has been on benefits for 23 years, said following the move towards Universal Credit she had been told she had to look for a job on a daily basis despite the state of her health.
Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke has insisted the Universal Credit system is effective and will help encourage people back to work.
But Miss Hill, who lives in Coastal Housing accommodation, said the new payment system, which is coming into effect in the Swansea area just weeks before Christmas, was forcing her to cut back rather than helping her to transform her life.
Some people faced a six-week wait before getting their first payment.
A total of 90% of Coastal Housing tenants, which is one of Swansea’s leading social housing providers, are already in arrears of an average of nearly £900 since the pilot scheme got off the ground.
From December 13, the “full” Universal Credit service will be rolled out in Swansea replacing six existing means-tested benefits – Income Support, Incomebased Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.
In Swansea there are currently 1,811 people claiming Universal Credit in the city as part of the pilot scheme.
Miss Hill said: “I feel like I need to find another home with one-bedroom accommodation.
“I have moved to the address I am in because of the bedroom tax. I had a three-bedroom house and I have moved to a two-bedroom house.
“I have had to put in sick notes every month because I am unable to do what is required.
“They want me out and about seven days a week, looking for a job, but I have depression, anxiety and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and I get so breathless I can’t do much.”
She added: “I have had a lot of mail in the last couple of months and it’s been a lot to take in.
“I live in Port Talbot and they wanted to speak to me in Swansea, and the next letter I had was to go to Cardiff – years ago a doctor’s letter was valid.”
Miss Hill said she had never been behind in paying her bills and did not like asking for handouts.
“I may be a bit old-fashioned but I do not like asking for money,” she said. “I am behind on water rates, I fell behind on my TV licence for a while.
“Electric and gas are on a meter and I pay as I go. I am trying to sell things as well to get by, but no-one is buying.”
Work and Pensions Secretary Mr Gauke said the government would be “refreshing the guidance” to staff at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) over the possibility of giving advance payments to claimants in difficulty.
Mr Gauke previously said: “Claimants who want an advance payment will not have to wait six weeks, they will receive this advance within five working days.
“And if someone is in immediate need, then we fast-track the payment, meaning they will receive it on the same day. “Universal Credit is working. “So I can confirm that the rollout will continue, and to the planned timetable.
“We’re not going to rush things; it is more important to get this right than to do this quickly, and this won’t be completed until 2022.
“But across the country, we will continue to transform our welfare system to further support those who aspire to work.”