Disabled man dies in poverty and squalor after DWP removes his benefits, just as Labour cuts PIP by £4.5bn (www.disabilitynewsservice.com)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk

5 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The body of a disabled man was found in his flat in distressing, squalid conditions, just weeks after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wrongly removed his disability benefits because he had failed to return a claim form.

His sister, his only surviving close relative, believes he may have been left without enough credit on his phone to call for help, while he had not had enough money to fix his broken mobility scooter.

Susan believes the wrongful removal of his personal independence payment (PIP) played a significant part in his death.

She told Disability News Service (DNS): “He was already on the breadline, so I think it would have been devastating for him.”

She also believes DWP failed to make the necessary safeguarding checks before removing his PIP.

She has now warned that the death of her much-loved brother must act as a warning of the horrors to come if the government goes ahead with its planned £4.5 billion cuts to PIP.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Monzcarro@feddit.uk 5 points 5 days ago

Even if he had been able to return the forms, there's a chance he wouldn't have got it.

I used to do a load of reconsideration and appeals for work and the ignorance of the decision makers is staggering.

One claim was denied, among other reasons, because my client could play a guitar. Another client, with epilepsy, was told that he didn't need supervision when showering, as he should just sit down in the shower to mitigate injury from seizures.

I found they ignored what we put in the form so frequently that it wasn't worth doing more than the bare minimum and instead putting the work into the reconsideration.

This poor man had nobody to fight for him, but the system should not be set up so that so many people have to fight. I don't believe anyone with any cognitive or learning impairment, or mental health condition, would be able to go through the application process without support; it's that difficult.

And I would put money on them reinstating it after hearing of his death. The shit I have seen them pull, I think it's likely.

this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2025

64 points (97.1% liked)

United Kingdom

4613 readers

250 users here now

General community for news/discussion in the UK.

Less serious posts should go in !casualuk@feddit.uk or !andfinally@feddit.uk
More serious politics should go in !uk_politics@feddit.uk.

Try not to spam the same link to multiple feddit.uk communities.
Pick the most appropriate, and put it there.

Posts should be related to UK-centric news, and should be either a link to a reputable source, or a text post on this community.

Opinion pieces are also allowed, provided they are not misleading/misrepresented/drivel, and have proper sources.

If you think "reputable news source" needs some definition, by all means start a meta thread.

Posts should be manually submitted, not by bot. Link titles should not be editorialised.

Disappointing comments will generally be left to fester in ratio, outright horrible comments will be removed.
Message the mods if you feel something really should be removed, or if a user seems to have a pattern of awful comments.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

tom@feddit.uk

GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk

frankPodmore@slrpnk.net