A Lanarkshire gran was left suicidal after wrongly being issued with an almost £20,000 debt demand from the Department of Work and Pensions.
Christina Goss was told that she was not entitled to claim the benefit despite being classed as long-term sick due to her severe memory loss and depression.
The 62-year-old made a successful application for the state assistance after being deemed to have 'limited capacity for work-related activities' and was approved in January 2020 without issue.
But in September 2021, she was contacted by the DWP who said she had failed to provide them with a tenancy agreement from her landlord - despite never being asked due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions.
She was told her benefits were to be stopped and she was to pay back £19,900 which they said she was not entitled to.
Christina, a grandmother-of-four, was prevented from taking a fatal overdose by ex-husband Neil Cairns who managed to force his way into her East Kilbride home.
The error was eventually rectified, however benefit chiefs failed to inform South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) who then began chasing the grieving mother for money last month.
Christina and Neil, who lost their 39-year-old daughter to cancer in January, say the stress of the debt ordeal has prevented them from grieving properly.
After intervention by our sister paper, the Daily Record, the DWP have confirmed their mistake with SLC also closing their case against Christina.
The former carer said: “I’ve always worked throughout my life and have tried to give back as much as I can.
“It’s hard enough having to accept the help from Universal Credit in the first place. I was so shocked at how I was treated. It was just absolute pure hell.
“It’s a disgusting way to treat people. Going through this has been a nightmare and I hate to think how many other people are in the same position.
“I’ve always had a bad memory but now I’ve been told that I’ve got the start of dementia. I’m so grateful that I’ve got Neil and I can’t thank the Daily Record enough for helping.”
Neil, 70, added: “Christina was the victim of incompetence by people who don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t take anyone’s feelings into consideration.
“They’ve got tunnel vision. They see where they want to go and they will do whatever they have to do to get there. I found her in her flat sitting with a pile of pills waiting to take them.
“Thankfully I have a set of keys to her flat and was able to get in and stop her because I promised our daughter that I’d look after her mum.
“We haven’t been able to grieve properly because of all this going on in the background. Christina was at the end of her tether and she didn’t know where to turn.
“I’ve been fighting tooth and nail for her but it felt like we were just banging our heads against a brick wall.”
Christina moved into a flat in August 2020 and continued to receive Universal Credit without issue until September the following year.
She was told she had failed to provide a tenancy agreement to the DWP from her landlord despite never being asked for one.
A notice was issued saying she owed £19,900 to the benefit agency and it would need to be paid back - sparking her suicide attempt.
After the situation was eventually rectified, Neil and Christina assumed everything had been sorted but were dealt another blow in December when her benefits were cancelled again.
She was wrongly accused of not completing a to-do-list from months earlier and was told to submit a new claim.
As a result, SLC were informed that she wasn’t entitled to any council tax discounts.
Neil explained: “Christina called me one day in a right state and said she had been trying to buy her messages but her card got declined.
“It turns out that SLC had put a claim on her bank account for unpaid council tax after being wrongly told by the DWP that she wasn’t entitled to any benefit.
“We were able to get this reversed at the bank. The council tried it again so we contacted them to find out what was going on.
“They were told by Universal Credit that Christina wasn’t entitled to any council tax benefit relief. So it all kicked off again.
“I called last Friday and I thought we were making headway after sending proof of Christina’s Universal Credit.
“We asked them to call them to Universal Credit but they said no, they needed to call them. “So we contacted Universal Credit but they said they wouldn't contact the council. So we were left in limbo.
“They said she would have to pay back the amount that had been discounted since September 2019 or she’d be sent to a debt collector.
“That’s when we contacted the Daily Record.”
A spokesperson for the DWP apologised for the upset caused and have cancelled the debt.
They said: “We are incredibly sorry for the distress caused to Ms Goss.
“We have cancelled her repayment to us and are working with SLC to resolve the issue with her council tax.”
A spokesman for SLC added: “We fully appreciate Ms Goss’s concern about the situation she has found herself in.
“The council acted in good faith on information supplied by the DWP. As soon as we were informed that there may be an error involved, we worked with the DWP to rectify the situation.
“We are pleased to confirm the situation has been resolved and Ms Goss’s account has been brought up to date.”
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