A woman who contacted the Department for Work and Pensions to find out why her benefits had been stopped was told she was dead. Ann Smith, 65, claims Personal Independence Payments and Employment Support Allowance - but neither was paid into her account last month.
She said: "I rely on that money so I was worried when it didn't go in. So I contacted the DWP."
Ann was told that her benefits had stopped because she had died in August, reports The Echo. She said: "I couldn't believe it, I said well that's news to me. I even got sent a letter addressed to the executor of my will."
She added: "They haven't told me how they could make a mistake like this, no one even checked to see that I wasn't dead, they just stopped my benefits."
Ann had to travel to a local job centre to provide identification and prove she isn't dead. She said: "It's not easy for me to get around with my conditions, so my son had to come and help me." Ann was left without money for over a week while the mistake was fixed.
She said: "It was absolutely awful, really hard. My condition means I need to have the heating on and the prices are going up all the time. I was left with no money."
Ann said she has still not been given an explanation for how the DWP believed she was dead. She said: "I really hope this doesn't happen to someone else. I am lucky because I have got family who support me but imagine if this happened to someone who was on their own and they were left without any support?"
"This government needs to go, they don't care about any of us."
A spokesperson for the Department of Work and Pensions spokesperson said: "We would like to apologise unreservedly to Ms Smith for the distress and inconvenience caused by this mistake.
“All action to correct her claim has been taken, and all benefit arrears have been paid to her.”
