Disabled woman told she'll lose car that allows her to work after 'degrading' DWP assessment

Denise Haddon has worked since she was 16. Now Iain Duncan Smith's department say they're taking away the car that allows her to do her job

Denise Haddon
Denise has been told she'll lose her Motability car on January 6th
A disabled woman who has worked all her life has been told she will lose the Motability car that allows her to do her job, after being subjected to a 'degrading' capability assessment.

Denise Haddon, 50, cannot walk more than 20 meters without severe pain.

She has been given less than a month's notice that the vehicle that gives her independence will be taken away after an assessment for Iain Duncan Smith's new Personal Independence Payments (PIP).

Denise, who has worked since she was 16, was born with a condition called bilateral femoral focal dysplasia and reached her full height of 3ft 8 inches when she was a teenager.

The condition causes her painful problems with the lower part of her body, her hips, legs, ankles and feet.

Currently working as an Inclusion Manager in child protection at a primary school in Derby, she said: “I’ve worked all my adult life but now, following my PIP assessment, I’m being told I will lose my Motability car; the one thing that gives me the independence to get to and from my job and travel to meetings."


Denise Haddon
She had to endure a 'degrading' PIP assessment
The Work and Pensions Secretary introduced PIP as part of a raft of cuts to welfare. It replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA), and has left many disabled people struggling to make ends meet as their income plummets by up to £30 a week.

The Department for Work and Pensions said her assessment had been carried out correctly and Denise no longer qualifies for the car.

Even existing DLA claimants have to submit to the "inhumane" test, carried out by outsourcing giant Capita, before they are able to claim the new benefit.

Denise said: “I can’t walk more than a few meters without severe pain so to lose my car means I’ll need more support not less.

“The whole process of the assessment has been inhumane and degrading and the answers I gave have been grossly misinterpreted.

“I was treated like a number not a person and the process seems to be just a way to save money regardless of the effect it has on the person being assessed.

“The stress the DWP and Capita have caused me over this is unbelievable; they just don’t answer any of my emails.
“They only told me on 9th December, this year, that they would be taking my Motability car away from me on 6th January. Since then I’ve been trying to get them to listen to the evidence from my GP and other medical experts about my condition and why I need a car to do my job.


Getty
Iain Duncan Smith replaced DLA with PIP
“It’s been a miserable Christmas for me and my family waiting to hear back from them and all I’ve got to look forward to in the new year is losing my car and independence.

“I thought the Government’s welfare reforms were meant to help disabled people not just into work but to keep their jobs too. This sort of treatment makes it even more difficult for those in work to keep the jobs they already have.
“I find it ironic that the title of the PIP scheme includes the word independence when that’s the one thing that I’m losing as a result!"

Denise says she's lucky to have the support of colleagues, family and her husband - but worries for those who don't.
She hopes going public with her shocking situation will force the Government to think again.

Shadow Minister for Disabled People, Debbie Abrahams, slammed the Government’s PIP assessment system, saying: “Denise puts a great deal of effort into being able to live and work as independently as possible.



“When the Government introduced PIP it said it would mean more support for disabled people to enable them to live independently. In reality 3.7m disabled people will have had £23.8bn of support taken away from them by 2018.

“This includes cuts associated with Disability Living Allowance (DLA) being replaced by PIP. But disabled people are facing even further cuts in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill going through Parliament at the moment, for example, those disabled people found not fit for work and placed in the Work-Related Activity Group are to have their social security support cut by nearly £30 a week, from £102.15 to £73.10.

“The Government claim their welfare reforms are about incentivising disabled people into work; as Denise’s case shows, it will hinder not help disabled people.”

“The Extra Costs Commission showed disabled people face extra living costs of on average £550 per month as a result of their disability, which is the main reason disabled people are twice as likely to live in poverty as non-disabled people. PIP is meant to help with these extra costs. But just last year 300,000 more disabled people were plunged into poverty as a result of this Government’s lack of support.

“It’s incredible to think that people with degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, or people whose condition isn’t going to improve with time like Denise’s, are being targeted by this Government.”

“Ninety percent of disability is acquired. It could happen to any one of us.

“Instead of demonising disabled people and cutting support the Government should remember the roots of and value our social security system, which is there for all of us.”

Denise added: “My MP, Margaret Beckett, has been very supportive. I contacted Debbie Abrahams as I was at my wits end and didn’t know where else to turn to. I am days away from having my independence and my ability to earn my own living taken away from me.”

A DWP spokesperson said: "We are working closely with Motability who are providing support to people leaving the scheme following reassessment. The majority of people will be eligible for a one-off payment of £2,000, which will help ensure their mobility needs continue to be met.

“DLA was in need of reform; it is an outdated benefit introduced over 20 years ago. PIP is a fairer benefit which ensures support goes to those who need it most.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/disabled-woman-told-shell-lose-7092414#ICID=sharebar_twitter



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