People with longstanding and even terminal illnesses have had benefits payments withheld during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the suspension of face-to-face work capability assessments, an openJustice investigation has found.
In some cases, cancer patients died without receiving the money they were owed. In others, disabled people failed to pay bills, had to sell personal possessions, were forced to move home and were even left legally homeless because they were without the money they were entitled to. Some have died all but destitute.
In March 2020, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) suspended face-to-face assessments for health-related benefits in order to help protect claimants from coronavirus. But, as Greg Brown, a benefits adviser in Glasgow, said, this “was misinterpreted – either wilfully or mistakenly – by quite a large part of the DWP as, ‘We’re not doing these anymore.’” And so around the country, the suspension of in-person assessments has led to a situation in which significant numbers of people are going without the money they are owed.
