We were asked if we could consider assisting a young mum with a two year old. Up until Christmas she had a carer that lived in with her, but her carer left. Unfortunately this meant that she was unable to attend an assessment for work capability and subsequently lost her entitlement to Employment Support Allowance. She has been without any ESA payments for two months and existing on her child tax credits and child benefit. However this week she found out that her tax credits have been stopped because a claim for Universal Credit has been made, which she claims she has not done. She had no food in the house, no credit on her mobile phone to contact tax credits to find out what was going on. Our agents are helping her to deal with the DWP and sort out an appeal for her. We agreed to send her £150 to buy food, phone credit and to be able to put some credit on her energy meters. Today we received this reply from our agents.
“C was absolutely blown away and there were a lot of tears (mainly from staff here!!). She is a lovely lady and her self-esteem and confidence are at an all time low so she could not believe that people wanted to help her – hence the tears. Cannot thank you enough for the help and support you give our customers – greatly appreciated.”