Bristol mother told 'We've stopped your benefits - you're dead'
A HARD-working single mother was told by blundering government officials that her benefits had been stopped – because she was dead.
Natalie Williams, 35, of Hawkins Crescent in Bradley Stoke, was stunned to hear of her passing when she rang HM Revenues and Customs in July after noticing her working tax credit payments had suddenly stopped.
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Bristol mother told 'We've stopped your benefits - you're dead'
The mum-of-two then had to go to the Inland Revenue offices at Nova House in Bond Street with identification to prove she was still alive and they agreed they had made an error and would reinstate her payments.
Now, two months on, Miss Williams, who works part-time as a care assistant, has still not had the £190 a week payments restarted and estimates she is owed around £1,700.
The mistake means her housing benefit of £251 a fortnight has been suspended because she is unable to provide accurate information about her income.
Despite fortnightly emergency payments it has meant that she has struggled to pay off bills and feed and clothe her two sons – Samuel, three, and Charlie, two.
Miss Williams, who earns around £500 a month, said: "I'm at the end of my tether.
"I am a single mum with two children and work part-time as a care assistant and get working tax credits.
"I realised after a couple of weeks that my payments had stopped so rang the council who told me the payments had stopped because I had died on June 7.
"I told them I was very much alive but they said I had to go to the council offices with identification to prove I still existed.
"They also said a letter had been sent to my address asking the next of kin to provide details of my death but that letter has never arrived.
"It is now two months on and despite them saying they will reinstate my working tax credits they have still failed to do so and they owe me the best part of £2,000.
"They have been giving me emergency payments every fortnight but the situation has affected my housing benefit so I have had to spend that money on paying rents and bills instead of on food and clothes for my two boys.
"Now I have had a bailiff knocking on the door because I have not been able to keep up my repayments on the car and it is getting ridiculous.
"If this was my mistake I would understand but this is their fault and I am suffering because of their cock-up – it's not right. I have been ringing them every single week to get this sorted but nothing has happened. I am not a benefit scrounger. I am a hard-working single mother who is doing her best to look after her children."
Lisa Billard, of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), said:
"We are very sorry to learn of the difficulty experienced by this lady and are investigating the situation.
"Although we are unable to comment on the detail of individual cases due to claimant confidentiality, I can confirm that an advisor has already spoken with this lady to ensure that she receives any outstanding tax credits payment this week.
"We will consider reimbursing costs incurred as a result of this error, monitor the matter to make sure the correct monies are paid in future weeks and that our records are updated accordingly."
46 Comments
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by Gina, Bristol
Thursday, September 09 2010, 9:55PM
“OMG! I am shocked by the comments I have just read.
I am a working mum, I get working tax credits if I didn¿t I could afford to work which would mean I couldn¿t afford my mortgage which would mean I would be living in a council house claiming every single benefit, living rent free and to be fair I would probably have more disposable income then I do now and could sit on my ass watching Jeremy kyle!!
This women is clearly working, and claiming a means tested benefit while bringing up her children. She not trying to get out of working, she is doing what she can with two small children it is not easy.
Think we should be focusing on the fact that she is a single Mum with two little ones and bailiffs knocking on the door due to someone else¿s error which is not being corrected. (as for the car comments, if she didn¿t have a car I don¿t expect she would be working at all and I would expect her earnings go towards paying for the car and the benefits for feeding and clothing her kids when she gets them!)”
by Sally, Bristol
Wednesday, September 08 2010, 11:05PM
“Paul, Nr. Bristol.. just ignore them, these people are on here every day and they are themselves a bunch of losers.
I had to laugh when they accused me of reading The Daily Mail, clearly they don't realise that this is part of the Daily Mail group.. pathetic!”
by single mum, bristol
Wednesday, September 08 2010, 10:23PM
“Without casting personal assumptions on Ms Williams to be receiving this amount of benefit a month is a large amount of money.
What if all single parents did this?
The father should not be allowed to just walk away and leave the state to deal with this.”
by Paul, Nr. Bristol
Wednesday, September 08 2010, 10:17PM
“I know Natalie Williams & have done so for the last 18 years & I can tell all you doubters that she IS a hard working single mother who is trying to do her best for her little boys, as far as her car is concerned, let me tell you it is by no means new (I have seen newer cars in scrap yards in better condition!!!). The boys father left sometime ago & has little contact with her. So please, unless you KNOW THE FACTS back off. (and no I'm not on benefits of any description).”
by Duncan, Bristol
Wednesday, September 08 2010, 9:45PM
“You people are incredible. This is a woman who is working part time (a situation I assume she can only maintain due to having children), a single parent and is claiming credits she is CLEARLY entitled to and yet you still find a reason to rag on her as some kind of scrounger.
It's clear those of you with harsh views have no idea of the cost of bringing up children and the financial situation you can be left in should a working partner leave the relationship.
Natalie isn't using loopholes, claiming disability or spending her child benefit on drugs.. she's just trying to look after her kids and give them some semblance of a life, a situation many of us find easier than others!
Maybe if you stopped reading the Daily Mail and started considering the difference between Benefit Cheat and Decent UK Citizen, you'd find the world a little more tolerable.”
by jenny, downend
Wednesday, September 08 2010, 9:09PM
“if some of these people new miss williams and new what she has had to deal with over the last 18 months you might change your mind ,i do hope all you people never have to deal with the situation that miss williams found herself in ,keep working and take all the help you can get hold your head high she would be very proud of you”
by anon, bristol
Wednesday, September 08 2010, 7:41PM
“*forbid.....oh lets wait for the next rude responce to my comment...”
by anon, Bristol
Wednesday, September 08 2010, 7:38PM
“May i just say thankyou for showing up this shambles of a service, i think what people need to think about more is that there taxes are paying for the incompetent people who work for tax credits!
I think some of the comments on here are so childish, you are well within your rights to claim working tax credits, that is what its there for to encourage you back to work. People from all walks of life can be entitled obviously depending on savings etc.
i'm sure if you had of chosen to stay at home you could have claimed much more living off other benefits and you chose to better yourself, something these people making rude comments obviously dont try to do!
Obviously people are completely unaware of your individual comments, but i know sometimes men leave and refuse to pay any money towards their kids, no one is thinking about that side of things!
I informed tax credits when i had a change of circumstances (i was self employed at the time and working extremely hard full time, trying to better myself too) and they said they were cancelling my next payment...due just one week later!!No wonder so many people are not honest when this is the responce!
I really wish you all the best, god forbit any of these people writing rude comments are ever put in a financially insecure position like being made redundant or similar...they may have to eat their rude childish words!!”
by Rob Jones, Brentry
Wednesday, September 08 2010, 7:24PM
“A hard working mother of two. since when has working part time constituted hard work?. She has two children. The absent fathers are the ones who should be paying for this unmarried mother.”
by worker bristol, bristol
Wednesday, September 08 2010, 6:46PM
“if she earns what she says she does then she doesn't pay much tax as she's not earning much of the tax relief threshold.
her benefits FAR outweigh any tax she might pay from her current job & probably in her life. she's getting over £1000 per month , thats lots of money”