DWP cock-up saw Wigan 94-year-old's pension stopped for 16 weeks

The family of Bob Ely was facing a cash crisis because of the accumulating arrears which ran into thousands of pounds.

But after inquiries were made by the Wigan Observer, they received a call to say that all the money owed would be paid.

Mr Ely, a former self-employed Standish plumber, has been battling dementia for five years and last October was moved into Abbey Dale nursing home in Appley Bridge.

Loved ones dutifully informed the DWP of his change of circumstances but on February 10, not only was his pension credit stopped, as expected, but so too was his state pension.

From then the grandfather of three didn’t receive a penny, despite numerous calls by son Stephen to both the state pensions and pension credit sections of the government department and the intervention of Wigan MP Lisa Nandy.

Speaking before the Observer stepped in, Stephen, who has power of attorney for his father, said: “We are at our wits’ end. It doesn’t seem to matter who we ring, we just get someone on the other end of a phone who sounds like they are reading from a script and say they will mark it as urgent but then no-one comes back to you.

"Apparently the credit and pension was linked and both were mistakenly stopped at the same time.

"I have phoned at least nine times and on one occasion I was on the line for an hour and another for over three hours!

“This in the 16th week without any state pension for my father even though we are still paying for his care, which is just under £1,000 a month.

"I am on universal credit myself, having had to give up work several years ago through ill health, so funds are getting very tight. I can’t afford to keep paying for his care.

"One of the sad things is that each time this is talked about with Dad it gets him really upset, because it’s like he’s hearing it for the first time because of his dementia.

"It has badly affected him. He’s a twin and his brother Dave came to see him on their 94th birthday. I had my reservations because, while being by far the fitter, I knew Dave would be upset seeing how much his brother had deteriorated.

"And it did come as a shock to him. Very sadly he died just a few weeks later and I am sure that this pension business affecting Dad at least played its part.

"After trying via many phone calls and writing directly to Pension Service to sort out this problem I still have not received any correspondence.

"I have contacted my local MP Lisa Nandy and she kindly contacted the CEO of DWP on April 28 and even she hasn’t received any response.”

Following the guidelines on the Government website, Stephen lodged a formal complaint to try to resolve this matter.

He waited four weeks and still had not received a reply, so he turned to the Observer for help.

The DWP has been contacted for a comment.