Social Services Withhold £16K Savings As Patient Uses Cash
Generators For Basics
As
usual social services live down to the usual poor standard of care we
have seen so often for many people on many occasions.
This
is just a prequel to a series of articles that will be published here
and on my other social media starting from next week.
What’s
it about and why?
The
brief outline is that the patient who is a grown woman in her mid
fifties has had a voluntary arrangement with Solihull adult social
services since 2015 for them to act as financial appointees.
I.e
they would receive her benefit payments, pay her utilities etc and
also give her a fixed weekly payment to cover shopping and other
expenses.
She
is profoundly deaf, Bipolar and whilst she possesses all her
faculties depression leaves her isolated and in her own world much of
the time.
The
final Straw
In
November 2021 she requested the sum of £400 from her savings to buy
Christmas presents and do all the usual stuff for the time of year.
In
early December the response was that she could only have £300 as
there were insufficient funds available. This was paid to her in mid
December.
After
the initial sadness of having to remove some presents from her
shopping basket we move forwards into January of this year.
Now
it gets interesting.
Less
than 4 weeks after her request being reduced by 25% due to lack of
funds it was a surprise to receive a letter from DWP telling her that
her benefits claim had been closed due to her savings being in excess
of the £16’000 cut-off point.
In
fact the finance department at Solihull council had neglected to
inform DWP when the threshold was reached and her total savings
reached over £25’000 meaning she has in fact been overpaid by more
than £9’000 through no fault of her own.
Why
this matters
Over
the last 6 years she has made several requests For one off payments
to cover emergency situations.
2
of the worst examples are waiting 8 weeks for her own money to
replace a broken cooker and more importantly for a deaf person having
to wait 12 weeks to replace her broken computer which is her only
means of communication with the outside world.
She
also requested payments to replace furniture, visit her daughter in
Scotland to re establish contact and a few other events which were
all refused. On several occasions she has placed her phone and laptop
in cash generators to raise the money when it was required.
Obviously
this amount of savings has not simply accrued overnight and it would
seem at least some funding was available throughout the entire time.
Since
February this year she has been requesting access to some of her
savings but the only response from Solihull adult social services
finance department has been total ignorance.
They
continue to compound their abuse of their patient who is more
confused and concerned than ever and feels she is being punished in
some way.
I
have been speaking almost daily to the social work team who handle
her case. They have also sent several emails requesting finance to
call me back to discuss the matter.
Unfortunately
it is impossible to call them directly. You have to explain the
situation to a receptionist who then emails them a request.
As
of today's date we are still awaiting a single phone call to even
begin explaining the situation or the delay.
She
has requested the funds both by telephone, email and recorded delivery letter on
2 separate occasions since March but it seems as though no one will
step up and take responsibility for this.
So
What Next ???
The
good news is we have saved all the cash generator receipts, have
copies of all the emails and recordings of all phone calls made and
received since this matter came to light.
We
are currently waiting for some information from DWP before setting a
decent solicitor loose on them for all the financial and emotional
distress this has caused both their client and myself too.
Why
me too? Simple… I am the one who paid to replace her cooker
when it became obvious it was going to take weeks. I am the one who
replaced her computer, monitor, printer etc when she was left
isolated, I am the one who up to this month has so far purchased 4
mobile phones whilst once again she is waiting to receive her own
money from people who are too damn ignorant to admit their mistake
and pick up the phone.
Most
of all I am the one who is fed up to bursting with watching my
flatmate and friend of 30 years sit there confused and in tears once
again as Solihull adult social services fail to deliver any care
whatsoever.
Please
remember she is not asking for a loan or a grant. She simply wants
access to some of her own funds to alleviate the very bad position
she has been left in.
If
the ignorance continues the next move will be to attend Solihull
council house with my Facebook friends and some air-horns and see if
we can get someone's attention that way.
Their
behaviour and neglect towards their patient is not acceptable and
their ignorance will cost them dearly.
We
have had an initial consultation with CAB but if you are a bona fide
solicitor and have any thoughts on how you could help us take this
matter forwards please drop a phone number in the comments box and I
will call back.
Thanks
for the visit today.
