Buxton mum with terminal cancer wins fight to get benefits reinstated

Kathy Hall spoke to the Advertiser earlier this month when her Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was stopped, after she outlived doctors’ expectations and her prognosis changed.

The 44-year-old has since been contacted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and not only has her money been reinstated for three years, she has received back pay from August when her payments were stopped. She has also been granted a motability allowance for a new car.

Kathy, of Beech View Drive in Harpur Hill, said: “I didn’t believe it when they rang me and told me.

“It’s like a dream come true for me and my son. The money and now the new car will give us a chance to be a family again. It gives us a freedom to go where we want when we want, rather than relying on buses and lifts. It’s a sense of normality.”

Kathy now has a new Ford Fiesta and will pay £61 a week out of her £140 allowance, with the government meeting the difference.

She added: “I was ready to give up. I couldn’t fight any longer, it was dragging me down arguing about money and getting nowhere, but the support from friends and Blythe House Hospice made me realise I needed to speak up.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “Following an internal review of Ms Hall’s claim we reinstated her PIP for both the welfare and motability and all arrears due have been paid.”