A Disabled man claiming benefits was told he would have his money stopped - because he was dead. Bernard Hayward, aged 49, from Bedminster, was left distressed and angry after a meeting with a benefits investigator, who asked him to go to St Catherine's House, the local benefits office, for an interview.
When he arrived, he was stunned to be told by the investigator that Bernard Hayward was dead and that he was an imposter, committing fraud by claiming benefits.
Mr Hayward was blinded in one eye in a car accident 20 years ago and walks with a stick.
He relies on £312-a-month disability benefit and £100-a-week income support to make ends meet.
That would be under threat if the Benefits Agency investigation team was to decide that Bernard Hayward was dead and somebody else was claiming his benefits.
Mr Hayward showed the Evening Post his birth certificate and a number of documents proving his identity.
He said: "They treated me like a criminal. I felt very angry and upset by the experience.
"I asked them to prove what they were saying and they just said somebody had told them in a tip-off.
"I can't believe they haven't checked it out properly. The investigator was very rude." Mr Hayward, who has been living in Martock Crescent for the past three years, was told to produce a form of photographic identification to prove he is who he says he is.
He has never been abroad, so does not own a passport, and cannot drive, so does not hold a driving licence.
His sister, Diane Curry, said: "I'm disgusted with what has happened.
"People shouldn't be allowed to get away with things like that.
"All the agency had to do was go to the records office and find a death certificate. We have lived in Bristol all our lives. Everybody knows who he is."
Mary Dowling, spokeswoman for the Department of Work and Pensions, responsible for Mr Hayward's benefit, said: "We are unable to comment on the specifics of individual cases without breaching customer confidentiality.
Source:
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/disp...layContent&sourceNode=86420&contentPK=6452876
When he arrived, he was stunned to be told by the investigator that Bernard Hayward was dead and that he was an imposter, committing fraud by claiming benefits.
Mr Hayward was blinded in one eye in a car accident 20 years ago and walks with a stick.
He relies on £312-a-month disability benefit and £100-a-week income support to make ends meet.
That would be under threat if the Benefits Agency investigation team was to decide that Bernard Hayward was dead and somebody else was claiming his benefits.
Mr Hayward showed the Evening Post his birth certificate and a number of documents proving his identity.
He said: "They treated me like a criminal. I felt very angry and upset by the experience.
"I asked them to prove what they were saying and they just said somebody had told them in a tip-off.
"I can't believe they haven't checked it out properly. The investigator was very rude." Mr Hayward, who has been living in Martock Crescent for the past three years, was told to produce a form of photographic identification to prove he is who he says he is.
He has never been abroad, so does not own a passport, and cannot drive, so does not hold a driving licence.
His sister, Diane Curry, said: "I'm disgusted with what has happened.
"People shouldn't be allowed to get away with things like that.
"All the agency had to do was go to the records office and find a death certificate. We have lived in Bristol all our lives. Everybody knows who he is."
Mary Dowling, spokeswoman for the Department of Work and Pensions, responsible for Mr Hayward's benefit, said: "We are unable to comment on the specifics of individual cases without breaching customer confidentiality.
Source:
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/disp...layContent&sourceNode=86420&contentPK=6452876