Grieving Mother Sent Bill For £41.36 ESA After Son, 21, Took Own Life
A GRIEVING mum has slated a government department for requesting she refund an overpayment it made to her son – 55 days after he committed suicide.
Mum-of-four Rachel Degaetano was dealing with her 21-year-old son Chae’s tragic death when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) sent her a letter stating that £41.36 of his income related employment and support allowance had incorrectly been paid into his account.
The sum covered the four days that followed his death on April 15.
The letter, stating it was “sorry to hear” that Mr Bennett – Chae’s birth surname – had died andalso said it fully accepted that “such payments are not made as a result of anyone’s fault”, before adding “We hope you will appreciate that when public funds are incorrectly paid we are obliged to ask for them to be refunded.”
the letter, issued by a DWP operations manager, added: “If any other benefits have been incorrectly paid to Mr Bennett we will contact you separately about them.”
Support worker Rachel, 45, of College Road, Barry, said she was not going to pay and was concerned other grieving people may receive similarly upsetting letters.
She said Chae had suffered with anxiety, had attended the Amy Evans Centre and was on medication related to mental illness.
She said: “He used to hear voices in his head telling him he was worthless and weak. He was also angry and he tried to take his life before.”
Rachel was in work when her partner contacted her and told her she needed to return home. Police then informed her about what had happened.
But, still devastated about events, she returned home from work to open the DWP letter dated June 3, requesting the money.
She said: “I just cried and then I was angry. I think it’s disrespectful. You’ve got enough going on especially with the cost of the funeral and you’re grieving. I don’t even care about paying my rent at the moment or anything else.
“It’s despicable especially when I think that some people pay that amount for breakfast.
“I cry at night and I go to sleep thinking I don’t want to wake up.
“Chae’s address should they wish to claim off him is Plot KK8.”
In her letter of reply, which she will to send to the DWP, Rachel said: “As he died in the middle of that benefit week, you are now ruthlessly trying to claw back what he ‘should’ have left in his bank account.
“I am utterly disgusted with your actions.
“Your emotionless ‘sorry to hear about your son, but we want money’ correspondence has been sent to my MP in the hope that something can be done to prevent this happening to other grieving family members.
“If this money was paid in error, this is the department’s error and not mine or my family’s.”
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with the family of Mr Degaentano.
“We have a very clear duty to protect taxpayers’ money – and ensure debt is repaid.
“We have been in touch with the family to discuss their concerns.”
Rachel now hopes to raise awareness about mental health issues and fundraise for Gofal.
For information on the charity’s work and how you can help, visit http://www.gofal.org.uk
Same Difference 
I would have sent them his new address, possibly the crematorium, stating this is his last known place of residence, but do not expect a reply. They in turn will return it as not known at this address. If the money was used to pay part of his funeral expenses then another option is to state another person cannot be held responsible for other persons debts and has there is no money available to settle the claimed error they will have to write it off.
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Wow this is disgusting this poor lady is grieving she has lost her son the most painful loss ever for a mum and dad to lose their child 😦 this lady did not make this mistake the dwp made it and this young man is so sadly no longer here to claim this money never mind pay it back bless him so therefore they can not and should not expect this lady to pay this money back who are these people at the dwp what is the matter with them have they got no heart no feelings no emotions can they not understand the heartbreak and pain this lady must be suffering god bless her the more I hear about the dwp the more I wonder who these people are and why they are so cold why they do not seem to have feelings or emotions it beggars belief to be honest
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Reblogged this on Notes from the north and commented:
Cold and heartless…..
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Apart from the moral issues this raises, why should his mum have to pay it back anyway? If he was receiving this benefit in his own right it is not his mother’s responsibility. I get ESA, £60 paid fortnightly (I have a small pension), if it was all spent by day 10, then I died on that day, would they ask my brother to pay back £17.14? I know exactly what he would say to them if they did!
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