DWP benefit claimants give verdict on welfare system - 'You're not treated as human'

Britain's welfare system is "consciously cruel" and pushing claimants beyond the brink, a major report warns today.

Involving interviews with hundreds of people on benefits, Amnesty International's new reseach claims the current system is ruining lives. One claimant applying for benefits told the researchers: "I would often be asked the same question three times to see if I'd change my answer. The process feels like you are on trial for murder, they act like they are trying to catch you out and that you are begging".

The human rights organisation's report claims the welfare system is subjecting people to stigma while failing to provide a decent standard of living. It warns: “It is Amnesty International’s view that the social security system falls short of its obligation to treat claimants with humanity and compassion.”

The report also found evidence the current sanctions regime worsens mental health with some people even forced to go without food. One claimant told the authors: “They look down on you when you walk into the Jobcentre. I had a panic attack in the Jobcentre. I couldn’t breathe, and she went 'you better get upstairs now and see your work coach, or we are going to sanction you'".

And an advisor told Amnesty: “Client lost benefits and home after being turned down for not attending the assessment as he soiled himself on the train to assessment centre and had to go home”.

Jen Clark, Economic and Social Rights Lead at Amnesty International UK, said: “Lives are being ruined by a system that is cruel – it erodes dignity by design. We are in a state of severe human rights violations. The social security system is impenetrable, inadequate, and for some completely inaccessible."

“There can be no tinkering of the system – it has gone too far, and it is too late. There must be full reform. It is broken from start to finish and intentionally sets people up to fail." The Mirror spoke to three people with experience of the welfare system.

'The DWP could treat people with a bit more compassion'

John Stainton had a long career as a civil servant working for the - travelling on operations across the globe from America to Cyprus and . His four years of work in also led to him being awarded an OBE in 2015.

But shortly after returning from being deployed to Kabul in 2021 to assist with the evacuation he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), which doctors described at the time as "quite agressive".

Mr Stainton, now 63, told The he eventually left work in 2022. He said: "I was 60. I wasn't expecting to retire. I took early medical retirement in the end." He then began applying for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) benefits after being advised by a friend.

But he described the process as "alien", adding: "Doing my tax return was quite straightforward but the PIP process with the just didn't seem to make any sense." He was scored four points by assessors for mobility but zero for the impact MS was having on his daily life - a decision he appealed and eventually won after a lengthy ordeal.

"It took me about 15 months in total from when I first rang up to register to when the appeal came out," he said. The DWP wrote to me chuckle, chuckle, chuckle, and said they were delighted to tell me they'd decided I deserve PIP. I thought, you haven't decided, you've been told by a judge."

He added: "I am a member of a Hampshire-wide MS-support group. We meet up on a regular basis. It causes people so much stress, worry and anxiety. There are a number of people who don't want that stress and anxiety and just don't appeal, don't even apply [for PIP]. Lots of them are younger and they need the support to help them work and contribute to society."

He said of the welfare system: "For a start they could treat people with a bit more compassion. The trouble is they start from the wrong process... the start process seems to be that anyone claiming benefits must be a scrounger.

"Whereas all the people I talk to, living with MS, are either people who have made a contribution to society or they are people who desperately want to make a contribution."

'I missed my father passing away - I couldn't get the money together to visit'

Former post-room worker Phil Davidge unexpectedly lost his job back in September 2023. "The job came to an end quite suddenly," he told The Mirror. "I had a few days of holiday entitlement so I used those at the end of my time there."

During those days - before he was technically unemployed - he decided to apply for early to get ahead. But Mr Davidge, now 66, from Leeds, did not realise the claim automatically began from the day the form was filled out and attempted to amend this with the DWP.

"They refused, so I lost a month's benefit as a result of that," he said. Mr Davidge also never received support towards his home costs - despite chasing - and could not afford to visit his dad in Swansea in his dying days due to travelling costs.

He said: "I just didn't have the money. I actually missed my father passing away because I couldn't get the money together to come down [to Swansea]. The rest of the family were around him at his bedside when he did pass away but I couldn't get the money together and the DWP were reluctant to help me.

"I don't know if they thought I was exaggerating my circumstances, or joking, or whatever, but they didn't seem to want to help. They said their hands were tied by the regulations."

He said of his experience going to the Jobcentre: "It came across to me as if I was on a production line. They called my name out, sat me down, asked me the same questions in a robotic fashion as if they were reading off a script or I was talking to an AI programmed robot. It didn't make me feel valued in any way shape or form."

'You're not treated as a human - you just feel really vulnerable all of the time'

Single mum Carly Newman, who works for a charity in London, used to be employed part-time and received Universal Credit to top up her income. It helped her with her young son's nursery costs and private rental fees in the capital.

But during the five-week wait for her first UC payment in 2019, Ms Newman was moved from a temporary to a permanent position and was paid outstanding holiday. "I hadn't really thought about this - that obviously came through as a higher pay for that month, which coincided with my first Universal Credit payment unfortunately," she said.

"What the system did was read that as a much bigger pay, and cancelled my claim unbeknown to me. I had no communication from them." Asked when she found out her claim had been cancelled, she said: "When I went to pay my rent and the money wasn't there."

She added: "I just remember being at the train station on the way to work, crying, just being like 'there must be something you can do' to help me. Obviously there wasn't. You're left in a very vulnerable position."

Ms Newman was then forced to make a new claim, leaving her wanting a total of 10 weeks before receiving her first UC payment. She said of the welfare system: "The feeling you're consistently living with on Universal Credit is one of vulnerability. Anything can affect your payment, you've uploaded the wrong invoice or something and you've got so little control. The inflexibility of the system is like 'computer says no' situation. You're not treated as a human. You just feel really vulnerable all of the time."

She added: "The narrative... that somehow we all just want to be on benefits and not to go work and have this free money. Actually most people on Universal Credit are in work and most people want to be at work earning a secure income. Universal credit doesn't feel secure. It feels so vulnerable and insecure and that's a horrible feeling to have to live with, especially as a single parent. It just feels like it can be ripped away from you at any moment - no one wants to live like that."

What the Government says

A Government spokesperson said: “We inherited a fundamentally broken welfare system which does not work for the people it is supposed to support.

"That's why, as we secure Britain's future through our Plan for Change, our reforms to health and disability benefits will ensure the welfare system is there to protect those who need it most.

“We are also unlocking opportunities for sick and disabled people through our £1bn employment support package, and we’ve also increased the Living Wage, boosted benefits, and extended the Household Support Fund for another year to help low-incomes families with the cost of essentials, as well as protecting pensioners through our commitment to the triple lock.”

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