Ann Cumberland-Quinn has struggled since her Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was stopped following a review.
A former nurse claims she is living out of her car and has to eat dog food after suffering a cut to her benefits.
Ann Cumberland-Quinn, 56, who relies on a mobility scooter and crutches to get about, has struggled since her Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was stopped following a review in December.
She was then dealt a further blow when her Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) benefit was slashed to £250 a fortnight from £375 in February of this year under government cuts.
Ann has been living in her car in Ely, Cambridgeshire, on and off with her dog Chanel since losing her social housing bungalow in Mildenhall in June 2015, which she claims was down to a mix up with her ESA payment she relied upon to pay the rent.
Since then she has been left feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of finding a home, relying instead upon homeless shelters and the goodwill of strangers.
“I’ve been living in a car for a year-and-a-half,” she told Cambridge News.
“I just park the car up wherever I can find because I’m ashamed. I’m keeping out of the way of everybody. I’ve had enough and I’m tired.
“My head is banging with all this.”
Ann claims she’d resorted to eating dog food to survive.
When asked how she was making ends meet, she said “I’m not OK, If you must know I’ve been eating dog food. ”
SUBSTRATUMS 
I sympathise with this woman, as she has obviously got problems. I don’t understand though, why she is refusing help from the people and the council that are trying to help her. Also, why would she eat dog food, when a tin of beans is cheaper?
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Don’t know…but if people believe she’s eating dog food then it makes the Tories look bad, I suppose that’s the angle.
I remember a few years ago, on DWP examination someone wrote in and said that when he went to ATOS for his fit for work examination, and once in the assessment room the Health care professional kicked his crutches away, and of course he fell to the ground.
The examiner then shouted at the top of his voice…GET UP YOU SCROUNGING CRIPPLE, YOU’RE A FAKER, AND I KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH YOUR TYPE, I’M GOING TO MAKE SURE YOUR FIT FOR WORK.
Believe it if you like, we all thought…was it true or not true, but it made/makes those dirty filthy lying ATOS assessors look real bad, that was the point I suppose.
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