Kent Law Clinic has won disability benefits for a man who lived in England from the age of three but had retained his Spanish citizenship.
The Clinic’s client was brought to the UK by his parents as a child. He then worked, married a UK citizen and they had children in London.
But when his parents became elderly, at their request, he returned to Spain to look after them until their deaths. When he returned to the UK he immediately obtained employment. Subsequently he became ill and was told that the only benefit he could claim was Jobseekers Allowance.
He was told that he had not worked for long enough to claim benefits on the basis he was unfit to work even though he had paid tax in the UK throughout his working life. His leaving to care for his parents meant he was treated as someone who had newly arrived without a job and therefore had no right to reside in the UK, and was not entitled to Employment and Support Allowance.
Students at Kent Law School who work in the Clinic established that EU law made their client eligible for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and helped him fill in the forms. He was still recovering from a major operation on a malign tumour on his brain, leaving him in severe pain and unable to work.
By the time the client came to the Kent Law Clinic for advice, he had been refused new benefits and his housing benefit was going to be stopped meaning he would not be able to pay the rent and would inevitably face eviction and potential homelessness.
The Employment and Support Allowance decision has been appealed. The Housing Benefit department have accepted he does have a right of residence and therefore will continue to pay the rent. The PIP claim has been granted. He now receives £112.00 per week PIP payment and has been paid a lump sum of £2,459.00 of PIP arrears. Now he has financial security and the Clinic students have helped him get the care and medical help he needs to recover.
The Clinic continues to assist with the Employment and Support Allowance appeals and will soon start on a new aspect of the case – assisting the client to make an application for permanent residence in the UK