I feel I need to comment too.
I claim personal independence payment. This entitled my husband to claim carers allowance for me and then claim income support for both of us. This worked really well because it meant we had a stable income and didn't have to worry too much about money.
Until it went wrong. I rang the DWP and informed them that I was no longer part of the couple claim and my husband was no longer entitled to carers allowance. As the second person on the claim I could not do anything with the claim. It had to be my husband who rang in. Slight problem there, as we were not really on speaking terms. The advice from the DWP was to report him (and therefore me) to the fraud line. This was the only way I could stop the benefits and start claiming something in my own right.
All this took time, leaving me with no money during a very difficult transitional time where I needed as much support as possible, and not having to spend time, effort and money ringing the DWP, fraud line etc. etc.
Not only that I still have to sort my housing benefit out, because I need to claim backdated that I had no income during the time that all this was going on.
It is all a big mess.
When I was speaking to a support worker about whether I had experienced domestic abuse, we went over the definitions of the different types. Financial abuse is
a form of domestic abuse.
An abusive partner might stop you from having control over your money as a way of trying to exert power over you.
A financially-abusive partner might also be physically violent, but it’s not always the case.
Financial abuse in the home – whether or not it’s accompanied by aggression or physical violence – can leave you feeling isolated, lacking in confidence and trapped.
It can include:
- Controlling your bank account;
- Running up debts in your name;
- Stopping you from getting (or keeping) a job;
- Making you hand over your wages or benefits;
- Making you ask your partner – or others – for money;
- Stealing, taking or demanding money from you and/or;
- Not allowing you to spend money on yourself or your children; and
- Making you account for every penny you spend – for example by showing receipts
So, yes, thanks to the DWP and the way the benefits system works I was actually being financially abused. My question is though, who was the abuser, my husband or the DWP for putting me in that position in the first place?
