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A former nurse claims she is being forced to live in her car and eat dog food because her disability benefits have been slashed.<\/p>\n
Ann Cumberland-Quinn, 56, say she has struggled since her Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was stopped following a review in December.<\/p>\n
She was then dealt a further blow when her Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) benefit was cut to \u00a3250 a fortnight from \u00a3375 in February of this year under government cuts.<\/p>\n
When asked how she was making ends meet, she said \u201cI\u2019m not. I\u2019ve been eating dog food. \u201d<\/p>\n
Ann has been living in her car \u2013 a Hyundai Santa Fe \u2013 on and off with her dog Chanel since losing her social housing bungalow in June 2015.<\/p>\n
She claims this was down to a mix up with her ESA payment she relied upon to pay the rent.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Ann, of Ely, Cambs, said: \u201cI\u2019ve been living in a car for a year-and-a-half.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just park the car up wherever I can find because I\u2019m ashamed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m keeping out of the way of everybody. I\u2019ve had enough and I\u2019m tired.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy head is banging with all this.\u201d
Ann, who suffers from neuropathy and owns her own car, said she can no longer afford the costs of housing following the changes to her benefits.<\/p>\n
She says being of no fixed abode is also hampering attempts to find a home.<\/p>\n
She continued: \u201cI\u2019ve got no family anymore and the councils are not going to house me because I have no connection anywhere. They\u2019ve said \u2018go live with your mum and dad\u2019 I said: \u2018I will be at this rate.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018I\u2019ll be in the ground with them, I can\u2019t dig them up.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI want some money to live and I\u2019m not living, I\u2019m just existing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll my nerve endings are dead. That \u2018s why I\u2019m incontinent and my legs have swollen up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got my little dog \u2013 she keeps me going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the cuts the ex-nurse, who once worked at The Princess of Wales Hospital, in Ely, Cambs., claims she received \u00a3550 in benefits.<\/p>\n
She now feels abandoned by the country\u2019s welfare system and social housing provision.<\/p>\n
She is currently homed in her car in Ely, and previously lived in a bungalow in nearby Mildenhall.<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman from Department for Work and Pensions confirmed Ann no longer receives her PIP allowance and had her ESA reduced from February this year, but she still receives payments every two weeks.<\/p>\n
She declined to comment further.
Angela Parmenter, housing and community safety manager from East Cambridgeshire District Council said: \u201cOur housing team works with anyone in the district who is homeless or threatened with potential homelessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will always try to ensure that nobody is homeless whatever their circumstances. When a person is considered to be vulnerable, interim temporary accommodation will be offered however the applicant does not have to accept it. We work tirelessly to prevent homelessness and rough sleepers in our district.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A former nurse claims she is being forced to live in her car and eat dog food because her disability benefits have been slashed. Ann Cumberland-Quinn, 56, say she 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-391051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n
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