A case of mistaken identity led to a mother being chased by the Department of Work and Pensions for more than £5,000 over the course of five years.
Sarah McKenzie, from Belle Vale, says she has been contacted by the DWP debt division demanding £5,444.19 for the last half-decade.
Sarah has contacted the DWP before and said she was assured that she does not owe the money and in fact it’s a woman with the same name who the letters are meant for.
Despite receiving assurances she was not being pursued for the money, she has continued to receive the debt letters and says they are now affecting her mental health.
Sarah, who cares for her son Adam, 23, who is autistic, said: ‘Our national insurance numbers are the only difference, it’s a case of mistaken identity.
‘For five years I’ve been getting these letters demanding money. It has this other woman’s national insurance number on the letters. Every time I call the DWP to complain they confirm I don’t owe anything and I ask them to stop the letters.’
The DWP has apologised and said it has now corrected its records. A spokesperson confirmed Ms McKenzie will no longer receive the letters.
Sarah told the ECHO the letters briefly stopped until she moved address and they started again around three years ago. The mum claims it’s now affecting her mental health as the amount of money being demanded is ‘stressing her out.’
Sarah McKenzie, from Belle Vale, says she has been receiving letters from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) demanding £5,444.19 for five years due to a case of mistaken identity
She said: ‘It’s bringing an immense stress. I have a disabled son with autism who is really poorly at the moment, he is under the hospital awaiting surgery and this added stress is not something I need right now.
‘When I got the first letter I was suicidal, I looked at the amount it said I owed on the letter and I thought “what the hell, how am I going to pay this”.
‘I’m a single mum on benefits, I don’t have that kind of money, I was crying.
‘I couldn’t cope with that kind of stress. I phoned up to query it and that’s when they first told me the letters were meant for the other woman. The amount they demanded was so scary.’
A DWP spokesperson said: ‘We have now corrected Ms McKenzie’s records, and she will no longer receive these letters. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.’