A woman with stage 4 colon cancer has had her universal credit payments stopped and is at risk of losing her home after she fell ill while visiting family to tell them about her diagnosis.
Ana Paula Cabral, 65, who moved to the UK from Portugal eight years ago, started receiving universal credit (UC) in July when she was unable to work following her cancer diagnosis, which required multiple chemotherapy treatments.
His payments suddenly stopped in September after he fell seriously ill while in Portugal, with the department for work and pensions (DWP) ruling him out for a month.
With no income, Cabral said she feared losing her London home because she couldn’t pay her rent and bills, and could also lose her rent and bills in a nearby foreclosure sale.
“I’m supposed to pay the rent and all my bills but I can’t pay. I’m so sorry,” she said. “With this decision about my universal credit, I’m on the verge of losing my flat. I have a noble life with a small apartment with my little things, if I don’t pay all the things, and I don’t pay the rent.
“I am very weak because I am very happy in the UK. I have never asked for any help, now because I have one sick day in the eight years I have been working there.”
Cabral said he consulted with doctors at the London hospital and was given the go-ahead to travel to Portugal on August 2 to tell his children, including his children, about his condition.
“I’m asking permission from my cancer team if I can go to Portugal to tell my family, because this is the kind of news you don’t tell over the phone,” he said. “The plan is that I will come, I told them, I will return and I continue to [chemotherapy] treatment. “
However, after arriving in Portugal he fell seriously ill with a blood infection, and was taken to hospital by ambulance where he had two operations.
He has been advised that he is not yet fit to fly back to the UK, where he is scheduled to continue chemotherapy treatment, and doctors in Portugal and the UK will be treating him for three months there.
In September, Cabral’s universal credit payments were stopped as he failed to return to the UK for a month.
Cabal appealed the decision, with supporting evidence from his doctors in the UK and Portugal that explained his condition, because he did not travel to Portugal, he was not suitable for medical treatment, he was not eligible for an exception.
“I received a letter [from the DWP] Last week said the main reason was because I was on holiday in Portugal. That I’m here and I’m not coming back. And because the reason I went to Portugal is not for [medical] Get treatment,” Cabral said.
“Of course not. I have to come and go back
Under the Universal Credit Rules, people abroad will continue to receive payments for up to six months if they travel for treatment in England, Scotland and Wales.
Cabral’s Appeal decision says: “I recognize that you have treatment in Lisbon that is not expected to apply because of the medical involvement that should have treatment in your treatment.
“You are advised that you did not leave GB to get medical treatment, you left to visit family and then your circumstances changed. Therefore, the loss cannot be ignored for this reason.”
The DWP has been contacted for comment.