A Scot from Ayrshire, helped by Martin Lewis, has been awarded £5,700 in benefit back payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and received the maximum award for Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
Christopher first appeared on the Martin Lewis Money Show Live in January to share how he is living with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome - a chronic connective tissue disorder that affects his entire body - and had applied for PIP in May 2021, but was still waiting on an outcome, some nine months later, and was living off £86 per month in DWP payments.
During an hour-long cost of living crisis special, Martin shared a short film showing Christopher at home talking about what has happened since he first appeared on the show.
Martin said: “He has worked since he was 16, but Christopher had to give up his job in hospitality last year because of his agonising illness.”
“He first applied for PIP in May, but due to his ex-oat status it took 16 weeks before the form arrived and then there was a catalogue of other delays, including postal problems.”
Speaking about being awarded £86 in financial support per pay period through Universal Credit, Christopher said he would have been “better off in prison”.
He explained: “In prison I would get fed, I would get exercised, I would have a comfortable place to live with heat and warmth.
“That was very much the lowest possible point and I was left absolutely terrified.”
Christopher added that he contacted the show as a “last resort” out of “sheer blind panic and terror”.
Martin told viewers how he and his team contacted the DWP while Lee Healy from Income Max, a benefits specialist who had appeared in the January show, worked on clarifying the technicalities of Christopher’s case.
Within three days Christopher got an appointment for a PIP assessment which took place just two weeks later.
“Three days after receiving the health assessment I was awarded backdated PIP of £5,700 and £608 going forward on a monthly basis,” Christopher explained.
The delighted Scot added: “Ten months waiting and then it’s done in two days - I feel so mightily relieved as it’s given me the validation that there is something wrong with me and that I do need the help.
“It’s brought me an immense amount of mental relief.”
He described Martin Lewis as his “hero” but the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com paid credit to Lee for his involvement.
He said: “My hero is Lee Healy who I think did far more work on this than I did.”
And the consumer champion had a message for everyone: “It is important for me to say to anybody out there struggling right now if you’ve got household income under £30,000 then my rule of thumb it is definitely worth spending ten minutes on a benefits calculator to see what you’re entitled to.”
Commenting directly on Christopher’s case, he added: “It should not take the media weight that I have to get a case like Christopher’s sorted, I know it was more complex and we’ve cut it down for that film, but it took too long and I can’t intervene for everyone - the system needs improving.”
This was the final Martin Lewis Money Show Live of the current series, but it will return in October in a new hour-long format.
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