Yahoo News 'I won the Lottery and blew it in two months - now I'm desperate to get back on benefits'
A lottery winner from Scotland who blew his windfall in just months says he's desperate for benefits - but has been blocked from receiving them.
Daniel Millar bagged a huge jackpot in September 2017. In the years since, what should have been a dream turned into a nightmare for the disabled grandfather.
He told the Daily Record he 'didn't know' how to declare his winnings. And now the DWP has blocked his benefits payments.
Daniel, who worked in security, has long-term health problems. His wife Bridget, 63, is his full-time carer. He spent the cash over a course of several weeks on a cruise, holidays, house renovations and handouts to family, friends, and neighbours.
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However, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) discovered the prize and halted his payments and benefits - and said he no longer qualified housing benefit, income tax, council tax reduction or any other means-tested handouts. Daniel claims he is now living in poverty because he no longer qualifies for income support, housing benefit, a council tax reduction or any other means-tested handouts.
In 2018, he told the Daily Record that he didn't know he had to tell DWP and also claimed to be living in poverty. After the cuts, Millar only received £1.08 of pension per week and his personal independence payment of £350 per month. He said: "It's a nightmare. I don't know what I can do and I don't where to turn to. I didn't know I had to tell the Department for Work and Pensions, so I spent it all by giving it to my two sons and my daughter, paid two family holidays, did up my house and bought clothes for me and my wife."
"The money was all spent by November. In December, I got a letter from the DWP saying I had to go to an appointment. They then told me I had been reported by the tax office for having £80,000 in my bank. That was true in September but not when I went for the interview. I was £7 overdrawn. Now they have stopped my benefit.
"The only income I have is my personal independence payment of £350 per month and a pension of £1.08 per week. I have to pay full rent and council tax so we have little left to live on. My wife, who is my carer, gets £62 a week. She has to put that aside to pay other bills like gas, electric and phone."
His wife Bridget said the couple were "being punished for having a bit of luck", adding: "The DWP have said we aren't entitled to any money. They say that we have deprived ourselves of capital and don't qualify for the benefits. We just don't know what we will do."
