Scottish Power Reconnects Desperately Ill Claimant

A desperately ill woman is living alone by candlelight without power or heating after her benefits were axed.

Donna Cross has lived in a crumbling room without electricity or gas for a year with only a stained sofa and duvet to keep her warm.

Ms Cross has been receiving benefits since she left school.

But they were cut last year after she failed to turn up to a medical assessment because she had to go a doctor’s appointment.

She said: “I used to get Jobseekers Allowance even though I’ve told them I’m not well enough to work.

If I’m too ill to work, how can I look for a job? And how can I look for a job if I can’t use a computer?

“When they stopped the benefits last year, that’s when I felt I was in a situation where I didn’t know if I was going to cope.”

Ms Cross often has to brave the freezing cold on an empty stomach.

Ms Cross said: “The diabetes means I can’t walk that far. It causes me sweats and makes me tired.

“I’ve told the council about my illnesses but they said they couldn’t do anything because I’ve had the limit of vouchers.”

She added: “I can’t cook a meal - not only does the cooker not work but I also don’t have any food because all the foodbank stuff is out-of-date.

“With my diabetes I have to eat.”

Some of the only edible food in the house is for a stray cat that occasionally pops in.

“I just wish I could get off the couch, have a wash, clean my clothes, have a hot meal and live like a normal person,” she said.

Without any money, Ms Cross has no way to buy food or top up her electricity and gas metres.

While Scottish Power and British Gas both allowed her to use some electricity on credit, the two companies have now cut her off.

She was forced to pawn off some of her personal items for a bit of change to have enough electricity to boil a kettle, but now she has no way of keeping herself warm.

And since her husband, Patrick, died in 1997 and her three children were taken away by social services, her destitute life has been a lonely one.

She said: “When my husband died I was depressed, crying, and very sad.

“The past is still with me: my husband died, the depression is still here, my children and dogs got taken away.

“Loneliness has kind of set in because nobody comes to see me.”

During the day Ms Cross seeks solace in the warmth of Norris Green Library.

But when it closes she is forced to return to her meagre living conditions.

She said: “When it’s dark it’s even more horrible. I have a hot water bottle which keeps me warm slightly.

“The house is pitch black. When I get off the couch, I get too cold to do anything.”

But the sheets of neatly written notes sprawled across the room suggests she keeps herself busy at home.

Image: Donna Cross. 

She said: “I like reading. They’re just words I’ve taken from the Bible.

“When there’s words in the Bible and I don’t know what they mean I look them up in the back of the book and write them down.

“I got myself some glasses from Poundland and it’s the only way I can see but they broke and I can’t read anymore.”

Still, Ms Cross refuses to give in to her inhuman living conditions: “I just wish my life had gone a bit better. But I haven’t given up. I still have hope.”

A Liverpool City Council spokesman said: “We can’t comment in detail on individual cases except to say that in circumstances such as this extensive and repeated efforts are made by a range of services to support individuals, including advice around budgeting and additional financial support such as access to the Liverpool Citizen Support Scheme.”

A Scottish Power spokesperson said: “We have provided Ms Cross with financial assistance for six years and we have now written off her outstanding debt as a goodwill gesture.

“We will send someone to reconnect her right away.”