A MUM living with Parkinsons has battled the Government for nine years over her benefits.
Charlotte Allen, 54, said she felt bullied and harassed when the Department for Work and Pensions revoked some payments.
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It left her struggling to work in her own business and she is worried for others in a similar position, she said.
Charlotte, of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, wants anyone diagnosed with Parkinsons to automatically get the higher PIP rate.
She added that reviews and assessments are a waste of time and money, because the disease will only get worse, never better.
Charlotte said: “I wonder out of the thousands of people with Parkinson’s who have been harassed and asked to attend assessments to review their benefits?
“How many have have got better, or have improved health, so their benefits could be stopped?
“The guy dealing with my Access to Work application at the DWP has put so many hurdles in the way and at the final stages cancelled my application.”
Charlotte lost her higher rate Disability Living Allowance, got the basic Personal Independent Payment rate and had three appeals rejected.
She also had no financial support during the pandemic, her Access to Work grant ended and had to fill in various forms when trying to get it reinstated.
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And her Access to Work application was cancelled, which left her without money for 12 weeks.
Charlotte has had Parkinson’s for 18 years. Her partner Russ Bradford also lived with the condition, which affects the brain and causes shaking and stiffness.
She told ChronicleLive: “Some days I can’t even write my name, some days my speech is affected, some days I just fall asleep.
“You never know what your abilities will be like from one day to the next.
“When will the DWP truly understand the nature of Parkinson’s? It is not going to get better and there is no cure.”
She said she needs help and support to work and accused the DWP’s processes of destroying families.
A DWP spokeswoman said: “We apologise for the distress caused to Ms Allan.
“After reviewing further evidence, we can now award Ms Allan with the Enhanced Mobility rate and are working with her to progress her Access to Work application.”
