Dad, 34, took his own life after wait for Universal Credit left him with £4.61
Phillip Herron had fallen behind with rent and was trying to feed his three children, who he had left his job as a factory worker to look after.
The wait for Universal Credit was the ‘final nail in the coffin’ for a single dad who took his own life, his mum has claimed.
Phillip Herron, 34, had fallen behind with rent and was trying to feed and clothe his three children, who he had left his job as a factory worker to look after.
He was also in £20,000 of debt which included pay day loans with 1000 per cent interest.
Phillip had applied for Universal Credit but the month-long wait drove him even deeper into debt and left him with only £4.61 in his bank account.
His mum Sheena Derbyshire, 54, told the Mirror: ‘That was the final nail in his coffin.’
Minutes before he died on March 18, he posted a picture of himself crying on social media.
Sheena said it was ‘dangerous’ to make families wait so long for payments when they are already desperate.
She added: ‘In his suicide note he said his family would be better off if he wasn’t there anymore.
‘He was a single dad. He was responsible. He always had money before and the kids had the best of everything.’
Universal Credit was brought in by the coalition government in 2013 to replace a number of benefits with one single payment.
But as it is paid monthly in arrears there is an average five-week wait for the first payment to be paid to the recipient.
Sheena only discovered how dire Phillip’s financial situation had become in the weeks after his death.
Letters at his home detailed how much debt he was in, and he had also been served an eviction notice.
Her grandchildren told her that for Christmas that year ‘Santa hadn’t come’.
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: ‘Our thoughts are with Mr Herron’s family.
‘Suicide is a very complex issue, so it would be wrong to link it solely to someone’s benefit claim.
‘We are committed to safeguarding vulnerable claimants and keep guidance under constant review to provide the highest standard of protection.’
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