Telford man with one leg filmed playing cricket is ordered to pay back £36,000 to DWP
A Telford man with one leg who had his Motability car taken off him after the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) filmed him playing cricket has now been ordered to repay the Government £36,000.
Shaun Rigby, of Brookside, was involved in a tractor accident when he was just two that resulted in him losing his leg below the knee.
The father of four works full-time as a sheet metal worker, and has been in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) benefits since 2016 due to his disability. Three years ago he was given a Motability car to help him get around.
But Shaun is a keen cricketer, having taken up the sport in his youth, and has even played for the England disabled cricket team, and after the DWP found out he played the sport, investigators filmed him and used it as evidence to take away his car and axe his benefits.
The DWP has now ordered he pay back £36,000 after finding his "daily needs" did not require the car or enhanced PIP payment.
"I got a letter this morning," said Shaun on Friday (November 28). "They are saying my daily needs are not what I said they were and have said I've got to pay back £36,000."
He said the letter followed an appeal, which came after Shaun was interviewed under caution in August last year.
Despite Shaun's mobility issues deteriorating over the years, the DWP decided the one-legged man was undeserving of the subsidised car and should repay the money.
Shaun, who takes daily doses of painkillers prescribed by his GP to help ease his constant pain, said he can either wait 18 months to attend a tribunal to plead his case, or find the money to repay the DWP.
"I don't know what we are going to do," he said. "I suppose I'll just have to do more work to pay it off. It has been going on since August last year and the stress has not been doing me any good.
"I'm not sure if I want to continue to fight it. A friend went to a tribunal and it took more than 18 months.
"After they took the car off me my mum and sister clubbed together and have since bought me a car to get around; without one I would not be able to work."
He said the DWP decision was "unfair" and pointed to people with far less debilitating conditions using Motability cars.
Earlier this year, Shaun explained that his cricket playing did not mean he was not disabled or did not need the car, and said he had never hid the fact he had played for the England disabled team.
He said: “I've worked since I left school and played cricket since I was seven but the things I could do now are a lot less than 15 to 20 years ago as I've deteriorated quite a lot. I am on co-codamol, amitriptyline and naproxen prescribed from my GP which I take moderately day-to-day to help ease the pain, and get me through work.
“On a cricket day I take more medication in the morning to help me through the day and make the pain more tolerable. I am still in pain but felt that some sort of activity and interaction with friends was good for my own wellbeing.
“On bad days I play cricket with a runner when batting and in the field I'd be in positions where moving was limited and, if needed, the umpire would hold the crutch for me. The days after I played cricket are quite bad, but I played for the social side of things, and my attitude to life is to try doing things I enjoy whilst I still can.
“But they have said I should not have any of it because I play cricket; they have footage of me playing but just because I play cricket doesn't mean my leg has grown back. I still need help getting around.”
A spokesperson for the DWP said the decision had been put to an independent tribunal which agreed with the ruling.
They said: “Following Mr Rigby’s appeal, an independent tribunal agreed with DWP’s decision.
“Personal Independence Payments are awarded based on how a condition impacts a person’s day-to-day needs, as opposed to the condition itself.”
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