Shaun Rigby lost a leg when he was a child
A man with one leg who lost his disability benefits after the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) filmed him playing cricket for his local club has been ordered to repay the government £36,000. Shaun Rigby, 37, lost his leg below the knee in a tractor accident aged just two and took up the sport as a seven-year-old boy.
He played twice a week for Allscott Heath CC in Shropshire with the help of a runner and an umpire holding his crutch. The sheet metal worker, from Telford, Shropshire, has been in receipt of a personal independence payment (PIP) since 2016 and three years ago he was given a Motability car.
But the married dad-of-four, who formerly played for the England disabled cricket team, was left stunned to be told by the DWP that it had launched an investigation into his disability claim. Investigators filmed him and used it as evidence to take away his car and axe his benefits – around £500 a month. 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, he says, the DWP decided he didn’t need the subsidised car and should repay the money.
Shaun, who said he took daily 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 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 while 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 gone 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.”
