Furious mum handed £5,000 DWP debt letter through the post

A mum was left distressed and crying after receiving demands from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for more than £5,000. A case of mistaken identity meant Sarah McKenzie, from Belle Vale, Liverpool, was sent documents over five years demanding she fork out £5,444.19. This was affecting her mental health, despite being reassured by officials that the letters were meant for another woman of the same name.

Ms McKenzie, who cares for her 23-year-old autistic son, Adam, said: "For five years I've been getting these letters demanding money. It has this other woman's National Insurance number on the letters. Every time I call the DWP to complain they confirm I don't owe anything and I ask them to stop the letters." The requests for cash stopped for a short while until she moved address. They then started again about three years ago, the mother said.

She told Express sister site the Liverpool Echo that the saga is now affecting her mental health, with the large amount of money being demanded "stressing her out".

Ms McKenzie: "It's bringing an immense stress.

"I have a disabled son with autism who is really poorly at the moment, he is under the hospital awaiting surgery and this added stress is not something I need right now.

"When I got the first letter I was suicidal, I looked at the amount it said I owed on the letter and I thought 'what the hell, how am I going to pay this.'

"I'm a single mum on benefits, I don't have that kind of money, I was crying."

She added: "I couldn't cope with that kind of stress.

"I phoned up to query it and that's when they first told me the letters were meant for the other woman.

"The amount they demanded was so scary."

A DWP spokesperson said: "We have now corrected Ms McKenzie's records, and she will no longer receive these letters.

"We apologise for the inconvenience caused."