| Husband calls for justice over his
wife’s dying wish  By
Niamh Hennessy
EILEEN Major’s dying wish was to be buried in her home county of Mayo.
Having lived in Britain for over 50 years her husband Victor who is
originally from the North of Ireland wanted to give her the send-off she
deserved when she died in June last year.
But with no substantial savings of his own and in receipt of Housing and
Council Tax Benefit Victor was forced to borrow part of the expenses and
applied to the British Benefits Agency for a funeral grant of £2,000
to pay for the remainder of the costs.
But his application for the grant was refused when the agency told him
that because his wife of 46 years was not being buried in Britain he would
not qualify.
Victor who lives in Hillingdon, West London was devastated at this decision
and asked his friend and former local councillor Wally Kennedy for help.
It took nine months for their case to be heard by a tribunal but this
week the pair were told Victor would not be entitled to any of the grant
money.
The ruling stated that Victor qualified for every condition but one.
They failed in the fifth condition where it states that to qualify for
the funeral grant the funeral should either take place in Britain or in
an EEA country if the responsible person is a migrant worker.
The chairperson of the hearing said neither Victor nor Eileen would be
considered migrant workers since they had been living in Britain since
the early 1950s.
Following the decision Victor said: “All I want is justice and this
decision is not fair. Both myself and Eileen worked in Britain all our
lives and we paid our taxes here. But because she is not buried in Britain
we will not get a penny. I just want to see some fairness and justice.”
Following his ruling the chairperson of the hearing Mr G A Hargreves said
this regulation is one which causes a lot of heartache for many people
and is very restrictive.
Wally Kennedy, who was representing Victor said: “This appeal is
for fairness and justice. Mr Major should be awarded the benefit that
he would have received if his wife Eileen had been buried in Britain.
“He feels the legislation has been wrongly interpreted and applied.
He is not asking for the full cost of the funeral just some help with
Eileen’s burial expenses.”
Following this week’s decision Mr Kennedy and Victor have decided
they will continue their fight for justice and are seeking the help and
advice of a lawyer.
n If anybody would like to speak to Mr Kennedy about this case you can
contact him on: 07746 865 086. |
