A man who won £80,000 on the National Lottery wants to “reclaim his benefits” after spending his winnings in just a few weeks.
Grandfather Daniel Millar, from Motherwell, was living on benefits when he won the award in September 2017, the Daily Chronicle reported.
But he failed to tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about his win and when the tax office discovered he had money in the bank, he was reported.
As a result, the DWP stopped providing him with income support, housing benefit and council tax relief.
But by November 2017, Miller had spent all his winnings and eventually begged the DWP to claw back his benefits.
He told the Daily Chronicle: “I didn't know I had to tell the Department for Work and Pensions, so I gave all my money to my two sons and daughter, paid for two family holidays, renovated My house, bought clothes for me and my wife.
When the DWP told him in November that he had been reported to Inland Revenue, Miller said he was £7 overdraft by then.
He said: “Now they have stopped my benefits. My only income is a personal independence payment of £350 a month and a pension of £1.08 a week. I have to pay full rent and council tax so we have very little left to live with. Living. My wife is my carer and earns £62 a week.
His wife said the DWP had informed the couple that they had “deprived themselves of capital and were ineligible for benefits”.
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