Three disgruntled former civil servants have been inundated with pleas for help after they set up a website offering emergency advice to welfare claimants who believe their benefits have been wrongly docked.{jcomments on}
The three women behind the initiative, who all worked for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), allege that many Jobcentre staff are instructed to veto a set proportion of claims. The allegation is strongly denied by the department. The women, who are based in the North-east of England and have not made their names public, launched the website in June without any fanfare.
In the last few days it has gone viral and the women have been bombarded by claimants accusing the DWP of unfairly cutting their benefits.
On one day last week the website, jobseekersanctionadvice.com, received 200 messages, half from people protesting against being wrongly penalised.
