A MUM living with multiple sclerosis (MS) has expressed her fears for the future after losing her disability benefits.

Molly Phillips, of Sebastopol, was diagnosed with MS in 2011 following a severe attack known as a relapse which meant she couldn’t work for six months.

At the time, she applied for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and was awarded the highest rate of support.

After a reassessment last year, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) decided the 31-year-old was no longer eligible for the benefit.

She said that the variable effects of MS - which includes ‘good’ and ‘bad’ days - were understood during her first assessment but the second assessment was “cold and uncaring”.

“I was made to feel as if I’d been faking my symptoms and he was trying to catch me out,” she said.

“He wasn’t interested; he just wanted yes or no answers and nothing in between.”

Although Mrs Phillips can appeal, she doesn’t have the “energy to take it any further” and fears another relapse would leave her unable to work.

A freedom of information request to the DWP by the MS Society, revealed 1,100 people had their PIP rejected between April 2013 - April 2017 despite qualifying for it previously.

Around 4,100 of new claims from MS patients were also disallowed.

The MS Society state while 65 per cent of all PIP decisions are overturned, a review of the assessment system is needed.

MS Society chief executive Michelle Mitchell added: “In too many cases, assessments fail to reflect the barriers people with MS face.

“Having MS is hard enough; it shouldn’t be made harder by a welfare system that doesn’t make sense.”

Mrs Phillips added:“My husband and I are both self-employed. He will have to take time off to look after me and we won’t have any income at all.

“If I feel poorly I look through our finances before deciding if I can take a day off or not.”

A DWP spokeswoman said assessments are conducted by health professionals with experience of MS and examine the impact of conditions over time.

She added that the MS Society has reviewed and provided training material to the DWP’s PIP assessment provider, exploring the condition and its relation to PIP.

“More than 2.6 million PIP decisions have been made, and of these eight per cent have been appealed and four per cent have been overturned,” she said.

She said that under PIP, 36 per cent more MS patients receive highest support than under Disability Living Allowance.