Not all evidence considered for a claim
The complaint
Rachelle was living with her father when he had difficulties proving his right to live in the UK. He had come to the UK from Antigua as a child, but later had his passport stolen. When he applied for a passport in 2005, he was told he was never on record as living in the UK. Rachelle supported her father through the long and frightening process of proving his right to live in the UK, which caused her a lot of worry and distress.
Rachelle complained about how the Compensation Scheme handled her claim. She said it had been unwilling to recognise the serious impact of what had happened to her. She said it had not made any effort to assess her mental health or spoken to her GP or counsellor.
“To be heard and for my father and my family to be treated fairly, I had to expose my family to the media, face racial abuse on social media, leave my career and continue to struggle with my mental health. I want the racial, emotional and mental abuse I suffered to be recognised and compensated so I can heal.” – Rachelle
Rachelle wanted the Compensation Scheme to apologise and look at all the evidence to make sure she was compensated properly.
What we saw in our investigation
Rachelle asked for a review of her case, which was passed to the Adjudicator’s Office. It decided the Compensation Scheme should have gathered more evidence to understand how Rachelle’s mental health had been affected. It said if the Compensation Scheme found evidence to support her claim, it should increase the compensation awarded.
The Compensation Scheme looked at more evidence but confirmed it would not change its original decision on her claim.
Rachelle had given the Compensation Scheme contact details for her assigned GP and counsellor, and witness statements from colleagues about the impact on her mental health. It had not contacted these people. We felt the Compensation Scheme was still not looking at all the evidence.
Putting things right
We asked the Compensation Scheme to look at all the evidence and it agreed to do this. In May 2023, it increased the original award of £20,000 in compensation for Rachelle to £70,000.