A man was alarmed when he received a social security document referring to another claimant among his own records.

Michael Hollingworth, 46, of Wibsey, who is trying to claim Disability Living Allowance, was surprised to discover the mystery papers in a 40-page pile of information and forms sent to him by the Benefits Agency package.

Awaiting open heart surgery, he has been unable to work for 18 months and is currently appealing against a decision not to grant him the benefit.

But reading through the agency's correspondence, he came across notes about an appeals tribunal case for a Mr Hollingshead.

"I thought they'd spelt my name wrong but it was talking about ME and diabetes. I thought they must have got someone else's records mixed up with my own as it seemed to be in alphabetical order."

The four-page document referred to a decision on an appeal made by a Social Security Commissioner, an independent decision maker who reviews difficult cases.

But according to a Benefits Agency spokesman, the details of the case were sent to Mr Hollingworth as a previous example to give legal guidance. He said "It's just a coincidence that the names are similar. I know it's confusing as we had a similar case a few months ago.

"A submission written to an appeal tribunal is written in official language and people can find it difficult to understand. I dare say it's referred to but he may have missed the reference."

Mr Hollingworth said he had read through the papers and found no explanation for the documents. "It looked like a mix-up," he said. "If they put something in like that, they should really tell you it's an example."

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