A HUGE cash clawback of £50,000 has been secured for constituents in Inverclyde by MP Ronnie Cowan and his case workers.

The figure includes a massive 'life-changing win' of nearly £17,000 for a woman who had been denied her right to her full entitlement of Personal Independence Payment until the MP's staff intervened.

It also includes a large payment of £5,958 for a woman who was entitled to Employment Support Allowance and Limited Work Capability benefits but had not been paid the money she was due.

Mr Cowan's team also secured a payment of more than £4,000 in mental health payments for a woman who had been told she did not qualify for the benefit.

An elderly man who had not been paid his full state pension amounts received a payment of over £3,500  after intervention from the SNP MP's office.

One mum had been unable to secure her right to child disability payment and contacted the MP's office.

Caseworker staff were able to secure a payment of £3,300 for her and her child.

And a man who had struggled to get his full entitlement of housing benefit was relieved when the MP's staff managed to clinch a payment of more than £3,000 which had been denied to him.

Mr Cowan said: "My caseworkers deal with a huge variety of constituent cases, and many of these are highly complex.

"A huge amount of them are not related to money or compensation but are in fact constituents raising issues which they rightly want resolved.

"But in March we realised that there was a significant surge in constituents who had lost out financially. Many had tried other agencies to get these matters resolved, but had been unsuccessful.

"So I decided to keep a dedicated record of the money my staff have been able to secure for my constituents.

"In a cost of living crisis it is unacceptable for often vulnerable people to miss out on what they are due.

"In many cases these payments have made a real difference to the lives of my constituents and their families, and that can only be deemed as a significant gain for Inverclyde.

"By their nature these cases are complex and often confusing, and of course, that works against the people who are due the money in benefits cases."

Many of the payments secured by the MP's office relate to disputes between constituents and companies or organisations and can be as little as £50 'goodwill' payments.

But they represent a victory for constituents, many of whom are distressed by their treatment at the hands of energy companies or government bodies.

In the complex circumstances of the £17,000 PIP case, the cash amount related to an underpayment going back to 2017.

The Department for Work and Pensions awarded the constituent £10,000 in backdated payments in May this year after intervention from the MP's staff.

They had wrongly believed that an historical overpayment of £6,000 had to be deducted from the award.

But after the MP's staff emailed and spoke to officials over the phone, the DWP relented and informed the constituent and the MP's office that the full amount of the award would now be made.

Other payments on the list of recoveries and claims include a woman constituent who had not been paid a grant through a private company.

She was delighted when Mr Cowan's caseworker staff secured the £1,454 she was due.

Other cases related to HMRC, DWP or energy company compensation and payments of £400, £200 and £80 were secured in these cases respectively.

Since March 9 this year the total amount of cash claimed back for constituents, and injected back into the Inverclyde economy from the MP's office is at £50,225 and counting.

Mr Cowan said: "My staff have done a fantastic job, not just over the past nine months, but before that too when the many of the cases they won went uncollated in this way.

"I would urge constituents who feel aggrieved to contact my office. My staff are very good at resolving these matters where possible.

"The fact that more than £50,000 has been secured for people living here - and we are still counting - should bring us all a wee bit of Christmas cheer."