‘I’d swap it for someone to make me better’: Lotto gran slams outrage over her £20k car she got on disability benefits
Gran hits out at criticism over new fancy motor saying it's only what she's "entitled to"
LOTTO false claim gran Susanne Hinte has slammed outrage over her getting a £20k car on disability benefits - declaring “I’d swap it for someone to make me better”.
The Sun has told how the mum-of-two – who wrongly claimed she’d scooped a £32m jackpot – was handed a sporty Vauxhall Astra GTC on the taxpayer.
Smoker Susanne, 48, has funded it out of the Personal Independence Payment disability allowance she gets for having a heart condition called cardiomegaly.
It is usually caused by diseased arteries or by high blood pressure and means the heart struggles to pump blood effectively.
The condition causes shortness of breath, weight gain and fatigue and requires life-long medication.
The Sun’s front page prompted a huge row over why she should be getting such an expensive and luxurious motor while others are struggling to get by.
But Sue told this newspaper: “I love the car but I’m only getting what I’m entitled to.
“If they had asked me to pay more I would have done.
“Believe you me, if someone said they could fix my heart I would swap it for the car in a second.”
Susanne, who has an enlarged heart, gets a £500 monthly PIP plus around £600 in other benefits.
Part of the PIP payment includes a “mobility component” which Susanne is using to lease the car for three years under the Government’s Motability scheme.
It also gives her free road tax and servicing and free insurance for her and another named driver.
Mum-of-two Susanne, of Worcester, was initially offered a basic Vauxhall — but stumped up an extra £249 so she could have the sports edition.
A similar leasing deal would cost the average driver £400 a month.
A source said: “A lot of people can’t stand the fact she’s getting it free. It’ll infuriate them when they see it because it’s got all the gadgets and add-ons.
“Most people would have to save for years to buy one like it — but not Sue.”
The Sun told in January how Susanne tried unsuccessfully to claim a lottery jackpot with a damaged ticket.
She said it had the winning numbers for the £33million prize but she accidentally put it through the wash, destroying the date of the ticket.
Susanne later told The Sun it had been a genuine mistake.
She added: “I wish I’d never done it. I am never going to buy a lottery ticket again.”
The mum-of-one feared she would be the subject of a police investigation after the real winner of the draw came forward.