To want to beat anyone who says disability benefits are easy to scam....

[WitchOfEorzea]

...around the head with this envelope I have in my hand. A DLA application for dd.

Seventy questions filled in, with the aid of an online guide.

19 pages of additional information in essay format that couldn't possibly fit in the little boxes they give you.

22 pages of official reports from consultant paediatricians, specialist speech and language therapists, GP, nursery, portage and IDS.

And they will still probably make it as difficult as possible for me if it's a anything like my experience of getting PIP.

People commenting on how easy it is to scam the system make me want to cry.

I think I deserve a drink now!

[MatildaTheCat]

Oh god, how much I agree. Just trying to summon the strength to phone PIP helpline to ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration. Anyone who thinks its easy and the system full of cheats should just try it.

Hope your application is successful.

[WitchOfEorzea]

MatildaTheCat it drains the life out of you doesn't it!

If it makes you feel any better my PIP claim was rejected. Amazingly after a mandatory reconsideration was requested suddenly I was deemed worthy of the highest rate

[Helpisathand13]

I wish the best of luck to anyone who has to complete the PIP application process and subsequent assessments. Good luck I definitely feel your stress of the whole thing. X

[SoleBizzz]

Did you see the undercover benefits cheat programme last night on C5? Madequate me feel sick.

[WitchOfEorzea]

Helpisathand13 thank you!

I must admit, I did get a little feeling of 'Enjoy reading that you fuckers' as I wedged in ALL of the papers

I might get a lovely assessor, just my experiences so far have been trying.

[PeggyMitchell123]

Fully agree with you. My mum cannot work and has the support of hospital consultants. She went through an awful time with her benefits being stopped and having to appeal. She got it in the end but she said there were people in tears with all the stress of it all. It's not easy to get at all.

[WitchOfEorzea]

SoleBizzz no I didn't!

[franincisco]

Sadly it is easy to scam for those that are genuinely not in need. I applied for my dc and it was rejected, but I got the help of an organization related to the disability and we won at tribunal. I would never have known how to answer the questions properly (even though the disability was very obvious, NG tube feeding etc)

Through voluntary work I have met "scammers" who do not seem very intelligent IQ wise but have the know how to pass the assessments with flying colours. They don't want to ever work and their only route is faking disability. I was genuinely shocked and horrified at the lengths that some have openly admitted they have gone to to get it.

[WorraLiberty]

God that sounds like a nightmare, OP.

How on earth do people manage if they're not very good at filling in forms etc?

[franincisco]

IME it is the genuine cases where people are honest that have the most difficulty.

[BigbreastsBiggerbeard]

OP - you certainly deserve a drink and possibly a small medal . So glad you got the PIP award after the reconsideration.

They are a nightmare. Utter hell. And it's so ironic that it's the people who are the most ill and often unable to deal with stressful situations like this that are faced with having to fill them out. They make you jump through hoops - and it's becoming more difficult.

[TheFairyCaravan]

I was lucky with my PIP claim, I got the same rate as my DLA. I did send in 50 pieces of medical evidence, my further information was 12 pages long. The assessor I had was quite nice too.

It's not easy though and it pisses me off no end when people think you just go to the doctors, get a sick note and hey presto you've got a "free" car!

[WitchOfEorzea]

WorraLiberty I have wondered that and it feels very unfair.

Without that online guide that I was pointed to by a charity what would I have done?

I know there are parents who aren't good at filling in forms. Why should they be denied benefits for a disabled child even if they have actual medical reports to back it up...just because they didn't check off all the boxes in their answer (which would be impossible to do in the space they actually provide you)

[WitchOfEorzea]

🍻🍸🍷🍹

Some drinks for everyone 😁

[franincisco]

AFAIK there is a helpline that you phone and they will do it with you over the phone so that you don't have to fill in anything. A friend of mine has CFS and fibromyalgia and filling the form in herself was impossible. She said she would describe/explain her symptoms and the telephonist would type it up concisely.

[pugsake]

Witch you deserve the entire bar.

Mines due in March and il no doubt have a year to wait for an appeal again

[Pickled0nions]

I know someone who claims DLA for her son who isn't even diagnosed and he gets the high rate!!! I have another friend who knows of this friend who has a son who is very autistic, fully diagnosed and most are aware of his diagnosis. She cannot get the help he needs and only gets medium rate.

God knows how someone is able to get a high rate for disability that isn't diagnosed, beyond me.

[WitchOfEorzea]

franincisco that's great I feel much better now I know people have that option!

pugsake I really hope they don't drag it out that long for you again

[BillSykesDog]

I think people think it's like it used to be where you could just get one sick note and that was it for years. I hear it's horrendous now.

[ToxicLadybird]

YANBU

I put off and put off and put off filling in those bastarding forms for 15 years. Then I finally managed, with expert help, to complete them and send them off. 3 years later I was notified that my claim was successful.

[WitchOfEorzea]

It's not just that either, I may bd being sensitive but it feel almost like an instant stigma.

One Mum when she found out I was applying for dd practically sneered at me!

And I constantly hear people slagging off 'Jeff over the road got a new car, fucking scrounger, I saw him walking the other day'

(Said by two neighbours of mine. 'Jeff' has ms, can't walk for long at all and his wife drives him. I actually talk to my neighbours instead of gossiping about them!)

[WitchOfEorzea]

ToxicLadybird Unbelievable!

How can they justify doing that to people?

[BrainWillingBodyNotSoMuch]

I am so scared about getting the letter saying I need to transfer to PIP. I've got indefinite DLA so I don't have to worry about filling in the sodding form every couple of years it is such a relief. I'm fully expecting to be refused first time around. In which case they'll take my motability car and I'll be helpless and housebound. I won't be able to get to hospital appointments take the kids to nursery and school so I get to have proper rest or get anywhere at all. Public transport is out as I don't have the energy. Plus I hate hate hate thinking that people think I'm making it up. The amount of pain I'm in at the moment is extreme (so much so my consultant has been getting the nurses to ring me. The consultant is on her day off and wants to check I'm coping!!).

Do they still have the question about having problems filling in forms in the application? It made me chuckle as they always put it about page 19, why not put it on the first page?!

[FedupofbeingtoldIcantusemyname]

Yanbu Op, its bloody hard to claim it if you are genuine let alone if you're faking it! Some people obviously do manage it but I have no idea how.

[Bluebolt]

It is difficult when the claimant is has a diagnosis that is on a spectrum. I was very lucky as DS2 paediatrician advised me to lead with his severe learning difficulties and not his Autism. He needs 24 hours supervision written on his diagnosis and written by me on every question of the form.