Family member awarded enhanced pip - AIBU?

And who would get the Juicy contract?. anyway all hypothetical shit that ain't going to happen.

It sounds counter intuitive but there is a report in the newspapers today of a woman in Wales who claimed benefits - mostly PIP - of £20,000 whilst simultaneously advertising pole dancing and yoga classes and posting videos of herself doing them online. So it does happen.

Sounds like they have mental health issues (so a genuine reason to claim, and separately a glaring example of the failing mental health and social care systems)

Because openly boasting about committing a crime is obviously foolish (increases risk of being reported and/or caught). That massive lack of self preservation indicates mental ill health or cognitive health issues.

Alternatively it could be they received delivery their PIP for mental illness but due to many people sadly feeling shame about having mental ill health, they'd rather tell people it's for a physical issue (bad back etc) and/or downplay it.

Sounds like they genuinely do have an illness.
Mental ill health.

Because as you say, a) going to rather extreme lengths for a fairly pitiful amount of money, and b) cheerfully telling everybody - so risking being caught).

Well, I would not use the word lying myself, but I do wonder about all these people who openly boast about not being disabled, yet able to claim on the say so of having a bad back, or being, you know, a bit anxious!

I've been completely blind since birth. I use my PIP to pay for equipment and adaptations which allow me to access things that sighted people are able to every day without a single thought. I'd happily give up my PIP to one of the moaners on here if they'd like to give me their sight in exchange.

Perhaps those who are so open about saying they claim it fraudulently are on the wind up because they know what judgment certain people will give them so just go all out.

Not everyone with a learning difficulty will have an appointee though. Some don’t need one so there is no ‘surely’ about it. Not even everyone with a learning disability needs an appointee.

Yes that's what I find hard to beleive ,why would you openly tell people you have fraudently claimed it ?

If people can’t afford the AP and adaptations they can apply for a grant.

It's kind of hard to believe that someone who had gone to such lengths to claim PIP if they were doing it fraudulently, would be so daft as to go round telling everyone they have done that.

I'm not sure why you find it so difficult to comprehend that people lie to get PIP. As I've said before, there are entire groups on social media dedicated to helping people claim when they aren't disabled. They think they're getting "one over" on the government.

She is a good liar. Again, as I've already said, ages gone to the lengths to get a wheelchair to keep in her house.

No I didn't.

It's not a free car, though. We lose half our PIP to pay for it. And they still aren't suitable without investing thousands into something you can't keep. If you think that's fair to disabled people that's eeally odd. Literally every other disabled person I know has the same opinion.

In actual fact, people with learning and cognitive difficulties are among the very people for whom DWP would offer appointeeship if they were not able to manage their own claims. They offer the service to vulnerable people so that they have an extra layer of protection.

People say things for many reasons - doesn’t always mean they’re true. Ive known people say these things from bravado because they don’t want to admit to actually having a disability. I really don’t see the point of this kind of bragging, because inevitably someone will report you. But the fact remains, that if she has been investigated you wouldn’t know. And if she has been investigated and nothing’s changed she’s either a very good liar, or she’s a genuine claimant. I find the willingness here to believe that DWP are so trusting that they will award benefit to anyone who asks for it, very puzzling. In over fifteen years of dealing with PIP applications, appeals, my experience is very much the opposite.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say they’re lying. What I would say about the claimant, and those who behave similarly, is that if they genuinely are openly bragging about defrauding the system then they are leaving themselves wide open to being reported and done for benefit fraud. I have difficulty in believing that anyone could or would be that stupid in this day and age.

You blamed the lack of funding via Motability on PIP fraud. The tax payer doesn’t support Motability - it’s a charity, so the level of fraud or otherwise isn’;t relevant to what Motability can support. £75.75 isn’t a lot of money when you consider what you’re actually getting is the virtually care free use of a car, and I don’t think it’s feasible to expect Motability to cover the costs of adaptations as well as providing the vehicle, insurance and maintenance costs.

And yes, I think disabled people, myself included, absolutely should be grateful that Motability was established and has the buying power to ensure that the majority of disabled people who qualify can choose to stay mobile and have a new vehicle every few years, with relatively little upfront cost. For most, it’s the only way they can stay mobile, and as has been mentioned upthread, for those who have significant adaptation/advance payment costs, in certain circumstances Motability can help with that cost. The mobility allowance would need to be significantly higher to finance free adaptations for all, and just cracking down on fraud absolutely wouldn’t achieve that.

It’s possible to get any rate of PIP without submitting your own medical or other supporting evidence. A DWP appointed assessor looks at all claims and provides an assessment report to the case manager responsible for the decision. If there isn’t enough evidence in the claim form itself for an award decision, they will obtain what they need either by making further enquiries with the healthcare contacts named on the claim form, or by contacting the claimant by phone, video call or inviting for face to face assessment where necessary.

I used to advise claimants to obtain as much evidence as they could to send in with the claim because without it you do run the risk of the claim being decided solely on the assessors’ report.

You’ll be told in a moment you’re lieing 🤣

I didn't mention anything about the tax payer.

Ah, cool. So we should be grateful for our wonderful gift of a vehicle we can't actually use, unless we have thousands of pounds spare for adaptations. OK.

She has openly told us that she has fraudently claimed and is not disabled. HTH.

Exactly. And the whole of that post assumes that the tax payer foots the bill for Motability. They don’t. It’s a charity - the only government input is supplying the enhanced rate of mobility allowance to those who qualify. That pays the basic lease costs. Anything else is an overhead which has to be paid for by the claimant.

And as harsh as that may sound for those who require more expensive adaptations to be able to drive, that’s as it should be. For those who have difficulty and meet the thresholds, Motability will help towards the costs of adaptations.

The enhanced rate of mobility allowance is £75.75 a week. To be able to lease a vehicle for the three or five year period, with insurance/maintenance included is a gift in itself. To expect it to stretch to leasing a wheelchair or scooter in addition to that vehicle, and to cover the costs of adaptations isn’t realistic.

How would you know ? DWP don’t report back to whoever has reported suspected benefit fraud. They absolutely do investigate and the fact that nothing has changed, suggests that the person isn’t doing anything wrong. The fact that so many people have reported, and some more than once, is more than suggestive of a lack of understanding of disability and the purpose of PIP. Sounds to me like this person has a disability you don’t know the first thing about and aren’t qualified to judge.

Don’t apologise 💐

To the two posters who are obviously in need of PIP, please do apply again. It's worth it in the end, even if it is a horrid procedure. Most PIP appeals end in success.