Should I report my cousin's benefit fraud?

Depression can disabling .

Highest level PIP is £700 a month, they don’t just ‘give’ you a car, you have to lease it out of your PIP which reduces your income to around £430 a month. It’s hardly the live of Riley.

Partner is on 2nd appeal at the moment and genuinely is struggling. All the professionals he is currently with say he should definitely be eligible.

@GreatAmberSnake your cousin is part of the problem and costing us all, giving the government ammunition to question the benefits system and trying to trim it down.

I hate disabled people not getting what they deserve due to the awfulness of the system and chancers.

Op you will undoubtedly get the posters on here telling you that PIP is really hard to claim and he couldn't possibly be committing benefit fraud ( it really isnt... my dc has it and has never provided any evidence or been checked). But the fact is that people like this are taking valuable resources from others who actually deserve it! Maybe having a job would even help his mental health.

Rubbish. That is not true, or according to the amount of people on these threads saying that they know someone doing the same, blah, blah, there would be a lot of people being charged🙄.

If he gets the highest rates of PIP than he will have had to supply medical evidence they dint just give it out when you ask for it.

So you report him. He's asked if hes actually depressed/has physical issues he confirms that he does have those problems. Nothing happens. What do you think will happen?

Your word against his and you have no evidence.

True, but I know I'd feel guilty as sin.

It's quite easy if you have got a doctor who writes down verbatim what you are saying. Some doctors feel sorry for you and are proactive in exaggerating the disability. A friend is getting benefits because she's depressed due to her ex leaving her. Her doctor comes from the same country as her and they worked it out together that she would get about the same in benefits as when she works..

Yabu

He's probably boasting to make himself feel better

I'd tell him to stop it or I'd be reporting him, but wouldn't actually do it, sorry

There are worse crimes

You are legally obligated to report or you're incriminated as well.

I’d report him, especially for the easily provable lies like his partner dressing him. You can report anonymously. I doubt he’d know it was you and, if he really is lying, then I doubt it would affect him too much. I reported someone who was trying it on (not updated their circumstances) and that person never mentioned it to anyone, just quietly complied. They knew they’d been caught fair and square. They didn’t go to prison, but they had to pay back money.

Yes report. It's taxpayers money. I reported my siblings for pretending to be disabled and a landlord.

I wouldn't personally. It would totally fuck his life up. Unless he'd done something really horrible to you. You can get a high rate without any physical disabilities. I would if he was abusive or had robbed me or something though.

You are being very unfair to the OP.

This man's life, how he chooses to live it, improve it or end it, lie entirely with him. No one else is responsible for his decisions.

🥱 No you should not report your M34 cousin. Hth.

You must report him. Fraud is a serious crime.

People who don't work are prone to depression. If he gets a job instead of leeching off the taxpayer, he will gain a greater sense of self-worth that will contribute to his well-being.

He is far too young to be satisfied with letting other people fund his idle lifestyle. Many taxpayers have genuinely greater problems than his.

Do him and the rest of us a favour. Report him today.

For every fraudulent PIP claim there’s probably someone in real need for PIP who doesn’t know how to apply for it, has been unfairly passed over for it. It’s fairly common knowledge that there are ways to game the system, including getting help in falsifying claims to vastly improve success rates of being awarded.

Also, the assessment process is highly target-orientated so there are quotas to be met i.e. even if everyone on that PIP assessor’s list qualifies for PIP, the assessor is probably only able to put forward a percentage of these applicants to be considered. Hence a high number of appeals and reversal of decisions after appeal (obviously the ones who appeal are applicants with genuine needs; those who are mis-awarded PIP after successfully submitting false claims won’t appeal of course, so nobody knows the true number of successful fraudulent applications).

I would report because it’s not an infinite resource and should be given to those who have real medical needs.

So he’s suffering with his mental health and you’re jealous? That’s how you’re coming across. Leave the poor bloke alone

Agree with @Agix - I'm not convinced that PIP is that difficult to get. If you're honest and have no support maybe but if you know how to work the system then I think it's relatively easy to work it.

Unfortunately this is going to impact all the genuine people claiming it as something will be done about the benefits bill. That is why OP you should report him.

Your cousin must be thrilled to have a medically qualified family member like you, able to out-diagnose medical professionals. Perhaps you could mind your own buiness rather than his? Leave him alone, he is unwell and you simply sound jealous.

Exactly.
Its incredibly difficult to get PIP now. A family member works in the system.
Something is not adding up here 🤔

Think how you'll feel if he did off himself after you reported him though, is that really worth it

Something isn’t right here. PiP is very hard to get and needs medical evidence. So either the cousin is winding the op up as he knows she’s judgey, or there is more to his illness than she knows.

Fed up of people saying PIP is difficult to claim. It's NOT.

It is only difficult to claim if you're not prepared to lie.You will be scrutinised and the assessors will try to catch you out when you're being honest, and often succeed in twisting your words and putting you off claiming because you're unwell and can't be dealing with this bullshit.

People who are prepared to lie and continue lying and fighting decisions that go against them will quite easily get PIP. Because they're happy to keep lying and scoring the points.

You do need medical evidence, but most medical evidence for mental health conditions is all about what you have reported to your doctor. Your doctor can only write down what you say your symptoms are. Your doctor doesn't live with you and has to believe you when you say you're so depressed you need help to get dressed. So that's what will go on your official reports and "medical evidence".

If you're prepared to lie, and make a part time job of claiming PIP by tracking which lies you have told your medical professionals and the PIP assessors, it is NOT hard to get PIP. You just need to learn the points system, and lie to your doctors and specialists and on the PIP form. These people also have people to lie for them, friends or family, pretending to have to provide care.

If you have genuine struggles, which you are genuinely trying to recover from and work towards getting better from, the PIP assessors will zero in on the bits where you seem capable and independent. You'll feel like shite spending so much time and energy on trying to claim this benefit and going through assesaments. You'll feel embarrassed and ashamed of how badly your health effects you, you'll struggle to talk about it. And you won't get PIP and will stop trying.

Not so with people who lie and make a job of it. They have all the time and energy in the world to keep going until they get the benefit.

The assessment process is easy for liars, who actually have the health to battle through the system, and very difficult for people genuinely unwell and trying to live life who don't have it in them to fight it.