Should I report my cousin's benefit fraud?

I've read recent reports on a couple of online forums of people being observed/ followed before they are called in for interview under caution. So DWP already have the evidence. Does this happen much? One woman said they had footage of her over two weeks, filming her walking to places, leaving the house alone etc when she had said she couldn't. They then presented her with the ' evidence' they had.

I’ve just gone through 5 months of hell with a friend who has finally been diagnosed bi-polar, she’s delighted as this means she can claim PIP and not bother going back to work. She’s currently overseas on an expensive holiday.

it has been very insightful going thru her MH journey. The lies she’s told, the half truths with the MH team - she’s playing the system nicely just to get what she wants. And it’s been so easy. The MH professionals can’t cope with the level of people they need to help so it’s easy to see how people can cheat the system. And that’s not right, nor fair, for people who genuinely need the help.

Haha there is so much that doesn't add up but a tribunal that took years and he was given £20k of back money- pull the other one.

@Hdjdb42 was any action taken after your reports?

Ok, so let me tell you what will happen if you report your cousin for benefit fraud, based on absolutely no evidence, as you seem to have no idea about the eligibility criteria and certainly don’t know the ins and outs of his medical conditions and the impact on his life. You only know a snapshot, and you really don’t understand the pip system at all.

He will be called for an interview under caution. Cautioned as though he’s been arrested. The DWP fraud team will scrutinise every aspect of his life, humiliate him, make him out to be a liar and a fraud, and twist his words (those of you saying if he’s genuine he will keep his benefits stress free have obviously never been involved with the DWP fraud team. I have (professionally) and the process is abhorrent.). It may be that he keeps his benefit. It may not, if he can’t meet the higher standard of proof that will now legally be required (criminal proceedings being a different standard of proof than a civil law matter or tribunal).

Ask yourself what good can come out of it? Will you feel good about yourself, for putting someone who you say has genuine mental health issues and has been suicidal, through that? What do you hope to gain? Some kind of vindication, a smug feeling that you were right all along? Him losing benefit? Is it worth the absolute definite and devastating negatives that will inevitably result from your report, whether you are right or wrong?

And if you are wrong, you’re causing all that to happen for no reason whatsoever

IMO, the risk of harm from reporting, even if you were right, is just so much greater than any harm caused by letting it be, and leaving the decision to the DWP and the assessment procedures that are already in place.

Ok, so let me tell you what will happen if you report your cousin for benefit fraud, based on absolutely no evidence, as you seem to have no idea about the eligibility criteria and certainly don’t know the ins and outs of his medical conditions and the impact on his life. You only know a snapshot, and you really don’t understand the pip system at all.

He will be called for an interview under caution. Cautioned as though he’s been arrested. The DWP fraud team will scrutinise every aspect of his life, humiliate him, make him out to be a liar and a fraud, and twist his words (those of you saying if he’s genuine he will keep his benefits stress free have obviously never been involved with the DWP fraud team. I have (professionally) and the process is abhorrent.). It may be that he keeps his benefit. It may not, if he can’t meet the higher standard of proof that will now legally be required (criminal proceedings being a different standard of proof than a civil law matter or tribunal).

Ask yourself what good can come out of it? Will you feel good about yourself, for putting someone who you say has genuine mental health issues and has been suicidal, through that? What do you hope to gain? Some kind of vindication, a smug feeling that you were right all along? Him losing benefit? Is it worth the absolute definite and devastating negatives that will inevitably result from your report, whether you are right or wrong?

And if you are wrong, you’re causing all that to happen for no reason whatsoever

IMO, the risk of harm from reporting, even if you were right, is just so much greater than any harm caused by letting it be, and leaving the decision to the DWP and the assessment procedures that are already in place.

I’ve just gone through 5 months of hell with a friend who has finally been diagnosed bi-polar, she’s delighted as this means she can claim PIP and not bother going back to work. She’s currently overseas on an expensive holiday.

it has been very insightful going thru her MH journey. The lies she’s told, the half truths with the MH team - she’s playing the system nicely just to get what she wants. And it’s been so easy. The MH professionals can’t cope with the level of people they need to help so it’s easy to see how people can cheat the system. And that’s not right, nor fair, for people who genuinely need the help.

I’ve just gone through 5 months of hell with a friend who has finally been diagnosed bi-polar, she’s delighted as this means she can claim PIP and not bother going back to work. She’s currently overseas on an expensive holiday.

it has been very insightful going thru her MH journey. The lies she’s told, the half truths with the MH team - she’s playing the system nicely just to get what she wants. And it’s been so easy. The MH professionals can’t cope with the level of people they need to help so it’s easy to see how people can cheat the system. And that’s not right, nor fair, for people who genuinely need the help.

I’ve just gone through 5 months of hell with a friend who has finally been diagnosed bi-polar, she’s delighted as this means she can claim PIP and not bother going back to work. She’s currently overseas on an expensive holiday.

it has been very insightful going thru her MH journey. The lies she’s told, the half truths with the MH team - she’s playing the system nicely just to get what she wants. And it’s been so easy. The MH professionals can’t cope with the level of people they need to help so it’s easy to see how people can cheat the system. And that’s not right, nor fair, for people who genuinely need the help.

I’ve just gone through 5 months of hell with a friend who has finally been diagnosed bi-polar, she’s delighted as this means she can claim PIP and not bother going back to work. She’s currently overseas on an expensive holiday.

it has been very insightful going thru her MH journey. The lies she’s told, the half truths with the MH team - she’s playing the system nicely just to get what she wants. And it’s been so easy. The MH professionals can’t cope with the level of people they need to help so it’s easy to see how people can cheat the system. And that’s not right, nor fair, for people who genuinely need the help.

people applying for PIP are assessed by a DWP appointed doctor- so I'm amazed he hasn't been found out, maybe they are behind and his assessment is coming. Don't worry about him getting a car- the only case I have ever heard of this is 100% incapacitated by vaccine damage. I have helped people with PIP applications- it really isn't that easy to cheat on it, more people are turned down than accepted for it.
It sounds extraordinary boasting about benefit fraud, but I have encountered this .

Why obviously?

As someone who does actually need help and had to jump (if I could jump!) through hoops to get it, people claiming for PIP by lying turns my stomach.
Sadly there are more social media pages now telling people how to claim by lying.
My claim was done in person, as was my tribunal appeal which was awful.
Take no notice of the bragging or that it’s great and why would suckers work? Lots of people who get PIP at different levels work.
His mental health may be ‘at risk’ if you report him, but he shouldn’t be getting funded for physical care which he is able to do himself. It’s disgraceful.

The poster means physical disability issues, obviously

"That is correct. I don’t believe you should be entitled to a mobility car if you have no mobility issues. Next question ?"

You can't get a car without mobility issues. Mobility is the ability to get from A to B.

My friend was on the highest PIP and with that and possibly other benefits she got more than I got for working full time for the NHS. I was pretty fuming to be honest 😡. I expect people to get help obviously if they can’t work but not get more than a full time worker; what made it worse is that she wasn’t even working beforehand!!

You can’t use this as a mic drop forever. It cannot be the case that nobody can criticise disability benefits ‘because it means you’re jealous of a disabled person and OMG that makes you terrible’. I’m disabled (on tons of medication just to keep myself physically alive), so I do get it, but the fact remains we spend more on disability benefits than we do on our armed forces. That’s how out of control it is. It’s not even a moral issue, it’s a financial one - we simply cannot afford it.

And you can’t blame the public for becoming exasperated when the staggering increase in claims over the last 10 years has been driven by non-pathological illnesses. I can’t even remember the last time I heard of a PIP/DLA claim for something that wasn’t autism, ADHD, anxiety, PTSD or fibromyalgia.

And you need to see the bigger picture. PIP may be ‘only a few hundred quid a month’ but the majority of PIP claimants don’t work, so are also on UC, and have their housing expenses paid. In addition to this they (like every person) get free comprehensive healthcare which if you are disabled cost a lot of money, as well as the passive benefits of taxpayer funded services like the emergency services, the military and infrastructure.

I think you need to take a look at your self before criticising the taxpayer that is working hard to provide all of the above.

Hi everyone - I'm having a bit of a moral dilemma and looking to get everyone's opinions.

My M34 cousin doesn't work, he claims PIP. I'm not that familiar with how it works but he says he's on the highest level available, and there's even talk of him getting given a car. He openly boasts at every opportunity about the extreme exaggerations and outright lies he put on his PIP application, and calls me and other members of the family idiots for working when we could just get our money from PIP like he does.

If they investigated him they would easily find that some of his lies don't add up. I believe he genuinely does have depression and anxiety, but he has no physical issues. He said he put things like his partner needs to dress him in the morning (he split from his partner a couple of years ago), needs to wear velcro shoes as he can't tie laces etc. A home visit would show up some of his lies, and a call to the school (he's a weekend Dad but sometimes picks up/drops off his sons) or the Police (he's been arrested for drug offences a couple of times) would be further proof.

The main thing stopping me from reporting him is his depression. He has attempted suicide on at least one occasion, and I fear that a potential prison sentence for fraud could send him into a spiral. Even if no-one found out it was me, I really don't want that on my conscience.

If he didn't boast all the time I would just ignore it, it's not like it affects me directly, but it just winds me up every time he goes on about. Grrrr!! I do try to minimise contact with him but sometimes it's easier said than done. If he gets this car I think he'll become even more unbearable 😡

Help! What would you do?

Calm down love. Hate the game, not the players. I don’t blame people for sucking everything they can from the benefits system when they see politicians doing the same.

The system is a complete joke and needs reform.

What is your frame of reference? mine is my partner worked for DWP for over 30 years and dealt directly with PIP- the idea you fill in the form and just get it with no evidence and no assessment is laughable.

This isn’t actually true, in the case of PIP. Much as I agree that the statements here about awarding without evidence are rubbish.

PIP awards are awarded for a finite period of time, and then reviewed. The review is slightly different from the initial application but broadly similar. There’s no need for a medical certificate for PIP. Nobody sends fit notes for PIP because it isn’t an out of work benefit.

There is usually (not always) an assessment by a healthcare professional from one of the companies the DWP use to conduct assessments. Some assessments are paper based but this is rare.