To dob in family member - benefits

What I have never understood is how do people know enough about, often virtual strangers, to confidently say they are gaming the system?

I can honestly say I have never had a conversation with some random bloke in a pub about the ins and outs of their health condition or benefits entitlements. I'd be very concerned if some bloke I barely knew started chatting at me about his personal financial information, to the point where I would probably contact adult social services rather than the benefit fraud hotline.

Obviously, it is different with family, but even then, it confuses me how people know enough about distant relatives' health and finances to confidently deduce that they are not disabled or even what precise benefits they are claiming.

I know my BIL gets some benefits for disability due to severe mental health issues, but I don't know which benefit, or what his award was based on, because why the fuck would I?

I know his mental health is poor enough to see him sectioned occasionally, but I don't know the ins and outs of how his health impacts him on a daily basis because again, why the fuck would I?

When I applied for DLA for my child I was in the middle of a messy divorce at the time. My dc was classed as ‘severely disabled’ due to their difficulties and my exh complained to the DWP that he didn’t think the award was justified.

Wtf kind of disgusting man is he?

Lots of health issues/disabilities can present intermittently. People can have good days and bad days. Just like people who normally enjoy good health can have a terrible headache one day and be fine the next.

YABVU. I'm fortunate enough to be in good physical shape and have never required any sort of support of this nature , practical or financial but I'm aware that it can be difficult to prove you need it. Tribunals can be very hard to convince. If your relation (and their excellent advocate) were able to do that. I'm very impressed.

You and your extended family should MYOB.

No, just a smug ableist who thinks they have magical powers to assess disability just by looking at someone. There are many walking among us, this is just another depressing example.

I think unfortunately that people are very inclined to see someone who appears to be fully functioning and make assumptions based on that. It drives me mad. My 13yo gets low rate mobility (DLA) for OCD. He can walk and he can definitely talk! But, for example, due to his fears of contamination, he would walk right out onto a road without checking for traffic just to avoid something or someone that might brush up against him. The fear and panic of perceived dangers overtakes his awareness of real danger and he is at very serious risk. This means that, for now at least, he cannot go anywhere without me or some other responsible adult. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, but is an example a bit like yours, demonstrating that people can never ever be sure of the difficulties of others just by looking at them.

This is so true. And yet people can't see that "reporting a parent to social services" because their kid asked for a sweet and mum said no is just as damaging to the people being investigated, and if that was the thread, so many more people would be telling OP it was absolutely her civic duty to report just in case a child somewhere in the country has had a bad day.

This is utter nonsense. You have no idea how PIP is assessed. A mobility award doesn’t just consider how far a person can walk, 20 metres is a guide. If a person is deemed to have a serious impairment to their walking ability - and many factors are considered as l outlined upthread - then they may well be able to walk much further than 20 metres and still qualify for higher rate mobility because of the severity of their difficulties. It’s not as simple as ‘you can walk 20 metres so you don’t qualify’.

so they went to court and they won which requires evidence. Yet you think you are qualified to judge what benefits they are entitled to ? Are you a nurse, doctor assessor?

Well this is utter BS, isn't it? PIP is not an out of work benefit. Nor is it means-tested so her husband's "six figure salary is not relevant. Your "friend" does not need to wait for it to run out before she can start applying for jobs. In fact, she could have been receiving PIP and working all this time. If you're going to make stuff up, it helps to do a little research first.

As for your work colleague, in what possible scenario can someone choosing to save their PIP for holidays mean that they don't meet the criteria that entitles them to it?

How arrogant you are to presume you know better than the person whose job it is to assess people’s entitlement to benefits.

Exactly. What the fuck would OP know about any of it? Nosy judgemental ableist shit. Again.

Agreed, they make their own minds up about what they think DLA/ PIP.should be for.

My, have you nothing better to do? Honestly.

But… it has nothing to do with you? I supported my late mother in trying to obtain PIP before she passed away, the process is brutal. They were trying to make her go to work with stage 4 lung cancer with multiple metastases.
They were awarded what the tribunal deemed appropriate, keep your beak out.

In my experience people who post like the OP have never seen a PIP form, have no idea what’s involved in making a claim, and have little or no experience of actual disability. If they did, they would realise that how a disabled person presents on the surface is very often not a true indication of the extent of their difficulties, and in no way suggests that they are a benefit cheat.

This kind of ableism is what disabled people are up against every single day - from being challenged for using an accessible loo, to taking up a disabled seat on public transport, all the way to being a suspected benefit cheat. The sooner people accept that what you see is not always what you get and learn to mind their own business, the better.

I wouldn’t report anyone to do with PIP as it’s impossible to know fully about their physical or mental health or the pain they may be in.

However I would and have reported other benefit fraud not that I’d does any good. I’ve reported the same person that I know lives with her partner but claims she is a lone parent once a year for the last four years but still they continue to get away with it.

The assessors are not thick they dont just go off what somebody tells them or what they tell their GP ,if someone says they can't walk more than 20metres than they will have professional evidence of that from physios etc

God forbid someone with mobility issues enjoy social occasions. Everyone knows if you claim benefits you have to stay indoors at all times, flogging yourself.

Shame on you OP.

Agree - for my DD, there was a 27pp diagnostic report, a GP report (based on 18 years of care), a report from CAMHS, copies of admissions/discharge slips from hospital, a report from her CAMHS/Social services Youth Mentor, copies of emails between 6th form detailing her issues before she dropped out and their concerns. Soooo much paperwork, plus an interview with DWP in our home before the actual assessment with PIP person was carried out via zoom.

So much evidence, it was ridiculous. She has her award for 4 years, so we may have to go through the process again unless they are happy with ‘Little to no change’ on the update forms! Which I suspect won’t be enough…

I take it you hate tax evaders, too.

I get full pip including the mobility rate, even though I can walk and talk.
I'm hearing impaired - I can't hear travel announcements (trains/planes/sat navs etc) and that is something that is classed as impacting your mobility as in your ability to travel places safely and independently.
Its not just about physical movement and your ability to walk. I have anxiety which makes certain situations overwhelming which again impacts my abilitly to independently travel, and I have a condition which causes me to faint.
Overall I have six hidden disabilities, not every disabilitly is visible.
You are very ignorant. Have you ever even seen a PIP application form?

Agree. And if that wasn’t available it would likely trigger an assessment interview, which the DWP would rely on to make a decision.

So because he’s disabled he’s not allowed to socialise ? He would need evidence that his disability is as severe as he says to support a PIP claim, but even then for a successful claim, the effects of the disabling condition only have to be present 50% or more of the time to qualify for PIP. So if he feels able to socialise at weekends, and does what’s necessary to achieve that, such as taking pain meds or resting afterwards/addressing any after effects then he’s not doing anything wrong. Not sure what you’re suggesting here - is it that you don’t think he’s disabled at all, or not as disabled as he states ? Or just that your perception of disabled people means that if they can have fun, they must be cheating somehow ?

Exactly ,and they want more than GP letters ,they woukd want OT and Physio reports etc.

People csn say what they want it doesn't mean they will get an award ,and they dont just go off "self reports " they want to see proper professional evidence.