I understand a lot of posters are saying it feels like a lot of stress for their UC claim, but isn’t it the same as the things you have to do when applying for a job or working?
Many of the people claiming UC aren't fit for work. So can you see now how expecting them to do this stuff causes them harm?
Those who are fit for work often have their hands full, like most people do generally, unless they're rich and can afford to outsource all their daily hassles.
When you do tasks like this to look for a new job, the outcome is hopefully a new job, it's personal choice. If you can't do some of those things, you either stay with your current job or look for a job elsewhere, with less stringent checks. If you're a jobseeker without a job, you've got time and energy for the faffing around.
When you do tasks like this "for work" you're doing them in working hours, the stress of it is part of the stress of working. You're not doing stressful things for work in what is supposed to be your stress-free downtime.
Claiming UC adds to people's stress. When the stuff they're asking for is pointless or unnecessary, that means putting people through unnecessary stress.
For a start they have no rights to question what people spend their money on. Only rights to query suspicious transactions and potential undisclosed accounts. In the examples someone gave above, exactly what that poster plans to do with her Christmas savings into her (totally transparent and previously disclosed) savings account is none of DWP business, only whether her savings takes her over the limit or not. Neither is it their business what her Sheila's Wheels insurance payment was for. This type of questioning is degrading, discriminatory, a violation of privacy and generally treating claimants like second class citizens. It's also illegal. All of that is pretty stressful to be on the receiving end of. It's all totally unnecessary. If a workplace was treating you like that you could at worst leave, at best you could take them to tribunal and win.