Blind woman denied benefits because she attended DWP interview with help of mother

[SerendipityJane]

Looks like I need to stop helping people. Oh well, at least that's more time to read about how it's all the disabled fault these days.

(I have my own folio of "interesting" encounters with the DWP. I stopped posting them when no one believed them).

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/nov/09/blind-woman-denied-benefits-because-she-attended-dwp-interview-with-help-of-mother

I think the sad thing here is that this just compounds the rhetoric that the wrong people get benefits.

We all know the fit healthy person who plays the system with ease and here the unwell/struggling get shafted.

As if you'd get the truth.

She isn't "just" blind though. She has other conditions which do make working much more difficult

That is just it, I don't know anybody fitting such a description. I know some people who should be getting more help than they already do, though, and even then, they had to fight for it.

@SerendipityJane You dont seriously think a whole department are cunts? There’s a few other things to consider( I dont mean in relation to the specific case in The Guardian):
Many civil servants are themselves on benefits - esp UC and PiP. They dont get special treatment in the claims process and many will have had claims disallowed
Being told you are fit for some work doesn’t not mean that you are expected to do the exact same work you have been doing.So concluding an individual can work is not necessarily being unfair or unrealistic.
A big part of the problem is a lot of employers lack sympathy and flexibility when it comes to employing people with disabilities. It’s no good the disabled person re training etc if employers are still unwilling o support them in work. Yes, technically its illegal to discriminate but the reality is that its v difficult to prove.

They don't actually make the decisions though.

In my DD's last PIP appeal the appeal panel didn't even gather any extra evidence and their main reason for granting was the PIP assessors report and several points in it that had been blatantly ignored by the decision maker.

I suggest you re-read my post @Simonjt