1,000 new PIP claims per day?

[flashbac]

Is this true? (From someone who is naturally cynical of government info.)

If it is, is there something else behind the statistic? Is it because people have to reapply or something like that?

This is from the government website:

"Monthly PIP awards have more than doubled since the pandemic, rising from 13,000 to 34,000 - a rate of around 1,000 new claims per day, or the population of Leicester every year."

I find the statistic unbelievable.

The absolute maximum amount you can receive on PIP is £187 a week. To get that you need to have serious health issues and mobility needs. I'm not sure anyone would willingly trade their health, mobility and independence for £187 a week which could be snatched away from you at any time depending on the mood of the government. I'm also not sure anyone is living on less than ten grand a year. This country has many many financial problems, but I am absolutely not convinced that the people claiming PIP are at the top of the list.

I think all of the press has raised awareness of the gravy boat and more and more people think they should jump on.

Its the cost of living crisis.
The harder things get, the more incentive there is to claim.
People who, in the past, might have qualified but didn't want the hassle of filling in the form and attending the medical.

have a partner who is working or claiming additional income-related benefits

Then they are not living on PIP alone, are they?

Not just mental health and not just social media.

When my OH was diagnosed with cancer, the "specialist" cancer nurse who the consultant introduced us to spent most of the session talking about what benefits he'd be entitled to and support for claiming them. We wanted/expected to talk about the treatment itself, side effects, how the system would work for getting prescriptions, GP appointments, specialist appointments etc., i.e. the practical stuff, which she just batted away with glib comments like ask the consultant or ask at reception. She was most put out when we said we'd put benefits claims on the back burner and contact her again in due course if we felt we needed them!

Same happened at a more specialist hospital where we went to see the stem cell transplant specialist and transplant co-ordinator. The transplant co-ordinator had a small stack of pre-completed forms to give to us to claim for free hospital parking, blue badge, and what looked to be disability benefit claim form pack, and she was most put out when we said we hadn't even agreed to go ahead with the stem cell transplant so she was a bit ahead of herself and we left it all with her. (In the event, OH decided not to go ahead with the stem cell transplant as he had no confidence in them as they couldn't answer his questions!).

And again with MIL when she was diagnosed with dementia. The GP just did the "desktop" evaluation, i.e. drawing clock faces, etc., and informally "diagnosed" dementia, but wasn't forthcoming at all about blood tests and other referrals to find out exactly what kind of dementia, drug treatment options etc - basically just said he'd make a social services referral to discuss support and benefits! In the event, because she had funds, social services weren't interested and just told us to contact private care providers as she'd be self funding, but then went on to pick out a pile of leaflets/forms from her bag about benefits she may be eligible for!

There's one hell of a "push" from the NHS and social services to encourage people to claim benefits, and help them to fill in the forms etc.

Perhaps being able to work might disprove some people’s claim to PIP, and so it isn’t worthwhile doing vs continuing to claim?

85% of claimants aren’t working.

I think people are incredibly naive if they haven't noticed the trend in people having neurodivergence and mental health issues be their entire personality and haven't seen the social media influencers who encourage this and essentially coach people on how to get a diagnosis and how to claim benefits. It's very damaging to young people imo there is so much emphasis on what they can't do and what is hard for them etc it's going to lead to a huge problem if it carries on

One of my DDs has ADHD. We have been told she could claim for DLA. It would help with the additional cost of tutoring, which I pay for in order to keep her grades up. She struggles with keeping up with her peers in a mainstream setting. If she is able to leave school with the best grades possible, she has a better chance of not being reliant on the state as an adult. Schools no longer have the budget to support her in the way she needs. Also obtaining a diagnosis for ADHD is excruciatingly long.

The reason claims/awards for DLA/PIP are going up are varied. Years back, my daughter wouldn't have been diagnosed, she'd have been written off as an underachiever who can't concentrate well in school. If she was diagnosed, the extra support would've been available in school, rather than falling to me as a parent to fund. Also as someone else said the cost of living crisis mean that people don't have the spare money to fund their additional needs themselves, so are more likely to turn to the state.

Not just the press though. People are seeing it in daily life, with neighbours, family, friends, etc who talk about what benefits they're claiming, showing off their new motability car, etc.

All entirely valid, but even if she gets good school qualifications and maybe a degree, employers will still be put off when she has to declare her disability, so it still won't be a level playing field as an adult.

since the pandemic

Thats the reason right there . Covid has made a LOT of people extremely unwell. We will be fed the line that people just liked their time off / are less resilient now but it’s gaslighting. Covid has damaged us.

I had a mental health crisis quite recently, and the cmht had me assessed by adult social care because of my autism and the lady I went to see literally said I should apply for pip because "that will be a nice little bonus top up for you" I said no because I don't see how it would help and tbh the idea of doing all those forms seems awful and intrusive to me

Quite. We got the children's equivalent for one of ours due to autism. We don't need it but given everyone else claims we would be stupid not to. People keep saying it is hard to get - it really wasn't. A couple forms then the gravy train comes a calling.

More and more folk are jumping on the bandwagon. The magic money tree will deal with it,

Yeah, we boast about my husband's PIP all the time.

In reality we don't tell anyone about our financial circumstances because one can never be 100% sure that one is not speaking to a judgemental, ignorant bigot.

Won't someone unable to work still be eligible for other benefits though? Such as unemployment benefit, housing benefits, relief for council tax, child related benefits, etc if they otherwise meet the eligibility criteria for those other benefits?

Because some people will use it as an addition to any other household income which then means there's enough money coming in so they don't have to work. I know a young person who lives with their parents who does this. Their parents pay for food and bills and the pip gives the young person their own small income so they don't have to sign on for unemployment benefit (I don't know what that's called now, sorry).

Who told you so?
of course it’s easy if you have serious medical issues and lots of problems. In this case you also have a lot of medical paperwork and list of names of medical professionals who can confirm your claims. I needed at least one extra page for every question for my daughter’s claim. is this what you call easy?

Also a lot of disabled people, people with MH conditions and neurodivergence go on to have children who will very likely end up with these problems themselves (and the cycle continues because people are so aghast at the fact the population is declining and that being child free is actually a good choice for a lot of people)

That's an incredibly high percentage.

Thank you for the advice and clarification. It’s been a long time since I had to make a benefits claim and I find these new benefits names confusing, never mind the benefits process itself.

Perhaps not, although it's illegal to ask about disabilities prior to a job offer in the UK anyway unless you require reasonable adjustments, so fingers crossed she'll be able to manage in the world of employment.

Is there any data on the nationality of those newly claiming?

Pushing retirement age up, means more people stopping with with ill health rather than retirement.

so what are we suggesting? Forced sterilisation for people with neurodivergence?