to envy/hate people on benefits to be as well off if not better than us

[chocaddict]

I know that this post may have some mixed reviews and may even get me slated but I can,t help it.
Someone I know although she is a genuine case her and her husband have as much as me and dh coming in and with a brand new car thrown in for good measure.
I can only dream of a new car and I work my tripe off 5 days a week as well as dh whilst some people can sit at home and get the same income coming in it seems really unfair.

I have no problem with people with genuine diability getting benefits - after all that's what they're there for. I do however have a problem with people who take advantage of this system. For instance i know a lady who has had 7 children in the last 9 years - she doesn't work and her partner has a 'bad back' so can't work. Why keep having children then? Why oh why???

WhingingNinja everyone who is related to them thinks they are exaggerating their ailments in order to receive benefits.

& they receive benefits.

& they have for years.

& they spend a lot of time & effort at it. it is probably much easier to defraud if you arent actually ill/looking after someone.

it is probably much easier to defraud than you imagine if you are actually ill/looking after someone.

they are both single men. one with a rental property (using his mums name) & the other owns a house without a mortgage.

I was glad to see that program on couples attitude to money the other month because frankly it showed what benefits are probably like for most recipients. Living in a crap house, eating cheap food, doing nothing, absolutlely brain numbing nothing all day.
Yes there are those out there cheating the system, there is a council estate next door to work with full of sky dishes, new cars and all that. At the same time there are women and men in that council estate making decision about whether they feed themselves of buy a pack of fags - too stupid to decide on food I guess!

herbietea my DF was like stephen hawkins before he died.

Tilly
Yes, a majority of the public is in favour of benefit reforms.

This is based on the assumption that there are thousands of these lifelong scroungers living off the state, an assumption that is simply not true.

This is interesting - housing benefit payments have risen by 5% a year, the past two years.

Housing costs the state more than any other benefit, and most of that goes the working poor.

What was the programme called sherbetpips?

herbietea how can i be ignorant if my own father was paralysed?

Ninja, I think you need to open your mind a little and see that if you know what to say, people can sometimes claim DLA when they really shouldn't.

I know how hard it is to claim, I have read the form and considered applying for ds. I chose not to. But I have a good friend that keeps encouraging me to apply with his help. He gets it and he gets careers because his son is autistic. He is a retired social worker, so he knows the ins and outs of applying and would help me say the right things to get DLA. I don't know if my application would have a chance of being successful, but I trust his advice that I have a very good chance.

I would have to describe ds on his worst days, and describe what he cannot to in comparison to his peers. That wouldn't be hard tbh. I could quite clearly give examples of what his ASD cost us. It wouldn't be a nice thing to have to do, but it would be easily do able.

We can live without it, but if dh lost his job, too right I would try and claim it. Would it be fraudulent? I don't know. There is a fine line between costs that are a direct result of his ASD or costs that I would choose to incur anyway.

I would have to describe all the worst things, and I could say everything truthfully, but that doesn't mean that it is always as bad as the worst days, it isn't.

Now I know very well that we are very lucky to be in this position and that the majority of DLA claimants are much worse off. But I think it is naive to believe that it is nearly impossible to get DLA if you don't really need it.

It has been suggested to me by others on here that maybe I am so used to living with ASD that I can't clearly see the true cost. But like I said, even with proven disability, there can be a fine line between personal choice and costs incurred as a result of disability.

Of course this doesn't mean that I think genuine claimants should lose out because of those that are not so genuine, I don't believe that at all. But I do think we should look slightly beyond the 0.5% statistic that gets quoted so often on MN if we are going to discuss fraud properly.

herbietea i wont be responding you anything else from you. i was brought up properly you see, by my father & my mother (his career) you see

i am sure people with disabilities and their families are really happy to have you in their corner.

you would then have to get all the supporting written evidence from paeds, physios, SALTs etc etc, and we all know how easy it is to get them to fake up a couple of letters, eh!

that was to Iuse, by the way.

Iuse
I see what you mean. My Dad gets DLA for his COPD, and he was advised on what to say at his interview.

If you see him on a good day then he looks perfectly fine. He is however very susceptible to chest infections that can easily go into pneumonia, and finds it difficult to walk longer distances, or climb stairs. He gets winded easily, and has trouble on windy days, as he cannot catch his breath.

Compared to some, that is not too bad, but it does affect their life as he is not nearly as active as my mum (who still goes out hill walking).

Financially, they would cope without DLA (especially now they have finished paying for their mortgage) but it does help them. They don't have large pensions so having that extra means that they are not counting the pennies quite so much as they would be otherwise.

They would be driving an old, cheap banger and budgeting closely to pay for the tax and insurance but would still have a car.

people might be happy about the benefit reform, especially the ones who have fallen for the DM/Dscam Line that they are all scroungers.
but they don't see the big picture.
they you take the little money away from disabled people that they get now, and families will no longer be able to care for them, they will end up in residential care, which will cost a lot more.
then taxes will have to rise.

Sevenfold do you actually think that would happen? surely if more people started to go into residential care, the govt would have to reverse the cuts?

Do Govts always do things that make sense Tilly? They have abolished Independant Living Allowance. Without that an adult with high needs cannot live independandtly. ILF is £300 a week.
So that person will have to go into residential care. Usual cost for 24 hour needs is £3000 a week (plus the risk of abuse a la Winterbourne View)

Look at those two figures and tell me why ILF has been abolished.
(and this isnt taking into account independance, dignity, choice etc)

Twitter is rife with reports that the spartacus report (showing BIG problems with WRB) won't be accepted by House Of Commons unless a £290 fee is paid. WTF?

QUALITY resi care costs £££££££

Low cost shoddy shit does not and is cheaper than paying carers

Why yes I am reading Bedlam, a history of London's mad atm.

Ktchen- it is NOT if you don't need it: it's not means tested- heck David Cameron got it for Ivan! No, it's if you QUALIFY which is a different kettle of fish entirely. Even if you don't need it to live you can buy a lot extra which in turn feeds back into long term employability, independence etc- especially with ASD which happens to be my MA subject. Therapies without state waiting lists, respite- that sort of thing.

I wasn't brought up properly; I was dragged up by an akie and a depressive with violent tendencies (both) but I still get this and am a pretty decent human!

Disability activist tackles Maria Miller on 5Live this morning

KalSkirata err so the tories can pay the money to some 'care company' that just happens to give money to the tory party?

peachy i agree with waht you said about the lib dem voters before. i had always voted labour/green, voted libdem last election, clearly that was a mistake!