to think this DLA claim must be fradulent

[BalloonTwister]

Next door neighbour asked me yesterday if she could put me down as the second driver on her new car.

Had no idea what she was talking about so she whipped out a Ford brochure and informed me that she is getting a new Meriva and needs to put someone down as a second driver, but her Mum lives 6 miles away.

Still not got to the bottom of why she needs a second driver, but she did tell me that she's entitled to the car because she's got bad knees, in fact she says she has no knee caps at all!

Neighbour and I attend a slimming class together, and she needs to lose several stone, (which can't be helping her knees) but her weight doesn't stop her walking with me, 6-7 miles, up and down hills, with a pushchair, 3 times a week, and attending a Zumba class with me. Nor does it stop her having regular stalls at bootfairs from 6am til 2pm on Sundays.

Surely if she can manage all that, she shouldn't be entitled to a new car for her 'disability' when so many other, genuinely disabled people struggle to get any help at all? She doesn't even use her current car very often, she walks everywhere!

and the sad thing is like DLA the blue badge is also a lot harder and longer to apply for!

However when the OP and others like them, when they start the disability bashing, let's have a laugh at or be sarcastic about, someone always gets a bit of advice or support somehow disability to disability.

MrsjRE hope your feeling up to it soon x

hope something is sorted for you MrsjREwing :(

Nope Dawn, it's for corns because they are chronic. Unlike all the other corns , apparently his are somehow worse than other people.

I've also had GP's ring me to ask if I think a patient should be signed off for corns. I asked if we could see them first just to see if anything could be done.

I was working in his GP practice so we were given the patients medical records (lord knows why we are capable of writing our own). Ah the good old days of fundholding and clinics in totally unsuitable rooms because we outbid physio for the room.

I still think his biggest problem was the "herbal" ciggarettes he smoked.

adds list of posters to fuckwit list

Eleanor, cheers for that correction on page 3. Fakey make and model was getting right on my tits.

Oo did anyone see that lovely Honda Yaris?

Fraud happens in DLA yes...a measly 0.5%!!

Oh yeah lets go after ll those barstards...hmmm the 1000 or so of them saving oh what a few thousand??

We have a motability car. It was not a walk in the park to get it. Life is shit for the 99.5% of the people who need these...stop disabilty bashing, MN is full of it thanks to the Conlibs.

It may not be fraud but perhaps a change in circumstances? Is it not something like over £600m that is overspent as a result in change of circumstances not being reported. Whilst the overall statistic is low the actual monetary overspend is fairly large.

I think you will find that lovely little statistic about OVERALL benefits and a failure to inform about change in circumstance, Yet again a generalisation is used while on a thread (veiled disability bashing I would call that)

This is where i got the statistic from and i took it says "This report presents the results of the Review of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) carried out in 2004 to estimate the level of overpayments and underpayments present in DLA due to fraud, error and other sources of incorrectness." and "The results are based on a random sample of 1200 customers in receipt of DLA in Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) who were subject to the full review process in the summer of 2004." It doesn't mention anything about overall benefit, just dla.

Although i do apolgise if i have read these tables wrongly

OK my bad sorry. But in those tables there is also underpayments of 200m so not quite 600m cost more like 400m...though stll not good admittedly.

Stll a very small percentage over all but a lot of money I will admit

imo i wouldn't write off 200m overpayment because some other ufortunate person were denied money they were legally entitled to.

DogsCock so anyone who gets DLA for a mental disability should never go scuba diving or do anything particularly physical in case judgemental arseholes who should butt out uninformed people assume their claim is fraudulent?

Just wanted to be clear. I'll make sure my mentally-disabled DH is aware of that new rule. DWP never mentioned it when he had to reapply for his DLA last year.

Orange, i thought Dogs was referring to the mobility component?

you can get mobility for for MH disabilities if you need supervision just not normally HRM

In response to the first reply I got, which was, I believe, 'report her or feck off' I may have implied, inadvertantly, that I would report her, sarcasm not being my strong suit. I have no intention of doing so.

I am not in the business of dobbing people in, her business is exactly that, but I have no desire to put my name to something if it is going to get me in to trouble later on. Sorry for the late reply, have been to work.

Dogscock. Thank you, but I don't think anyone is interested in that part of my post! :)

Massively late post, sorry, phone only showed 1st 4 pages of replies!

Honestly just tell her you would rather not do it.

The fact is chances of her falsely claiming are very low. If she were going around bragging about fiddling the system it would be different but you have very little evidence or knowledge of her illness to raise any concern.

This is why I have a stupid sense of guilt about even going to my pulmonary rehab classes, ffs. Because I am 'exercising' thus surely must be fraudulently claiming. Never mind that I'm trying to keep my condition from slipping downhill. Not succeeding but trying to slow it down, so I'm around longer for my dc and more able to do stuff with them. I've even taken up swimming again. For the odd week, anyway.

It's just so disheartening - you feel like you have to prove yourself the entire time, and then will have to to ATOS next year, then lose all your DLA, because clearly you're not disabled enough and you're all better.

That's why I would never make a claim about someone. You just do not know what is going on, underneath, and I believe in the benefit of the doubt. 0.5 is a very low number, and DLA as I see it impossible to get without much supporting evidence from consultants etc.

Please leave us alone. :(

Fair enough Madhairday, I hadn't seen it that way, and neighbour is trying really hard to shed some weight, so it would make perfect sense that she is trying to improve her condition.

I wish you had posted your reply first, I'd have felt a right cunt much sooner, and probably asked for it to be removed.

I hope your rehab goes well, and I am truly sorry I've made you feel you have to justify yourself, that will never be ok, and I apologise wholeheartedly. :(

I still don't want to be her nominated driver though!

Thanks Balloon. I appreciate that.

And YANBU to not want to be her driver!

so dont be her nominated driver then. I'm sure it will be fine.
FWIW I have a very good friend who i have been close to for over ten years, been on holiday with etc. who told me a couple of weeks ago that she has a plastic shoulder and knees from a chronic arthritic condition. I shit you not, i did not know. She has never talked about it, never complained about it ever- and we talk a lot. She said that she prefers to talk and think about other things. You really cant assume that you know what is going on behind the scenes in people's lives.

Has someone already said that she does not need a second driver? You can have two if you want to.

You know what? I can sometimes walk a fair few miles. And then at other times, at aged 24, I am in absolute AGONY with my knees right now as I have Osteoarthritis, and the cold makes them worse. During the warmer months, I don't have a lot of problems with them, but during the winter months, I can barely walk even with Tramadol, Naproxen, Paracetamol and Movelat for arthritis without crutches, and even then it is painful. And do you know what? With that, and another condition I have, I STILL got denied DLA even at the lower component.

It really isn't as simple as filling out a form and bob is your uncle, you have money and a brand new car thrown at you. The chances of your neighbour lying to get DLA are pretty slim, but if you are so convinced she is, then report her.

I just even give up with trying to get DLA. It is as hard as finding a needle in a haystack.