AIBU to be a tad [hmm] about my neighbours new car?

[DairyleaAndPickleOnAStick]

First off, this is absolutely NOT a benefits bashing thread.

I am probably BVU and this will show me up to be a nasty, mean spirited and bitter aul crone, BUT my neighbours just took delivery of a brand new car today- (think 3 letter, premium marque) - which they receive AFAIK through the motibility scheme. (Where I live this is very common practice.) Neither of them work and presumably receive benefits and HB. They definitely rent their house as we know the owner.

My DH and I were both high earning professionals before the recession hit and paid a very considerable sum for our own house, unfortunately we were both made redundant (within weeks of each other) several years ago and have fought tooth and nail to keep our home (both working very low paid unskilled jobs, taking in lodgers and DH moving away for a year to retrain.)

Obviously we are very fortunate to have been able to hold on to our home but it has been an incredibly tough few years- the pressures of redundancy, unemployment, and being on the breadline have taken a massive toll on our mental health, wellbeing and relationships- both with each other and family/friends.
My DH came home today soaked through after being out all afternoon in the pouring rain selling electricity door to door.

As I said upthread this is not a benefits bashing thread- I am fully aware that being on benefits is no picnic- DH and I spent 6 months on the dole and it was beyond grim, however AIBU to want to weep out of frustration seeing my neighbours new beemer parked in the driveway??

Fraud rate for DLA is less than 1% that's government figures

DLA is not a out of work benefit it is also paid to those that work to cover the extra costs that having a disabilty brings

To receive DLA there would have to been several letters from Drs showing the disability it is not done on a sick note or a Gp letter or just by a form

Oh and HQ won't even see this thread unless you point it out to them and I would be very surprised if they deleted it.

Man up and own up to your own prejudice and short sightedness and fucking nosiness.

Sorry you've worked hard and feel you've gotten nothing. Welcome to the 99%.

Erm, of course the fraud rates the gov releases are low. If they knew of more offenders they wouldn't be on the benefit? That's a bit of an illogical argument. There should be an independent check of fraud and then I would accept the figures. Gov doesn't want to look as though it is giving out money to people not in need, obviously. I know anyone on the benefit would rather it was seen as something used for those in NEED and not have the stigma it does. But I can see from this thread how angry just mentioning the fact some people abuse the system makes everyone, so am not surprised they are doing nothing about it. Bit like angry mothers at the school where the head teacher changes the timetable; mob rule. The gov clearly have to tread lightly or this would be a killer story for the Daily Fail.
And, the OP said many many times this is not a benefits bashing thread. I don't see how pointing out that some (a minority) people abuse the system is not part of the discussion?

H and the independent rates are 0.5

But think you touch are maybe mixing up DLA and incapacity they are not the same thing

What I accept is that the DWP's published figures for the COMBINED fraud and DWP error rate on DLA claims is

Ghost- I don't report these things because I know that the people who do these things are hardly living the life of Riley- even if they are cheating the system
Toothbrush thief- thank you for your post- spot on.

The bottom line OP is that you don't know they're working the system. You're jealous because they have more than you and in your mind you have made up reasons why they don't deserve it. It would be great if you could let go of such petty feelings, it's not doing anyone any good. You've had a hard time, and I sympathise with that, but it would be more worth your mental effort to work on not being bitter about your bad fortune and to develop a "live and let live" mentality. Sneering at others for imagined wrongs is an incredibly unattractive trait.

Blimey the upfront payment for a BMW is cheaper than the upfront payment for my scenic now. I've been wondering what to replace it with next year as I can't afford the new upfront payment.

:goes beemer shopping:

aww diddums now the op wants the thread deleted,
please don't mn hq, i think it is good that people see the shit that disabeld people have to put up with.,
It is so sick to be jealous of a disabled person getting a car.
I am sure my dd would swap hers for not having a disabiity that means she can't walk,

Oh for people on their high horse my son was awarded higher rate DLA (care and mobility) for LIFE at 11 years of age. Now, it will be reviewed and I'm sure we'll have to fill in the hideous form again at some stage but it basically means that DWP doesn't expect him to ever get better. They expect him to be severely disabled for the rest of his life. Which would you choose? Lifelong disability & cheap(er) BMW's or no disability. Must admit it's a toughie

you cannot compare being made redundant or losing a home with being disabeld

Like I said earlier, I have a GENUINELY disabled son and his NEED dictates which car we are able to use.

As for the three-year thing. I would love to keep my scenic next year as they've increased the upfront payment so much I can no longer afford one (having had them for 9 years, they suit us). We really need a larger car but am struggling to find one on motability that I can now afford. So yes keeping the scenic a few more years would suit me. I am hoping that in the next price release they will drop again.

Motability are very reluctant to let anyone keep an unmodified car for more than three years (and I doubt my reasons wound be 'good' enough) as the resale value drops too much. For the same reason I wasn't allowed a super budget scenic - had to buy a higher spec model - motability looks at the resale value to work out how much you have to pay and which models are avalilable.

Same with my Dad devientenigma.
His needs are dictated by which car he can actually get into as he is on crutches and can't raise his legs very far so cars with a sill and footwell almost flush with each other are the only ones he can get in.
Anyway his condition is worsening and within a couple of years he won't be able to drive anyway so that'll be another scrounger getting their just deserts

same here Saintly, we can not afford a suitable car on Motability !!

and to rub salt in further, my DS has had his motability car since he was 3 year old with high rate care since 3 month old.

Thats how disabled he is, for those who feel I don't know what I am on about and feel the need to use my terms !!

Like I said his NEEDS dictate our car!!

Iamnot, can you not have his car and do the driving for him?

Or is that something that got some stick earlier in the fred??

How do people know that their neighbours are ripping the system off?

How do they know that their neighbours aren't disabled?

Unless the neighbour says 'I am a benefit cheat' or you stalk them for months, how does anyone know?

My daughter, today, has walked to her motibility car, driven off to uni with her DSA supplied laptop, she will sit in lecture with her DSA scribe taking notes for her, she will then drive home, walk back into the house, sit at her DSA supplied desk on her DSA supplied chair, whilst I talk on the phone sorting out her, government funded, ground floor disabled access extension.
My neighbour twitching his curtains will notice an able bodied young woman living her life, if I told my neighbour about the 'freebies' she got, they would probably see a young woman ripping off the system because she doesn't 'look' disabled. What my neighbours won't see is what happens behind my closed front door and the reasons why the DWP made the decision that she is eligible for DLA, why the DSA helped her with equipment to study, why our council is funding an extension.

downpayments for bmw's starts at £1200 look here if you want to

I have a motability car for my daughter, you honestly would not believe how much we need that car and how much travelling I have to do due to her disability and anyone who receives higher rate mobility on dla will be in the same position

Nobody would want to have a disability just to get a car. I think the issue is that most people who have no experience of disability, me included, would like to see the system working better for those of you that need it.

I'm sure you are right with your fraud figures Couthy and yet almost everybody you speak to has first hand knowledge of someone abusing the system

I have a friend who has some medical conditions but is not disabled. She claims carers allowance for her DM who she visits for 2 afternoons a week (doing shopping and cleaning, real carers come in several times a day to do the hard work). She has a very nice motability car to drive DM in, despite the fact DM is housebound and she uses DMs blue badge in the car regularly to add insult to injury! She and her DH live in a 4 bed house in large gardens, worth over half a million, which they own outright, get benefits as well as him working part-time and even get cold weather payments.

The system is fucked and the OP has every right to question it as long as she is not dissing those with true disabilities.

I wish we could all get this sorted so those who truly need these benefits can get as much as they need without having to jump through millions of hoops and not have to feel defensive when the system is questioned.

Oh my where do I start.
You are obviously one of these shallow people who know the best labels, what car the poshos drive etc
You and your oh once had good jobs and loads of dosh to afford most of what you wanted, money no object perhaps?
Now you have to live in the real world, and guess what, people are having a worse time than you, right now. A hell of a lot worse.
So what if they have a BMW. Its a only car.
Yes some people fiddle the system, so what, let them.
Its none of your business.
Oh and by the way NI is one of the most narrow minded countries in the world. Fact.

Exactly Binky-No-one can know if their nbr is a benefit cheat unless they actually know eachother very well or stalk them!
Unless you actually spend a lot of time with a person, you can never be sure they are not disabled.
A lot of disabilities are hidden, just because you see them walk to a car doesn't make them benefit cheats.

It does annoy me as well how we judge other people and what their disability or illness might be. I remember people being jealous of my sisters motability car but she was seriously ill and needed a double transplant in her teens and died in her early 20s. Do people really resent ill people who have life limiting conditions and spend every day in pain having a motability car, really? If you really are that spiteful then you ought to be ashamed of yourself

How is the system fucked? The only thing that is fucked is peoples perception of what is right and fair

those of you who think it's easy to claim these allowances really have absolutely no clue what it involves and entails and you really are showing your ignorance

It isn't easy to obtain these benefits either.
Infact disabled people are made to jump through hoops to get what they are entitled to.