To ask the truth about life on benefits nowadays

[ginorwine]

Too many benefit programmes on implying different things- blaming media .
Also on some fb pages reports of increased food bank use and people with disability killing self due to new laws .
My cousin who is a wheelchair user has a sister bedroom and no issues over the bedroom tax and also says she as enough money for what she needs including a fantastic car that picks up the wheelchair and packs it into her boot , sufficient money for nice things , Petrol and meals out and said to me she genuinely feels she has a decent lifestyle .
Amongst the media hype am wondering what the reality actually is these days ....

ESA work group is going to be the same payment as JSA For all new applicants and if someone is turned down and appeals they will be put on the same rate as JSA as it counts as a change in their circumstances.

DLA/PIP is not means tested but some people, like my MP, feel it's no longer necessary due to the equality act.

Under universal credit disability premium is much reduced (I think it's only the lower rate payable) for people living alone and severely disabled (higher rate of PIP care).

ESA maximum is £109 a week. That has to cover everything, food, electricity, gas, water, home insurance, council tax, tv licence, travel, clothing, toiletries, it really is not a lot. How is that in any ay means tested for someone to actually live on long term because they're too ill to work? DLA switching to PIP and all the new exclusions is a major blow for those who will go from barely having a quality of life, to choosing on a daily basis between eating and lighting, come winter it will be a 3 way decision, eat, light, or heat.

Bear in mind also that the benefits claimants posting here are literate, probably numerate and have internet access. The process is even more biased against people with poor education or understanding, who can't mount detailed and coherent appeals alone or who are relying on (and know about!) the library for access to the help and guides online.

Most of my income comes from benefits, I have 2 children and work part time. My difference is that I receive quite a chunk of child maintenance each month which isn't means tested which makes life a LOT more comfortable.
Someone else in the same situation as me without the maintenance could get by, but no money for any extras and definitely have to watch what your spending every week (I know, I went years without any). I never had to visit a food bank, but I never had any debt and could borrow money off my mum for example if the washing machine broke down and pay it back slowly. Some people don't have this kind of help and can't get normal credit, so need to go to places that charge extortionate interest with high repayments. Or they take a high interest loan to buy their kids school uniform or some christmas presents.
With not much money to start with this quickly would eat into your income. Its easy to see how people start to struggle.

I've always found it very hard with a family member who gave up working as she was better off on benefits. She's had a car on disability (Nissan 4 x 4 thingy), and they've managed to renovate their house as well as take holidays abroad etc while her DH was working part time and got a carers allowance for "helping" her. They have a very active social life, spend every weekend out and have a better lifestyle than most people their age............
Now the benefit changes have kicked in, they've had a hell of a reality check. She's been assessed as being able to work up to 4 hours a day, her DH has lost any carers allowance and has had to take 2 jobs, and they've taken a huge cut in living standards.
I feel bad that they've gone from one extreme to another in a very short space of time, and life certainly isn't easy at the moment but I really don't agree with the amount of money they were raking in beforehand.

It just takes one assessment, one law change and your cousin would find life very different. We can always find a few examples of people who are living comfortably on benefits and a few examples of people who are taking the piss. Both sets usually have disabilities and or numerous children. And both are used to suggest the rest are lying about hardship.

Where are the programmes on working families struggling to pay their rent, living in fuel poverty, using food banks to feed their family, juggling day to day?

In reality these cuts hit deep, I work on the coal face, so to speak and people are struggling, not only financially but against the stigma perpetuated by the media, the assumption that they are to blame and an oppressive bureaucratic system.

I'm on ESA and get PIP for help with "daily living." I should get mobility too but tbh after having to appeal my refusal for ESA and then later PIP I have no more energy to appeal a second time to get an additional £80 per month.

I have an invisible illnesses/disabilities, one of them is also rare to its a nightmare trying to be understood when I explain how my conditions effect me.

My DH and son continue to run our business without me which means the business isn't taking in nearly as much as it should.
My benefits keep the wolves from the door.
We are not in debt and can pay our bills.
We are reasonably frugal. We make the vast majority of food from scratch. We don't waste food. We don't eat out/get takeaways. We don't get haircuts. I give them both buzz cuts and trim my ponytail when needed. We haven't had a holiday away for about 8 years and have no plans to take one. We don't buy clothes unless something wears out and we don't have a replacement already. We don't go out for drinks.
We shop around for food bargains. Regularly buying food from the reduced section that goes out of date that day. My mobile phone cost me £77 refurbished and I pay £7.50 pm. My DH is the same and my Ds pays for his own.

TBH our lifestyle isn't that different from before I got ill. Except we don't eat out/go out to the pub and we haven't been able to save any money like we used to every month....and we need to budget!

We are fortunate that we have the necessary skills/abilities to manage our money/cook/give haircuts etc. Not everyone on benefits have them through no fault of their own.

I think a lot depends on which part of the country you live in to. Some places are just really expensive to live.

AlmosaaJillSandwich, is he not entitled to income support as well?

Oops that was a bit of a essay.....

I agree that there are a lot of fraudulent claims too, especially with single people claiming and not disclosing they live with partners who might be in full time employment, so you can see how some on benefits might be comfortable financially. The whistleblowing team for reporting fraudulent claimants just isn't fit for purpose. My DH has an elderly mother of 90 who can't look after herself, and the brother of my DH lives with her as his ex wife kicked him out. He is an alcoholic. He is paid to be her carer but is never there as he disappears for weeks at a time on his alcoholic binges, and me and DH have to pick up the slack, despite working full time, and we call in twice a day when he's AWOL to take care of her. I've reported him anonymously, and after nothing appeared to be done, I actually reported him and disclosed my details. Still nothing done six months later. More needs to be done to weed out fraudulent claimants and divert the money to people who really need it.

You do love a good benefit thread don't you OP?

You appear to know more people on the fiddle than Vanessa Mae...

One big variable is housing costs. If your rent is entirely met by HB / UC it is easier to manage. If you are affected by LHA, bedroom tax or benefit cap things are much tighter.

Another is disability. If your disability happens to fit neatly into the arbitrary descriptors for ESA and / or PIP/DLA you are likely to be better supported.

People are reassessed a lot more frequently than they used to be too. A big chunk get benefits reinstated on appeal but it takes months, and if a 'passporting' benefit stops, HB stops too. If you're not on the ball quick enough to get this reinstated (which many on disability benefits are not, for obvious reasons) the next thing that happens is rent arrears and threatened homelessness.

Benefit delays and fuckups are another big variable and not at all uncommon.

Debt makes a massive difference too. You might be able to bob along for a while on a very low income but a few big, necessary expenses can put you in heavy debt, and people on low incomes tend to end up paying much higher interest.

I think it depends a lot on what benefits you can get ! Some people have to give up work through ill health but can't claim any esa because they have had sporadic employment or their partner works. They may be too ill to hold down a job but find it hard to get PIP.
Top rate PIP for both components is £140 a week and if you live alone are then entitled to decent disability premiums and ESA it can be possible to have a decent lifestyle particulary if in social housing or getting full housing benefit.
The ones who will be hit hardest by disability or illness are those with a mortgage, who then have to wait 9 months to get any help from mortgage interest support, by which time they risk being repossessed.
In my job the people I find hardest hit by illness or disability are those who have just got a serious cancer diagnosis and going through chemotherapy or radiotherapy, can't work but not disabled enough to get PIP. On top of a cancer diagnosis they are then worrying about paying the bills and keeping their home.

@Becca19962014
What the blazes? I knew it was bad, i didn't know how bad.
It's a complete farce.

It depends on so much really.

I was in benefits for two years after I left my husband, it was fine for me but I still received a relatively large amount of maintenance ( which was allowed) so even though I still lived week to week I still had enough money for everything.

Near the end the benefit cap came in and I was still on thanks to the maintenance but It did make me think about how bad it must be for those women who's partners just run away or can't/won't pay anything.

The cap tied in with me getting a job and then also getting my divorce money so it didn't affect me really.

Almost - Esa can be a lot more than £109 a week with severe disability premiums on top !!

I applied for PIP but didn't get it, and really could not cope with appealing.I can not work full time, I was in and out of hospital when I tries to. I work part time and just about manage. I am not entitled to top up benefits as I work too few hours.

well if shes not living in london or the south east then she may well have an ok life on benefits

not really, the cap is lower outside London to reflect the lower living costs so it's not an 'ok life'

after losing my mother and home i had to leave my job and London and have really struggled, at the moment i don't even have a pair of shoes

Becca "DLA/PIP is not means tested but some people, like my MP, feel it's no longer necessary due to the equality act"

Sorry if I'm being thick but how does the equality act factor in please?

Bear in mind also that the benefits claimants posting here are literate, probably numerate and have internet access. The process is even more biased against people with poor education or understanding, who can't mount detailed and coherent appeals alone or who are relying on (and know about!) the library for access to the help and guides online.

Most of my income comes from benefits, I have 2 children and work part time. My difference is that I receive quite a chunk of child maintenance each month which isn't means tested which makes life a LOT more comfortable.

I've quoted 2 different posters above - these differences plus housing cost are what makes the difference.

I'm a single parent of 2 on ESA - I'm pretty comfortably off at the mo, not rich, can't afford holidays etc but nowhere near desperate or destitute.

That's because I was able to articulate well on my applications, assessments and dealings with officials; my housing costs are covered in their entirety & I also get child maintenance from my ex (and he doesn't ever miss payments).

If I didn't get regular maintenance, my rent exceeded the hb amount, or I was lacking in numeracy/literacy/budgeting/communication skills then it would be a very different experience for me.

We're comfortable.

BUT

I'm bright enough and capable enough to fill in the DLA forms well enough to have a good shot at getting what DS is entitled to. Also to balance the books so our finances work and fortunate enough to have bought our home before the full extent of DS's difficulties became apparent. I have no pension

I do worry those who for whatever reason cannot complete the forms well, or manage as well as we do.

I often feel the more blessed in life erroneously put all their success down to merit. Much is actually due to the good fortune of being born without the disadvantages (health, birth and financial) of others. The last and present government encourages is self congratulatory attitude this as it allows them to cut support for the most vulnerable without their core voters feeling worried or guilty.

Also much of the "independence" skills that now seems core child's with SN' education, seems to be about doing enough to remove/reduce entitlement to financial support (can they cook a basic meal?) without promoting any kind of real independence (still unable to work or function in the "real world"). I worry it is forcing and generation of chidren/adults into long term poverty

I've been waiting for my carers claim to be sorted for two months. I'm caring for someone on DLA and had to give up work to do so. Even when it does get paid and my goat sent to me, I'm now so far in debt because of having to carry on paying rent and all usual expenses that I will not be able to claw my way out of it on the £60 or so a week. Being on benefits is shit, not the cash cow it's made out To be.

sweets that's the reality living in the county I do.

goldfish that's what I asked them. I never had a reply!!

I didn't mean that was correct by the way, just the crap that some MPs come out with which means they don't help when someone finds their benefits cut off.

As someone with a physical disability due to illnsss, I can see those who are too sick and disabled to work full time or even part time but not as severely affected as someone else are no longer getting the same level of disability awards as previously. For example to get high rate mobility on dla, which is now replaced by PIP, the distance was not set but in recent years decision makers usually only awarded for difficulties with walking for 50 metres or less. Now with PIP a person can only get the high rate mobility component if they have difficulties or can't walk at all below 20 metres. This is why so many people are having their mobility cars taken as they no longer meet the criteria for high rate mobility (which can be used to pay towards the mobility car scheme) as it has dropped from 50 metres to 20 metres.

Also PIP assessors are interpreting the criteria for both mobility and care very harshly. I am bedridden 24/7 but I was refused high rate care initially and had to appeal which was finally stopped and the right award given . The extra energy and stress of the appeal process made me even more ill for almost a year. Many people are too ill to fight unfair award decisions ( successful appeal rates are high so incorrect initial awards are happening frequently ) and so are not getting what they should be.

With regards JSA etc I have been reading the sanctions have been made harsher and for longer. So a minor sanction can stop benefits for a month plunging people into real crisis

As someone else has said those with mental health conditions are also facing no longer being awarded pip due to change in criteria when they qualified under the old DLA, awful.

If a disabled person receives PIP middle or high rate care and lives alone they receive severe disability premium of £60 a week. This is being stopped when universal credit is introduced. So if your cousin lives alone they could be facing a big drop soon in benefit income.