Page 6 | How could they do this?

brizzledrizzle · 2018-08-02T06:23:05+00:00

You're on the verge of losing everything - but you don’t understand why [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-42789610 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-42789610]] This should not be allowed to happen, this is supposed to be a civilised country. How could they do this to somebody [sad]

Birdsgottafly · 02/08/2018 16:08

I thought that this was going to be about the 87 year old Woman with Dementia who had to sleep rough with her Carer Son, because his benefits were stopped and they couldn't afford the rent.

All of the suitable accommodation was full, so they slept under a Bridge. they said that the drug addicts treated them kinder than the DWP and Housing Officers had.

A local Business Man is paying for B&B for them.

YeTalkShiteHen · 02/08/2018 16:10

I thought that this was going to be about the 87 year old Woman with Dementia who had to sleep rough with her Carer Son, because his benefits were stopped and they couldn't afford the rent

Where was this? That’s absolutely awful!

My friend worked in benefits advice for a council and she told me of a Hungarian nurse who had lived and worked over here for many years. When she was diagnosed with cancer she was forced to rely on benefits and lost her home.

She died, freezing cold in a shitty scatter flat, with no food in the house, no electricity or gas, in the dark because this fucking shitty system doesn’t have a fast track or even a reasonable time frame for those in dire need. She couldn’t get to and from the hospital for treatment either with no money, so she had to walk. It’s just the most inhumane thing I’ve ever heard.

Birdsgottafly · 02/08/2018 16:11

""the number of sublet properties and at least 5 people who claimed to be residents and received payments only to be found out to be fraudsters.""

That has nothing to do with the Benefit system, though.

Should we be investigating MPs to the same level then. because their Fraud has cost more than the Benefit Fraud has and has been a case of greed not need. Well, yes we should, but we don't.

Birdsgottafly · 02/08/2018 16:17

YeTalkShiteHen , in Birmingham. There is a Fundraiser for them.

When I had to review Universal Credit, as part of a team, for a Charity, when it was at White Paper stage. We all immediately thought "19th Century Politics". They made it clear even then that they expected Carers to work, which showed how they viewed disabilities and Carers.

There are Community Centers all over the Country opening up for Families and just children, so they have enough to eat, whilst the Schools are shut. They are planning for Winter, so the children have somewhere warm to sit and enough to eat.

Why there isn't outrage at that, I can't understand.

YeTalkShiteHen · 02/08/2018 16:20

Birdsgottafly I’ll have a look and see if I can find a link to donate and share, what an awful thing to happen. It just shouldn’t ever happen.

Aye our LA is doing free meals every day of the year for children entitled to free school meals and siblings/parents. I’m actually really proud to be part of it, but gutted that it’s needed.

We do games, activities and other things, not just food and make a huge effort to ensure nobody feels stigmatised or embarrassed. It’s a really positive thing.

Just a hell of a shame that it’s even needed!

longwayoff · 02/08/2018 16:23

Utterly disgusting. I'm ashamed to belong to this country, this is a return to the eighteenth century. Where is our Hogarth? Our Dickens? Our Jack London? Orwell? Where is our bloody collective conscience? Why are we allowing this?

manaftermidnight · 02/08/2018 16:43

Why are we allowing this?

Did you actually read the article in the OP? Did most of you? This is not Dickens workhouse story, this is a man who kept and spent 10,000 of housing benefit and was facing eviction because he didn't pay his rent. He faced sanctions because he didn't fulfil the most basic requirements for receiving his benefits.

If you want to talk about problems with UC, there are many. This, not one of them.

BeautyQueenFromMars · 02/08/2018 16:49

Manaftermidnight, I think you need to read the story again as you have misunderstood what actually happened.

manaftermidnight · 02/08/2018 16:51

I haven't. You've been swayed by the syrupy tone rather than the actual content. It reads like something from Take a Break ffs.

manaftermidnight · 02/08/2018 16:53

Before, the Housing Benefit was paid direct to the council for your rent. Now, you get the housing costs and the living costs paid directly to you in one lump sum - one of the features of Universal Credit introduced by your local MP, Iain Duncan Smith.Except you don't realise this - that the money is no longer going direct to the council and you need to sort it out yourself. No-one explained it to you, not in a way you understood, at least. You end up going even further into arrears with the rent

He got paid HB direct and kept it. The whole story is "he didn't realise" any single aspect of anything at all so its not his fault. It's a terribly written piece of propaganda.

manaftermidnight · 02/08/2018 16:53

Before, the Housing Benefit was paid direct to the council for your rent. Now, you get the housing costs and the living costs paid directly to you in one lump sum - one of the features of Universal Credit introduced by your local MP, Iain Duncan Smith.Except you don't realise this - that the money is no longer going direct to the council and you need to sort it out yourself. No-one explained it to you, not in a way you understood, at least. You end up going even further into arrears with the rent

He got paid HB direct and kept it. The whole story is "he didn't realise" any single aspect of anything at all so its not his fault. It's a terribly written piece of propaganda.

manaftermidnight · 02/08/2018 16:54

and the real shame is there is no need for propoganda, there are so many really shocking stories of people who have actually had a really hard time.
This doesn't help their cause at all.

longwayoff · 02/08/2018 16:58

Manaftermidnight. One day you will need help. I hope you're not 87 years old and sleeping under bridge when that happens in case you meet someone just like you.

serbska · 02/08/2018 16:59

So he was paid benefits, didn’t use them to pay his rent and got evicted?

Fucks sake he hardly cuts a sympathetic picture.

serbska · 02/08/2018 17:01

It’s all he didn’t understand. He didn’t get any letter. No one told him. No one explained properly to him.

Nowhere does it say he has severe learning difficulties which would mean there was a higher duty of care to him.

Adults need to adult.

manaftermidnight · 02/08/2018 17:03

Manaftermidnight. One day you will need help. I hope you're not 87 years old and sleeping under bridge when that happens in case you meet someone just like you

The article is not about a man who is 87 years old and sleeping under a bridge. Are you not following my point? There are many shocking stories of people who deserve more help, who have been hurt by UC. This guy is not one of them.
I am not lacking in compassion, you are lacking in reading comprehension.

serbska · 02/08/2018 17:05

There are way more ‘deserving’ stories, seems silly to publicise this one. Try care leavers. Fuck all help. Fuck all housing. No family or dysfunctional family who weren’t able to care for them. I’ve got more sympathy for an 18 year old care leaver than s grown man who had his mum and dad and a council house until he was middle aged.

manaftermidnight · 02/08/2018 17:07

I hope you're not 87 years old and sleeping under bridge when that happens in case you meet someone just like you

If I was I would be delighted to meet someone just like me: a helpful and kind person with a sincere desire to help people in trouble through no fault of their own.
Much more useful than the people who can't read the linked article and understand differences in circumstances or the concept of responsibility. What use would you be?

Flyme21 · 02/08/2018 17:10

Well said manaftermidnight. There are terrible cases of the system letting people down, but this isn't one of them.

YeTalkShiteHen · 02/08/2018 17:25

Adults need to adult

Theresa is that you? Fucks sake.

Becca19962014 · 02/08/2018 17:25

Oh I needed a good laugh today! The BBC doing propaganda for disabled people. What a joke. They closed down their very good disablilty forums because of government pressure because people were discussing changes to come and how to stop them before we were back in the 1800s amongst other things - people there knew and kept an eye on white papers which were buried then - easier to get now (it closed in 2008).

The BBC are useless at reporting and do it to meet whatever political agenda they wish. They always do.

Many, many people don't know that everything is going to be paid in one lump sum - that means they suddenly see they have hundreds extra each month and spend it because the amount given in the first place is so low it's hard to meet needs so you use it to meet those needs.

The general public have no idea about these changes. You think people because you do, it's easy to forget people who don't use the Internet or go out much or just watch what passes for news these days. The news stories will always tell you the vulnerable are always protected, there's help and support for those who fall through the gorges cracks and will get more money.

longwayoff · 02/08/2018 17:29

I was addressing the point made by birdsgottafly as you would know had u taken the trouble to read the thread, so no, I wasnt following your point, quite evidently. With regard to your self-description as a helpful kind person who believes I need help with comprehension I sincerely hope that isnt an offer of assistance as I would be compelled to decline. I am sure there are far more deserving cases out there waiting to benefit from your compassion. I expect they're already looking forward to spending time with you.

manaftermidnight · 02/08/2018 17:30

You think people because you do, it's easy to forget people who don't use the Internet or go out much or just watch what passes for news these days

No, we think that you can't claim to not understand anything at all and then complain that you absolutely no idea of what is going on in your own life, and that every single thing is someone elses fault.
I mean "I had no idea that you had to actually look for a job while on jobseekers benefit" just doesn't cut it.
This is guy is currently on this third court hearing to get extra money to pay off the arrears he caused, while still not being evicted. He is not one of the people suffering through no fault of his own.

Did anyone actually read this appalling article? And understand it?

Becca19962014 · 02/08/2018 17:34

And no one knows if the man in the article had additional needs before his diagnosis, possibly he did but not diagnosed, some people need things explained more clearly face to face (not necessarily needing a diagnosis) not told to just go online and look it up.

A later clinical diagnosis of PTSD and depression isn't something to be dismissive of.

He clearly didn't understand that universal credit is one payment to him for everything.

Yes it sounds simple to others doesnt mean it's simple to him if he's lived with others who have paid rent or has seen people have rent paid directly. It's a frightenly easy thing to get wrong.

manaftermidnight · 02/08/2018 17:44

If it was just that one thing, perhaps, but it isn't. It's all of it. I didn't understand the rent, I didn't understand you need to jobseek on jobseekers benefit, I didn't understand I had to go to meetings at the jobcentre, I can't use a computer, I don't know what sanctions are.....

These things are explained over and over again to people. I'm sure if he had additional needs that syrupy overblown article would have mentioned it at least once.

Like I said, there are people who have been very badly failed, so why not use their stories.