To think she shouldn't get higher rate pip

[sunnydaysx]

My MIL receives pip because she has a bad back and asthma her daughter is down as her carer.
She hasn't had the central heating on in her home for more than 10 years and it's riddled with damp making the asthma worse...

Long story short she's not making her situation any better because she's not trying to get rid of the damp or taking most of her tablets she's meant to. Basically she's over exaggerating.

She is now writing to PIP to say she should be on the higher rate allowance because she has to keep going to hospital appointments and keeps coughing.

AIBU to think higher rate disability should be for people who actually can't move, talk, walk not somebody that can do her gardening, painting, wallpapering and just general everyday things shouldn't be entitled to it because they're playing on there illness or is it not my business?

I just think imo she shouldn't be entitled to higher rate and should be grateful she's even been awarded lower rate because she actually isn't disabled

You can claim PIP and work.

I think you need to look into what PIP is and why it is awarded and keep your fucking beak out

I always find it strange when people complain about others in receipt of benifits, it's like they are jealous. Don't be jealous of someone on disability benifits, they really would rather they didn't have to claim. As someone who used to receive benifits, I can tell you it's not something people feel proud of, infact people feel ashamed to admit it. They shouldn't but that's the way society makes them feel. I now work, I earn an OK living. I can assure you I would much rather be working my ass off than claiming benifits again. It always makes me sad when someone comes on to complain about how much disability benifit someone they know is receiving, it's NOT something to be envious of!

I feel sorry for you op. What a way to live.

PIP is awarded for care needs (washing, dressing, preparing food, dealing with financial affairs, coping with other people) and mobility needs (two aspects: 1. getting to and from destinations without overhwelming discomfort or distress; 2. physical mobility).

If your MIL has difficulty with the above activities then she can be entitled to PIP. She doesn't need to be a double amputee or paraplegic.

@fluffymuggle

"I get where you’re coming from OP - my FIL has terminal cancer and has been refused PIP because he can get to the interview.'
I'm sory about your FIL. Has the decision been appealed?

At some point in his illness he will clearly get to the stage where he cannot carry out daily living functions. If a claimant is terminally ill and has, I think 6 months left to live, then I think you can make a fasttrack claim and the award will be automatic.

Not any use necessarily now but, the family may be grateful of the extra money when the time comes, to pay for additional assistance in the home.

So with your shocking, ignorant attitudes, do you work for the job centre? Or are you a PIP assessor? Or just an unpleasant person.

Odfod

None of your business. Keep your beak out.

Oooh. Benefits basher, drip feed AND a MIL! Do I win the thread bingo?

I get where you are coming from. A place that it seems unfair that someone hides the things that they can do and exaggerates the things they can’t do in order to claim benefits they wouldn’t be entitled to if they told the truth. This is benefit fraud.

As opposed to people who are being honest about their disabilities and claiming benefits. Many of who deserve so very much more.

It gets me too that the liars and cheats get away with stealing from the pot which is now much smaller once they’ve taken from it, with so many disabled people who desperately need help from it.

I feel the same.

I have a hidden disability which colours every day if my life. It’s been the best thing I’ve ever had as it’s taught me so much, and the worst thing as it nearly destroyed me. It’s a fluctuating condition which is notoriously difficult to claim benefits for so I haven’t tried. I just work part time and live on a pittance.

I have a friend who pretends to use a walking stick so they qualify for more benefits. They were out building a wall for someone as a homer last week. They could get a job but they don’t need to if they lie about the extent of their mobility issues and get extra money coming in. It’s just so wrong.

My son gets higher rate PIP. He can (and does) walk for miles. The thing is he's very nearly an adult, but he can't actually go out and walk all those miles alone because of his autism and learning disabilities.

So he doesn't "look" disabled, but he can't be left alone, and can't go out alone. It may look like I do nothing as his carer, as he's at school all day, but I can't work because I still need to do the school run and look after him in the holidays. No after school or holiday care for disabled teens.

But you know, go on believing anyone who can walk doesn't deserve Higher rate PIP.

She is now writing to PIP to say she should be on the higher rate

So leave it to the professionals - it's not up you!

Going through the assessment for higher rate pip is gruelling and difficult to get, which is as it should be to ensure only the most needy get it. So I really wouldn’t worry about your mil falsely getting it. It would be pretty much impossible!

Disability PIP is calculated based on your worst days not your best.
That’s not right. If anything, it’s based on average days.

Anyway, not to worry OP, the assessor will probably take it all away and her plan will have backfired

You really ought to mind your own damn business. Why not try helping them by educating yourself on these issues and then advise them accordingly??

So glad I dont have anyone like you in my life 'helping' me.

If she gets PIP at all, she’s disabled. I know many people with severe chronic illnesses who’ve been refused. I know someone with cerebral palsy who visibly struggles to walk who was refused. She must have medical evidence and a medical assessment must have been convinced that she is severely impacted to get even lower rate PIP.

She won’t get higher rate unless it’s warranted, and asking them to review her award could mean it’s taken away altogether.

It's not strictly true what people are saying about how she must have went through vigorous assessments in order to get PIP. If she's a long time claimant, she would have gotten DLA before and may well have been moved over to PIP without an assessment as many were. It's totally new claimants for PIP that tend to get put through the mill with these assessments but also some long time claimants of DLA too, it just depends who they pick to assess.

It was well known that it was notoriously easy to claim DLA and many people were able to convince a GP they were basically at deaths door and the GP would would write a line. There was thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people on DLA for life with the story of the bad back. This is no more with new claimants now that PIP is here. It also means that some people who are genuine, aren't getting an award either. Don't be fooled though, some of these bad back chancers have slipped through the net and are now on PIP.

To me, if her asthma is that bad, she should turn the heating on. Perhaps she can't afford to? If she isn't getting the state pension yet or the fuel allowance and lives off PIP and the cash in hand job, she probably doesn't have the extra money for the heating. I think it's unlikely she would choose to have it off when it would make her ill. She does have a recognised condition though which is asthma and depending on how severe it is, it makes her disabled. That along with a back problem makes her eligible. At least she isn't just saying oh I've a bad back and this renders me totally unable, she does have another condition as well. She also has to think ahead about retirement when she won't be able to work cash in hand because she will be totally unable as a pensioner with asthma and a back problem.

Just leave her be. She isn't taking anything from anyone and she isn't faking an illness in any way. If she's a woman in her 50's or 60's with asthma and a bad back, she is entitled to it

If she's a long time claimant, she would have gotten DLA before and may well have been moved over to PIP without an assessment as many were

She would have been reassessed by now. Lifetime DLA awards were stopped. Everyone I know who was on DLA has been reassessed for PIP, even those who had lifetime DLA awards, and some of them were refused PIP completely.

There was thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people on DLA for life with the story of the bad back. This is no more with new claimants now that PIP is here.

Thanks to people like you who believe that bullshit there's also thousands of people with lifelong conditions such as autism (people like me) who lost the security that a lifetime award of DLA provided. Now we get reassessed every two/three/five years. You know, just in case my autism gets magically cured and I suddenly gain the ability to live independently 😡😡
And it doesn't just affect the person getting DLA/PIP either when Atos miraculously cure them of their lifelong condition. I lose PIP, (i got it back after a tribunal) my mother loses carer's allowance and income support. Our entire lives get fucked up just because some Capita "assessor" lied through their teeth about my autism. Oh but it's ok because the DWP apologised afterwards 😡 All they had to do was tell the fucking truth in the first place.

People love to bang on about how "loads of people were on DLA for life" and PIP has stopped that, completely ignoring the fact that not every person claiming DLA had a lifetime award. The way people talj you'd think 2/3/5 year DLA awards didn't exist - they did.
But then again most of the people running their mouth about this subject know fuck all about it. People like you and your "hundreds of thousands pretending to have a bad back."

Ugh benefits bashers!

It's incredibly hard to claim disability benefits, in my experience it has been for the last decade. Certainly everyone I know has not been automatically switched to pip from DLA and I've just spent a month of 3-4 hours a day completing my own application for pip which I'm now nervously awaiting the result of.

I'm housebound agoraphobic among other things so couldn't attend an assessment and even a home assessment would be problematic at best.

In addition I hope you're not going around in real life telling people she's working 'cash in hand' unless you are absolutely certain that you are correct that she's paying no tax or NI and neither is her employer as accusations like that can close businesses. Being paid in cash DOESN'T necessarily mean it's "cash in hand".

Plus even if she's on ESA which is the income based/means tested disability benefit she could be working too as there's "permitted work" which means people on that benefit can work a little (there's a cap on hours/earnings) in certain jobs.

I've actually been discussing the possibility of doing some work myself with my advisor as a result of doing the pip form. She got to know me quite well as a result and has made some suggestions based on my work background and current circumstances and she's sent me some links to peruse including the permitted work guidelines

So before you malign this woman (who your husband at least must love whatever your issues with her) be 100% sure you have your facts straight certainly before opening your gob in real life.

It's really none of your business and you're likely only seeing part of her circumstances anyway.

Nobody apart from my mum, dd and best friend knows the full extent of my issues, much of which are very embarrassing nor does ANYONE know my full financial circumstances aside from when necessary bloody dwp it's nobody's business!

She may not be able to afford the heating on, another possibility is that depending on the exact presentation of the asthma, the damp and what type of heating it may exacerbate the asthma and THATS why she's not turning it on.

One place I lived it was supposedly central heating but it was these weird connected "blowers" in each room which really dried the whole place out and exacerbated mine and dds asthma. I ended up not using the central heating but getting a calor gas for the living room and halogens for the bedrooms. Hated it.

So check before you mouth off.

JanMayer, you may have autism but it doesn't give you the right to speak to people like shit, put words in their mouth and make up your own version of what they wrote.

I stated a fact. People were claiming DLA falsely, ALOT of people. Does this mean I condone the change and the scrutiny of PIP because I stated that fact? No, I don't condone it. I have a son with autism so keep your assumptions about who I am and what I know to yourself.

As someone with an 'invisible' disability, in receipt of PIP, I completely agree that is absolutely none of your business. God forbid you are ever in the situation where you are in severe pain and someone who should be supporting you is taking to the Internet to voice her disbelief in your condition.

I stated a fact. People were claiming DLA falsely, ALOT of people

Yeah, according to you and the Tories. And I'll speak to you anyway I please. You have a disabled child and you spread mistruths about disability benefits, says a lot about you. And I didn't make any assumptions, did I? You came out with the daily mail "hundreds of thousands of people with bad backs faking it to get DLA" crap. You said that. No assumption necessary to judge what kind of person you are.

My daughter is a chronic asthmatic. She is on steroid inhalers and was admitted to hospital as her lungs collapsed . She is also red raw with eczema. She also suffers bad depression
She isn't entitled to PIP. Sickens me that people cant lie about how bad their illness is to defraud the government

I know someone who does similar. Outright lies. Wastes nhs resources with fake ‘funny turns’ and feels they need to have an admission or an ambulance called every few weeks to keep up the pretence. It’s got to the point where it’s absolutely completely ridiculous.
For all the lies and the gloating about it and how she laughed and did the impression of how she behaved at her interview (deliberate slurring and limping using crutches etc) is clearly someone so mentall I’ll and deranged who has made a career from faking illness and it’s awful.
Others who know within the family have said to me why don’t I call as I have what they call evidence (photos family videos etc etc) and I won’t. I don’t because it’s so bad what’s been going on but she has children and I think she would be made an example of.
I have tried to suggest it’s not the best way and that’s the most I’m prepared to do and now keep my distance as I’m sure at some point it will all be found out
You need to just set it aside OP there’s nothing you cannot should do in this situation