To not understand benefits of £7k a month!

[CoastalWave]

Awful story in the paper today (apologies, Daily Mail! But I'm sure it's in others)

Beyond distressing what has happened to the children (and the dogs) and I'm delighted this pair have been jailed.

But what also stood out, was the comment that they received £7000 a month in benefits.

How?

When my DH lost his job during cover and we only had my part time wage to live on, we were told that £1k a month was absolutely fine for a family of 4 to live on and we were entitled to nothing. Zero. Nada. Out of that £1k a month was our £600 mortgage, £200 council tax, £150 gas/electric etc etc. Basically there was no bloody chance we could live on £1k a month. We lost all of our savings and we're still paying back the debt we accrued now.

How do scumbags like this even just get handed that amount of money per month? And moreover, no one is bloody checking up on them clearly. Those poor children.

link

Can someone please enlighten me as to how these even happens/is allowed? What on earth is £7k benefits made up of? Are all families with 7 kids and not working getting £7k a month because if they are I'm sacking off work and popping out a few more children.

@ihatethefuckingmuffin

earlier on at least one source was mentioning this.

Earlier on one poster said it. There was no source. It's nonsense.

They didn't make it up though, the £7k in benefits was a quote from the judge.

How would they have made these fraudulent claims?

But official figures can say all they want. These are the ones that are caught.
The point of fraud is people do not get caught so how do they know a figure?

@Quveas "So what would be wrong with HMRC popping round to yours every six months to check that you aren't a lying scumbag and cheating on your taxes? We all know that self-employed people are routinely "creatiive" with their accounts. There's a million threads on this site about that, never mind all the cheat stories in the press.
How does it feel to have the boot on the other foot."

Sorry but I think you just proved OP's point... OP has already said she is aware HMRC could knock on her door to check at any moment and she wouldn't care because she has nothing to hide ..

what led you to believe it is a robust system?

Come on where?

It doesn't say anywhere that they get 7k income in benefits every month, just that they fritter away 7k. So what is the source (of actual evidence) that says they are getting 7k in benefits? How is that 7k made up?

Child neglect will have brought in social services and other investigative services - I'm sure the DM would be first to report if they were being done for benefit fraud.

If its via disability then disability benefits have the lowest rate of fraud and are often under paid. By comparison tax fraud is enormous.

Oh come on! People on disability aren't stuck in bed al day or hobbling round constantly to prove how disabled they are. My son is on chemo and gets full DLA. But some days he's great! He can play football. Other days he's bed bound for days on end. What if this DLA examiner came round on a day when he felt good? You really have no idea.

So basically if someone has a life long disability you want your personal representative to nip round every six months in case a miraculous cure has taken place?

You know absolutely nothing about disability benefits or just how difficult it is to get any form of disability benefits. Levels of fraud in disability claimants are incredibly low, levels of sick and disabled people who die waiting for support are distressingly high.

Tax fraud on the other hand from "hard working tax payers" costs the country a fortune. Don't see many stories on that in the DM or from its tax "avoiding" non dom owners.

Needless to say it's the £7k that's got everyone frothing at the mouth. Missing the point that the children and animals have been abused.

What the hell was going on to let the situation get to that stage. A massive fail by all the authorities.

@C8H10N4O2

It doesn't say anywhere that they get 7k income in benefits every month, just that they fritter away 7k. So what is the source (of actual evidence) that says they are getting 7k in benefits? How is that 7k made up?

The source?

A quote form the judge, in court...

Addressing Lewes Crown Court, Judge Stephen Mooney said that Bennett and Brogan had 'frittered away £7,000 a month which should have been spent on the children'.
The couple would have been receiving £84,000 in benefits each year.
Judge Mooney added: 'It is impossible for any person to comprehend the enormity of your failings.
'Whatever was going on in their relationship, they should have been looking after those children. How do you have 35 dogs, £7,000 in benefits, how is this allowed to happen?'

Setting up checking would incur costs in training, recruiting staff and implementing a system, you would need checkers, reporters, and decision makers, input from GPs, basically what you have to get the benefits, then regular checks?

Have the people suggesting this calculated the costs against the fraudulent claims?

This would have to be done first which would in itself incur costs.

There is probably no point cost-wise, although I've not calculated it. Neither have the people saying it should be done. It's an extremely short-sighted and naïve thing to say.

Fuck me sideways with the why is no-one checking in person…
Fo you think DWP staff are competent medical consultants who can “pop around” to see if children like my daughter have just suddenly overcome her permanent disabilities..!
Snd this would cost Taxpayers how much?
The reality of disability benefit applications is
a) THEY ARE RE-APPLIED FOR EVERY YEAR - so doctors, therapists, school, social worker reports and consultants etc letters go to the DWP EVERY year.
b) The notion that the DWP would ask “does it help” is phenomenally ludicrous and hilarious/ they know it’s the bare minimum.
c) Carer’s allowance is £67 a week,

So here’s what the Family COULD be getting:
Carer’s Allowance for caring for each other- £67 x2 is £ 134 per week. Multiply by 52 weeks is Per year £6968.

No need to claim DLA or PIP to make up that incredible salary…

Problem sorted, OP??

The two child limit does doesn’t count for disability benefits. Why one Earth would it? Are you only allowed two disabled children?

Some crimes are just worse.
child neglect and abuse, animal neglect and abuse are dreadful but BEnEfiTs now that does get blood pumping for some of you.....for shame.

Never mind the 7k, I think the real issue is obviously understanding how on earth this happened and how it went under the radar. Looking at her FB page, it just seems such a bizarre situation. Her house appears relatively clean and tidy in the month and months prior to her arrest. The children appear (yes I know, appearances can be deceptive), well loved, clean and cared for. It just so so strange.

Most of the kids are school aged. Do they not go to school?

It's easy to say that because the OP knows it isn't going to happen. HMRC simply do not go around to self-employed (or employed) people's homes to check what their income is or what they spend it on, or if they are "ok". But that is what she is suggesting should happen to all people with disabilities. I will be absolutely fine with anyone popping around to check up on whether I still can't walk every six months, and will even make them a cup of tea, the minute the same rule is applied to every single household in the country.

That way social workers can pop around to check on every family caring for children or vulnerable adults and should snoop through every house to look for signs of neglect or abuse. The police can drop in to every house six-mothly to look for proceeds of crime or domestic violence or drugs. HMRC can drop around to look if you are spending beyond your means and have a hidden off the books job or are not likely to be declaring your income truthfully.

Do you not see that if we started from the point of assuming that everyone has to prove their innocence of things (a) you would all be up in arms and refuse access and (b) the good news is that there would be no unemployment because there aren't enough people to take this approach. So if it isn't ok that all these people are dropping by yours every six months to check on you, why is it ok that somebody should do it to me, simply because I have a disability. It is the presumption of guilt that is angering - you are assuming that disabled people are guilty of fraud without any evidence whatsoever and proceeding on that basis.

You are frothing about the wrong thing OP. Surely the issue is that the neglect of the children has not been picked up.

It's likely the calculation covers all forms of assistance: housing benefit, council tax support, child benefit, care packages, multiple DLA and PIP awards, etc. I would guess the family are on legacy benefits. With seven children and two adults it mounts up.

Anyone who has any knowledge of the benefits system knows how difficult it is to qualify for DLA or PIP. You need to have solid evidence from an independent source and be able to get through your interview with the 'independent' assessors who, as alleged 'healthcare professionals' know so much more about how your condition affects you than your GP who has been dealing with you all your life.

It’s unbelievable OP. I detest the Daily Mail but read the Telegraph article as well. The worst thing is that the benefit payments seem to have not helped the poor children one iota.

What galls me about the DM article is is that it seems to care more about the dogs than the children. Maybe for legal reporting reasons, and maybe because it is a follow up article but it seems to gloss over the children. I really hope they’re in a better place now and getting the love and support they need.

The OP was talking about knocking out a few children so she could live on benefits. I am well aware of the benefits system in this country.

I get so fed up with these benefit bashing threads. The reality is, there is a very low amount of benefit fraud compared to the amount of benefits unclaimed. There is a very high amount of tax fraud. And the benefit system is there to provide a safety net for people. It is meant to provide a reasonable standard of living.

While there will always be some people who abuse it, for the vast majority, they are entitled to it, they need it and they earn it (most are in work or have been in work: they have paid taxes). The level of resentment and bitterness shown on this site is just playing into the hands of the Tories. Instead of hating benefit users, perhaps start looking at the systemic faults in the system including the lack of well paid, flexible work for those who need it, the lack of affordable childcare for those who need it and the punitive, discriminatory effects of austerity measures.

The disability benefits is the game changer if you were ordinary people making a claim you wouldn’t get anywhere near that and yes some of their income could well be earnt wages. The judge was not criticising the source of this money just what it was spent on.

If you assume that their children are all disabled and in receipt of high rate dla for care and mobility.

92.40 X 7 = 647.8

62.50 X 7 = 437.50

Carers allowance 69.7 X 2 = 139.40

That's 1224.70 per week

Or 5307 per calendar month

The rest housing benefit, UC etc

They are foul bastards.
Foul bastards can also have children with disabilities. The two are not mutually exclusive.

They can be both pieces of shit and claiming benefits legally.

It may be that they have committed fraud but we do not know that. It may be that their neglect of their children has affected their development so badly that they are actually disabled by it. It may be that they were born with developmental difficulties.

At this point we don't know.

What we know is these people are shitty and neglectful parents.

We should not jump to the conclusion that the media wants us to jump to which is "Bad people claiming benefits must be doing so fraudulently."

Which is frighteningly easily turned into people who claim benefits are bad.

There is a clear goal re the 'living it up on benefits' narrative. You need to demonise a section of society before you turn a blind eye to the government mistreating them.

This country (along with the rest of the world) is in the financial shit. Where to save money? It's hard to go after the rich. Big companies are a politicians best friend and their retirement plan.

People on benefits are the easy target but the truth is that most of them are just ordinary people doing the best they can.