To be sick of all the newspaper articles saying lies about DLA and PIP

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To get any DLA or PIP you have to be significantly disabled. To get the higher rate of either part you have to be severely disabled.

A motability car is not free, it's rented. To get one you need to either be unable to walk 50 metres or have a severe learning disability, which is very difficult to get.

It's always happened but since the stuff in the news about changes to PIP it's got worse.

Articles in the newspapers claiming you can get a free car for bed wetting, which just doesn't happen. There will be children like my ds who get DLA because they have a number of problems including bedwetting but nobody gets high rate mobility for bed wetting on its own.

There are other articles about people claiming PIP and DLA for various minor sounding conditions and I am so fed up with it. I know from experience that the newspapers will have talked to people claiming PIP/DLA and twist everything they say to make them sound like a scrounger.

All these articles are giving off the message that anyone with any minor disability can claim loads of benefits.

I agree, it's disgusting. What worries me is how easily many people seem to believe it all and how little understanding many people have of moderate disability. One poster was claiming on another thread that people who score 2s across the board only have costs for the appliances that get them the points. Clueless. I'm low care needs disabled but PIP doesn't come near to covering the costs that my disabilities generate, none of which are related to the appliances that got me the points (they cost me very little). But the actual costs of conditions aren't part of the assessment - it's a really crude way of measuring degree of disability and nothing more.

I agree it’s so unhelpful and the inaccuracies are glaring.

People who receive high rate care and high rate mobility PIP are severely disabled, people who qualify for LCWRA have significant difficulty working or performing any work related activities. When you say those are the target of benefit cuts you are choosing THE most disabled to bleed. The idea that you are going to take £50 a week off all the most disabled and give £10 to the average UC recipient to “encourage everyone to work” is gross.

People are disillusioned in general with the system. I personslly know several people who are not disabled or chronically ill but are receiving a huge amoumt of PIP and I welcome any changes involving their reassessments gladly. I welcome changes that help those who are suffering and are living on the breadline due to health issues that are not their fault.
A close famiy member made me aware tney lied on a paper based PIP assesment claiming they are uable to leave home due to various psychological issues. They have never spoken to a PIP assessor and answered the many questions they ask. No due diligence at all rom the DWP. This person works night shifts full time. I appreciate you can work and still be eligible but it's not rocket science in this instance that somethings not quite right.
There are so many people who should be receiving PIP but are refused incorrectly. Some fight their case but others can't face it and give up. I believe the current system encourages the most vulnerable to accept they won't get help. They are dealing with enough on a daily basis anyway and don't have the strength to fight the system constantly to get the financial help they are entitled to.
I sm severely disabled and no longer able to work in the career I spent years training for at university. Still have some student loan outstanding to prove it. I am 42 and its highly likely I will never be able to work again in any capacity
I've lost my career, my dignity, my financial security, my quality of life,. my social life and many other things too personal to say. It's obvious from the medical evidence I supplied to the DWP, my application and my own account ( two hour phone conversation) that I qualify for many points. Any small amount of money would have been marvellous to help towards my extra costs associated with my disability. I was awarded nothing.
I won't go into the issues I've had applying for Limited Capaciy for work. All I will say is as it stands the DWP have lost or mislaid four identhcal application forms I've completed and returned to them by recorded delivery.
Unfortunately OP i believe theres a lot of people receiving a lot of PIP that need reassessing. I'm not just basing this opinion on my family member and others I know personally.
Then there's the people who are entitled but told they aren't as theres just not enough money in the pot. The system needs an overhaul.

It does need an overhaul and I"m appalled at what they've put you through but this change isn't looking to overhaul the system in any meaningful way. And if your family member lied and said they can't leave the house and that's been accepted, their award is probably one of the safe ones as they will have scored highly in multiple areas. Why don't you report them?

A few people have suggested this but it's not sometime I'm comfortable with.
Will they be able to get away with a paperbased assessment on a second occasion when their award period ends?

if they've said they can't leave the house and that's been accepted then yes, probably.

The car thing infuriates me. My 19 year old son gets high rate pip but doesn't drive. My husband is his appointee so when his pip renewed we as a family decided to get a motability car which we will use to drive him around. It's going to use 300 of the pip award every month, so not a free car like the newspapers seem to want people to think

Too many people believe what they read in rags and the rich have enough to gain by keeping us peasants angry at each other so we don’t notice them and where our anger should be directed.

its infuriating but unfortunately it’s just too easy to punch down/each other than use your own brain cells to see what is really happening.

I’ve just applied for DLA for my disabled son and I’m sure it’ll be a long and immensely frustrating battle.

How are all these people getting a huge amount of PIP without having any disabilities? This is the exact kind of comments we see daily - yet in order to claim PIP we all know you need to provide bags of evidence.

If that's true then report them

Exactly people complain that my son gets DLA it cost me just shy of £20 to post off his evidence it was an inch thick only one piece was from a family member who visits occasionally backing up my night time needs everything else was off professionals it takes me two weeks to fill in and evidence the forms because I hate it and I find it upsetting that he needs the help that WE need the help only to be slated by people who have NO CLUE

I agree and it’s awful to see the stress this is causing.

There are many people clearly blagging the system. I could give you multiple examples of this. The 'new' condition those wanting to swing the lead on is mental health and anxiety. It's the new 'back pain'. There are forums and help guides coaching people what to say to get benefits. There are no tests anyone can carry out to determine whether the person is lying or not. It's all based on what a person says and there are forums literally coaching people what to say to score on the assessment and get pip. Anyone who says otherwise is totally naive. There's a reason why the benefits bill has sky rocketed and is out of control and it's all down to blagging mental health and anxiety. Myself and my wife work extremely hard and I am angry that my taxes go on this.

I saw that article yesterday, absolutely disgusting reporting just to create drivision

There are no tests??? That's absolute bollox!
To get any money at all I had to have 2 2 hour phone calls because apparently the transcript for the first one got deleted, I also had to travel 40 miles for a medical assessment - that was on top of all the evidence I provided!

I’m all for helping those in genuine need but I was in the company of someone once who had a motobility car because she was deaf in one ear. Nope, me neither

I think people’s objection to motability is that you are able to lease luxury cars through it, which isn’t really the purpose of the scheme.

Having access to a basic car that is adapted to your needs is one thing, getting a BMW X2, a Mini Cooper, a Mazda CX5 etc.

Huge numbers of people are claiming for these cars - almost 900,000 households. They account for 20% of all new cars in Britain.

All of this is funded by the taxpayer. I think it’s far to challenge the scheme and if it’s lost sight of its purpose / value for money for the government.

Anyone that says pip is easy to get has never claimed it. The fraud level for pip is below 1%. It’s one of the most dehumanising procedures to go through. They try to trip you up at every step. You can claim pip and work full time. No one knows how disability affects someone so it’s easy to sit there and say oh they don’t deserve it but you literally have no idea why they got awarded it. As more people that apply get denied it than accepted for it, it’s not exactly given away

And yet another ignorant post.

For the bigger, higher spec models claimants have to pay a lump sum, and then they have to return the car after 3 or 5 years. Just like any other lease.

And regardless of the model it's paid for by PIP, so not exactly free.

Quite likely awarded the mobility component due to an inability to travel on public transport independently, coping with balance issues, safety warnings, anxiety due to hearing loss, thought processing issues… and that’s just scratching the surface of their issues.
All things I had never considered until it happened to a loved one (who doesn’t claim but having read the guidelines just now, probably could).

•A motability car is not free, it's rented. To get one you need to either be unable to walk 50 metres or have a severe learning disability, which is very difficult to get.*

Actually it’s effectively free as is taken out of PiP money. The deposit was £50 after the PiP payment. And you can get a lovely brand new box fresh car (28k worth ) at 16.
No problem with someone who can’t access public transport get help to drive but I think the cost of the help is excessive.

I have supported a number of people to apply for PIP with serious health conditions and who are clearly eligible but have been turned down. That was despite having very strong medical evidence. They have challenged the decision and have been awarded PIP on appeal. There is very little fraud in the PIP system but there will always be some people who abuse the system.If someone is claiming fraudulently then report them. However there is also a group of people who are clearly entitled to PIP who are being turned down and don't challenge the decision.

It costs the tax payer no more money, whether the PIP recipient chooses to lease a ‘basic’ car or a higher-end one. If they choose the former, the lease it using the best part of their mobility allowance, if they choose the latter, they pay extra out of their own pocket as it were. You only get access to the scheme if you score highly on part of the mobility score, so whoever it is claiming that they know of someone with a mobility car because they are dead in one ear, is also talking out of their backside. As for the notability scheme accounting for 20% of new car sales, ask yourself who the main beneficiaries of that are and who is likely to suffer most if demand drops. A lot of disabled people would probably be better off being given access to unsecured loans and buy theses a decent second hand car with that. This would cost a fraction of their mobility allowance (as opposed to all of it and then some, in most cases), but a lot of people with disabilities (and therefore a reduced abilitiy to work) aren’t exactly inundated with offers of credit. As usual, all the people bleating about their taxes (because no disabled person has ever paid taxes of course) are looking the wrong way. Wake up people - the system is broken, but direct your rage where it belongs. All this meanness and the ridiculous, literally incredible anecdotes are embarrassing.

How are people who need WAVs supposed to get them without the Motability scheme? The adaptions and down payment on my child's WAV are in excess of £30k and that is on a basic van, we can't order extras like opening rear windows etc, without the adaptions travel would be almost impossible and the mobility element of his DLA would barely cover the costs of a taxi to all the appointments he has some weeks. Last time I checked I couldn't get him, in his wheelchair, into a 'basic car'. The £30k doesn't come out of his DLA, we have to apply for a means tested grant so still end up paying a huge chunk of money for a van I'd really rather not have to drive.