Ok who wants to swap £2500 a month in benefits for my husbands MS and my epilepsy, narcolepsy and fibromyalgia.

[bluebirdblackbird]

Well according to a lot of people on here we are on a good thing.

the 20 seizures I have in a week, chronic pain and night terrors, losing my memory after a seizure, pissing myself, hallucinations. They are all great fun. Not to mention the amount of times I have been accused of being drunk after a seizure.

or there is my husband. Diagnosed with progressive MS. Cronic Pain, shaking, cronic pins and needles, weakness in limbs plus losing mobility. Had to give up his teaching job 4 months ago after gradually reducing hours.

Not to mention the judgement when we use a blue badge because we look ok in that moment. And apparently labour are going to find us both work. Yippee cant wait to meet the employer who is going to take us both on. I am sure pissing my chair on a reg basis won’t matter to them or the losing counciouness at least a couple of times a day.

i am just fed up of yet another they are on benefits and get money and it’s not fair stamp stamp stamp. The bastards have saved up for a holiday- it’s not fair. The bastards have a mobility car but they look fine, OMG- they have got new carpets or a new sofa.

since I am guessing they none of the moaners would actually swap places with us if they could then STFU.

oh and that pip that is easy to get- my husband gets lower rate for both and that is despite providing all the evidence and appealing so we are off to tribunal. He can’t even dress himself most days and he can’t hold a pan safely or manage his medication plus many other things. If he stays on the points he is on he will lose his pip completely under these new labour proposals.

but most people know someone who’s friends, aunts, nephews, stepdaughters, cousin twice removed who lied and got it. I was taking to a lady in a wheelchair who does not get any mobility component of pip at all.

What is obvious? Do you know the ins, and out of her medical condition, really know everything? I highly doubt it. Her condition could be variable for all anybody knows.

And your pension which you will not have been able to contribute towards.

It’s obvious that she is more capable than it benefits her to admit.

Won't swap unless you want to keep the chronic pain and have type 1 diabetes... and a full time job that earns you a lot less.

I'm not criticising, as benefits should be for people who can't work like op... but there are just as many working who have health conditions that impact their lives but are working.

But not everyone agrees the the Rowntree Foundation.

Their needs might be a reduction in work hours to enable them to access employment, in which case the PIP becomes part of the household income and might - gasp - pay for a holiday, or a meal out somewhere.

You can mock gasp all you like. If PIP is paying for a meal out and holidays then it isn't needed. It's a nice to have unless you think we should be paying everyone an allowance for a meal out and holiday too?

But if the PIP payment enables that reduction it’s relating to their disability, isn’t it?

I don’t have an issue with PIP per se, but I can see that it doesn’t always have the intended impact and recognise that as a country we can’t sustain the current trajectory. So what’s the option?

@Espresso25 yes that’s the point I’m making - “relating to their disability” might be a specific piece of equipment or it may be funding a needed reduction in hours, or support to work full time (and thereby afford a holiday).

In August we're going on our first holiday since our son got cancer and as a result, became disabled. We now need an accessible place to stay so my son can move around in a wheelchair, sleep in a bed suitable for his needs and has a wet room so he can be washed, use the toilet etc.

This means that going on holiday will now be more expensive than it used to be due to his needs and cheaper options such as camping are no longer suitable for my son.

I think it's perfectly fine to use DLA to help pay for it. Though DLA just goes into our joint account along with DH's salary, child benefit etc so I couldn't actually tell you what paid for it. We don't keep DLA separate to the 'family pot', I'm not sure if many families who receive DLA for their children do.

I use my pip to go on holiday every year. The reason being disability related

I get disability benifits for anxiety and depression caused by childhood SA and physical abuse I'd happily lose the payments if it meant my childhood was better than it was I left at 14 to escape it all

Well I hope you, and many people like you, are happy to survive on less than NMW if illness or disability should find its way to you.

I highly doubt anyone keeps it separate. I receive child maintenance from my ex husband and it goes into the pot with all the other money for the month. I don’t do a separate food shop with only food for the children, it just reimburses anything I’ve already spent really.

Aye, sorry to piss folk off (no, thats a lie, not remotely sorry).

I've used my PIP to hire a carer so I can go on holiday.

I also used my motability vehicle to get there.

I still have to save up for my holidays (haven't had one for four years now), I still have to figure out if I can justify the cost of a holiday vs all the other things that need money spending on them.

PIP is to level the playing field somewhat - so that disabled people can do normal things, so that some of the extra costs of being disabled are alleviated.

I assume you don't have to pay a carer, book a more expensive venue or room, have specialist equipment etc.

If you can't afford a holiday, get a better job, ask for a payrise, go without something else until you can save up.

Yes because being disabled affects everyone equally. I mean, where do we draw the line? Do you have to work full-time if you’re in a persistent vegetative state, for example?

I'm not sure that having a hen night procludes one from having a disability, at least it didn't when I got married ten years ago. This is probably going to horrify you and some of the other posters on here who are indignant at the idea that disabled people might occasionally leave the house for recreational reasons, but I must admit that I sometimes go out for meals with friends and family, take part in hobbies and groups with my baby, including a baby and mum dance class of all things, and, perhaps most shocking of all, go on holiday. All of this despite having been completely blind and having juvenile rheumatoid arthritis since I was a baby. None of this has rendered me less disabled though.
I guess I just don't subscribe to the idea that disabled people should have no pleasures in life and we only deserve to have our most basic needs provided for. So many posters on this thread seem to conveniently ignore the fact that PIP is not means tested, that many of us get it while still working and that, therefore, we can still be in receipt of it even while on a high income. PIP is designed to compensate for the extra costs of having a disability, which can apply regardless of your income bracket, it's there to level the playing field and this means that it will sometimes be paid to people who can already afford nice things.

I have cancer, ADHD, Chronic Severe Asthma, Arthritis, Thoracic Spinal Stenosis as a result of a rare spinal issue, Pernicious Anaemia (severe B12 deficiency which has led to neurological issues. Complications of Vaginal Mesh, Chronic Fatigue, Chronic Bowel motility issues (my bowel is paralysed, I'm either incontinent due to high dose laxitives, or vomiting foecal matter) degenerating hip, knees and cervical spine, CPTSD, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Adjustment Disorder, Severe Depression, Chronic Migraines, ... I have so many health issues yet I can't get PIP, I still having to work at 60 to continue paying my small mortgage. I'm absolutely burn out, sick and on my knees.

I wouldn't want to swap for your health issues but you wouldn't want mine either, and have to work full time on top.

Must have been Jesus Christ himself for it was a miracle that night! Mobility aids abandoned!

I get jealous and I’ll fully admit that. I’m unwell, and skating on thin ice with sickness but not unwell enough for PIP
immunocompromised with severe neutropenia, stage 4 endo and adenomyosis, hidradenitis supprativa, hashimotos. I’m exhausted and there’s no help

£50k is a far cry from less than min wage 🙄 that’s all tax free too.

Ok sure let's talk reality. Your typical worker in the lower half of the income distribution, living in rental accomodation, is spending around 0.5% of their salary on taxes specifically relating to disability payments (which includes the genuine ones) and around 30% on housing, usually to a private landlord. If such people have been convinced that the disabled are the reason for their shitty standard of living - and actually, I don't think many of them are that stupid - then I'm sorry but they've been scammed.

I didn't have a go at disabled people- many can't work and therfore should receive benefits.

What I am saying is that there are people who have disabilities and do work without the support from the state.

They are not disabled enough to qualify for pip (for example). However, working impacts them enough that they spend the whole weekend and most of AL recovering from a busy working week. With very little energy or money to do anything about it...

No one person is getting £50k a year on benefits 🙄

Why do you think it’s wrong that 2 adults of working age have the income equal to £16k gross each? Full time minimum wage is approx £25k so they are receiving £9k less than someone able to work at minimum wage AND their costs are much higher.