Foodbank - 3 cars

[TalkToTheHand123]

Am I being unreasonable to think a family with 2 cars and a big fancy house shouldn't be using foodbanks regularly? No disability issues.

Please don't be scared. Make sure you have all the documentation and evidence well in place for when your review comes. If you've got worse, the information from your practitioners should reflect that.

I’m not surprised to hear that @Bloodyhrt. People running all over forums, Facebook etc with this absolute nonsense don’t care about the real life consquences of their words. It drives me nuts that Mumsnet of all places doesn’t get more stuck in. They tell us to ‘challenge in the thread’ but it’s bloody exhausting and the scary parts stick no matter how many times the poster is shown to be talking bollocks.

Dealing with the cold machine of PIP, OC, pensions, whatever, is frustrating and frightening enough without all this shite too. Take a breath, hang in there, listen to reputable sources, get advice from people who can demonstrate they actually know what they’re talking about.

I think this is how all genuinely disabled people feel. People don’t realise how brutal the PIP assessment system is unless they’ve engaged with it themselves. Public opinion seems to be that PIP is an easy benefit to get - all you have to do is limp in to the assessment or pretend ‘mental health’ and you’ll be handed money. Anyone who has ever been assessed knows from experience that that is just not the case.

PIP claimants are up against a brutal system that picks apart their condition and forces them to think about what they can’t do, rather than what they could do with an award of benefit. That’s never made sense to me, because PIP and DLA before it are benefits meant to support people to be able to be more independent. Hopefully the planned overhaul of the assessment process will take that more into account in the future.

One of the things that’s being looked at is the quality of the decisions. And that leads back to the assessors, so hopefully the emphasis will be on making sure that they are appropriately qualified and have experience in the field of disability, with specialties which can be used to assess specific disabilities and conditions - not just recruited, given a few days training and unleashed on disabled people as is happening now.

The review process is a bit simpler than the initial award process. You’ll get a form on which you’ll be asked to resubmit details of your condition and any changes since you were awarded benefit. If your condition has worsened you need to be clear about what aspect of your actual condition has deteriorated and how that affects your ability to carry out the specific activities assessed - be clear about the distinction between how you managed before the deterioration, and how you manage now, and give details of any extra help you need. For example if you managed an activity with an aid or appliance last time, and you now need help with it, you need to say so and say how and why you need the extra help.

If you can, try to provide as much new evidence as possible - consultant/hospital reports, GP records, prescription lists etc, as well as statements from anyone who knows you and your condition well. This could be friends or family who help you or professional carers involved with you. Don’t submit anything you’ve used in the initial application because it won’t be considered. If you need any help when the time comes keep hold of my user details and PM me - happy to help if I can.

It’s the same old story on all threads like this. I predicted well upthread that this would eventually turn into a benefit bashing thread because the OP’s mindset on whether people are worthy of food bank use naturally translates into opinions on whether people are worthy of the benefits they’re claiming. Wasn’t hard to see where it would go once disability was mentioned and that same mindset of ‘everyone’s a piss taker’ is well in evidence.

Sometimes the OP finds out in their own life what it's like to be on the other end of the story. None of us know what life has in store for us.

Yup @Rosscameasdoody. It’s vicious and its obvious.

Not so easy to tell whether they’ve been gifted it or bought it themselves though is it ? Or bought it cheap on EBay or Vinted second hand. Same as it’s not so easy to look at someone with a house and a couple of cars and assess what state their finances are in. You need to look beneath the surface, and it’s clear you don’t know where to start with that because your mindset on ‘worthy and unworthy’ seems pretty entrenched.

You’re applying the same principles. The fact that you don’t even know it speaks volumes.

This is spot on. In the past I’ve seen assessors reports dismantled and discredited at appeal tribunals, as well as decision makers criticised for not questioning clearly unsound information contained in them. At one point the problem was so bad that the chairman of the tribunal service recommended DWP and assessment providers be fined for every claimant who was successful at appeal. Many times the DWP decision would be reversed before the appeal hearing once it was clear the claimant intended to proceed, because the DWP knew they had no case and were banking on the claimant backing down. I’ve also seen appeal hearings go ahead where the DWP representative hasn’t turned up to defend their case, because basically it was a waste of time.

Thankfully there have been some improvements since then and hopefully ongoing after a full review scheduled for next year. There are audit processes in place before and after the report is supplied to DWP, to try to make sure as many sub standard reports as possible are caught before they can damage the claimant. How long does OP think she’d last as an assessor if her intention from the start was to ignore what’s actually being asked of her in favour of going with her ‘gut’. It’s batshit.

Care to explain how ?

Exactly.

And now you’re contradicting yourself. Yes, they will have to follow the rules because there is no room for inventing things on an assessment report ‘because gut feeling’. Glad you finally understand.

I haven't spotted any jokes. The only people laughing are laughing at the OP for being ridiculous.

Helping people to reduce their self harm, alcohol use, drug use, auditory hallucinations etc. Some medical professionals just throw prescription drugs at the isssues whereas thinking outside the box can often be the answer.

I didn't say all were taking the mick, just an awful lot of people who I have worked closely with which has given me a very negative view towards people getting benefits when they shouldn't.

It’s what?

Irellevant. Wash your ears out.

It’s what…?

Love the irony of your irrelevant comment!

Use spell check! 😆

My ears are perfectly clear….. thanks.

Excellent idea, I’ll do the same!

Including screen shots of the OPs posts. That may be helpful to them.

I think the best thing an intervention from the Trussell Trust could bring would be to force Mumsnet to put some kind of sticky on the OP that says ‘Fantasist. Posts should be read for frothing entertainment only’.

Walk a mile in their shoes and come back and tell us how you feel. YABU
You can be asset rich with a house that's a money drain, a car you can't afford to insure. Bank payments bouncing all around, debt up to your eyeballs and no access to cash or food. It's frightening I can tell you.
You just don't know about other people's circumstances so don't be so judgemental!
I must confess I haven't read the thread.

You’re not wrong @NancyBellaDonna but the OP is so set on her prejudices and revenge fantasies she can’t even keep her story straight. Few of us would meet her standards of worthiness and those that probably do would still want to stay clear for fear of her finding a story to make up about them too.

A bit pathetic you have to stoop to the level of spelling criticism.

Your stooping to abusing people using food banks but don’t like criticism yourself?

Your snarky “wash your ears out” was a show of your behaviour, never wrong, always someone else’s fault.

The TT should be ashamed that you’ve slipped through the net as a volunteer!

If the press get hold of this, the damage you’ll be doing to food banks and their clients will be devastating.

Lots of a certain type of person (like you), will be going, told you so.