Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

PIP Fraud- now even the DWP staff themselves are it!

477 replies

TempNameForObviousReasons · 07/09/2025 17:34

Clifford Redman, 57, claimed he had severe mobility issues and needed daily help - but he was caught out after being filmed going to the gym and on long walks https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2105390/dwp-fraudster-claimed-19k-caught-gym

Tip of the iceberg, serious reform needed.

DWP fraudster 'with mobility issues' caught in gym after claiming £19k

Clifford Redman, 57, claimed he had severe mobility issues and needed daily help - but he was caught out after being filmed going to the gym and on long walks

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2105390/dwp-fraudster-claimed-19k-caught-gym

OP posts:
shellyleppard · 07/09/2025 22:10

@TempNameForObviousReasons actually you don't get a medical letter from your GP. A pip advisor phones you and you answer a LOT of questions. Some extremely personal. Then they decide what rate you get based on a points system.

OonaStubbs · 07/09/2025 22:18

Anyone convicted of benefit fraud should be permanently disqualified from claiming any kind of benefit. Including the state pension.

Labradorlover987 · 07/09/2025 22:20

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 07/09/2025 22:00

Doesn't matter. She does not have the ability to use public transport and like the other poster said that is not normal.

What do you mean that doesn’t matter? So because she can’t use public transport (but does have a car and can drive) she should get money from the state to use for whatever she wants?

pointythings · 07/09/2025 22:22

HappyNewTaxYear · 07/09/2025 22:06

What I said was ‘In what way can the extra money be used in relation to mental ill-health?’

I DID NOT SAY ‘all you have is mental health’.

You’ve put those words into my mouth (as it were). I do not know why you’re doing this. Why do you insist on misinterpreting what I typed? I’m actually a proper old-school lefty who is a big supporter of the welfare state.

I have no idea what I’d have done with the Personal Independence Payment when I was ‘suicidally depressed’ (with psychosis thrown in) and in the bad years after my inpatient episodes. No idea at all. So I can ask in what way it can be used to help. PIP isn’t a government consolation payment for being ill, is it? If it’s given on some mental health grounds, there must be something positive you can use it for. Yes I know you mentioned therapy. What else?

Well, private therapy will eat up most of it even on higher rate, but there's so much else.

Gym membership, because exercise has a beneficial effect on mental health. Transport to peer group support and drop ins. Accommodations in the workplace.

But to be fair, given the cost of private therapy that is going to be the bulk of it. And it's essential, because the NHS is so poor.

pointythings · 07/09/2025 22:24

OonaStubbs · 07/09/2025 22:18

Anyone convicted of benefit fraud should be permanently disqualified from claiming any kind of benefit. Including the state pension.

Well, that's really going to help. Making people poor and utterly desperate is going to be really great for the crime rate.

I can't muster enough eye rolls for the lack of pragmatic thinking on this thread.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 07/09/2025 22:24

SerendipityJane · 07/09/2025 18:23

If we want to beat up benefit claimants, then lets go after pensioners.

He’s not a benefit claimant. He works for the DWP of all places. Not only that but you don’t have to be on be on benefits to claim PIP. Also why are you bringing Pensioners into this.

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 07/09/2025 22:27

Labradorlover987 · 07/09/2025 22:20

What do you mean that doesn’t matter? So because she can’t use public transport (but does have a car and can drive) she should get money from the state to use for whatever she wants?

If that is a descriptor for claiming PIP then she is doing nothing wrong.
Try being a wheelchair/scooter user and see how things like buses are not as reliable as a form of transport as you think they are.

Labradorlover987 · 07/09/2025 22:30

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 07/09/2025 22:27

If that is a descriptor for claiming PIP then she is doing nothing wrong.
Try being a wheelchair/scooter user and see how things like buses are not as reliable as a form of transport as you think they are.

But that’s not the same thing at all is it? The PP said her friend can’t navigate public transport but does have a car and can drive - so please tell me why the state is giving money for this? What does she use it for?

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 07/09/2025 22:32

Labradorlover987 · 07/09/2025 22:30

But that’s not the same thing at all is it? The PP said her friend can’t navigate public transport but does have a car and can drive - so please tell me why the state is giving money for this? What does she use it for?

Because she cant use public transport and not being able to use public transport is very limiting and disabling.
I cant use it either but also dont drive. So I have to get taxis which are very expensive.

Labradorlover987 · 07/09/2025 22:33

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 07/09/2025 22:32

Because she cant use public transport and not being able to use public transport is very limiting and disabling.
I cant use it either but also dont drive. So I have to get taxis which are very expensive.

But she can drive and has a car - so she is the same position as pretty much everyone else

dizzydizzydizzy · 07/09/2025 22:34

Freud2 · 07/09/2025 19:05

Of course not but it is easy getting a diagnosis - easy enough to google the symptoms. There are a plethora of private assesors that just operate a tick box diagnosis. Once you get that you have your evidence to produce to the benefits office.
My own feeling is lack of focus and concentration are due to high levels of scrolling for hours. Also lack of sleep and high energy drinks that make people hyper or even poor parenting. Trusted psychatrists are also saying this now.

People with ADHD have less dopamine activity in their brains. In other words their brain chemistry is different. They are born like it. It is absolutely nothing to do with scrolling, energy drinks or lack of sleep. It existed long before mobile phones and social media.

Getting an ADHD diagnosis is a complex thing. I'm not saying it is totally impossible to pretend you have ADHD and convince a trained clinician but it would be VERY difficult. They do actually build things into the process to prevent that - such as getting information from other people and other sources eg school reports even when diagnosing an adult. They also ask the same question in different ways to check for consistency.

Yes I am sure there are some rubbish useless ADHD assessors out there but there are also hoards of professional ones.

And just presenting an ADHD diagnosis is unlikely to result in a successful PIP
claims. You need far more evidence than that.

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 07/09/2025 22:37

Labradorlover987 · 07/09/2025 22:33

But she can drive and has a car - so she is the same position as pretty much everyone else

But that is her only choice. She does not have a choice. People that are not disabled do have a choice.

Plastictreees · 07/09/2025 22:54

Jesus Christ, the ignorance on this thread about the NHS is laughable. We are not living in rainbow unicorn magic land where suddenly the NHS is fixed after decades of Tory austerity and everyone can suddenly have access to all the therapy, disability aids etc needed. The NHS is fucked due to the right wing government, who want you to blame marginalised groups because it’s easier than taking responsibility for their piss poor decisions after 14 years. It will take a lot more than clamping down on ‘benefit scoungers’ to make the NHS fit for purpose.

6 months wait for help if a child is suicidal? It’s over a year here. The NHS has been absolutely destroyed through chronic underfunding due to Tory austerity, while the rich continue to tax dodge and get away with it - but of course that doesn’t happen, according to some posters. People dying due to chronically under funded and under resourced so-called public services is not the fault of disabled people, it’s fully in the hands of the government.

Labradorlover987 · 07/09/2025 23:08

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 07/09/2025 22:37

But that is her only choice. She does not have a choice. People that are not disabled do have a choice.

I’m still not seeing why she needs the state to give her money so that she can drive her car?

Tessisme · 07/09/2025 23:14

HappyNewTaxYear · 07/09/2025 22:06

What I said was ‘In what way can the extra money be used in relation to mental ill-health?’

I DID NOT SAY ‘all you have is mental health’.

You’ve put those words into my mouth (as it were). I do not know why you’re doing this. Why do you insist on misinterpreting what I typed? I’m actually a proper old-school lefty who is a big supporter of the welfare state.

I have no idea what I’d have done with the Personal Independence Payment when I was ‘suicidally depressed’ (with psychosis thrown in) and in the bad years after my inpatient episodes. No idea at all. So I can ask in what way it can be used to help. PIP isn’t a government consolation payment for being ill, is it? If it’s given on some mental health grounds, there must be something positive you can use it for. Yes I know you mentioned therapy. What else?

Ah, it was you who asked how the money could be used for mental health. I couldn’t find your post. But I wrote a post about the extra expenses we incur because of my son. I will paste it below:

To the poster who asked what PIP can be spent on in cases of mental health, you would be surprised. Apart from the obvious therapy, which would eat up most of it very quickly, there are plenty of everyday expenses. My son gets DLA for OCD (also IBD, but obviously that’s physical) He has showers that last up to two hours. He uses a quarter of a bottle of liquid soap every time he washes his hands, which is frequent. He will only eat certain foods he sees as safe. They are in individual packets and containers that can be poured out without me touching them. So separate food from the rest of the family, which is expensive. I regularly have to throw food away and start again because he thinks I have breathed on it. He will discard an item of clothing after wearing it once or twice because it’s contaminated. I have a whole drawer full of clothes I’m hoping he’ll wear when he’s better, if he hasn’t grown out of them. He will put on an item of clothing, then take it straight off because it has a piece of fluff or a hair on it. Same with bedding, so lots and lots of extra washing. Dozens of antibacterial wipes used by him every day. I could go on. And on. But it would get very boring and repetitive. It all adds up, believe me. I’m sure people with other mental health conditions have expenses that, while not the same, are similarly unusual and unthought of by most.

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 07/09/2025 23:24

Labradorlover987 · 07/09/2025 23:08

I’m still not seeing why she needs the state to give her money so that she can drive her car?

Driving and running a car is not cheap. If it is her only choice due to disability then she should be paid for that.

If she did not drive her car then her life would be shit and not equal with people who are not disabled. PIP is paid to level the field. How can you not understand that?

DiscoBob · 07/09/2025 23:29

Another benefits bashing ableist thread. Yes some people lie. Most people don't. That article was about ONE person.

I wouldn't want to read anything in the Daily Express anyway. I think it's less trustworthy than the Mail or Sun isn't it?

Labradorlover987 · 07/09/2025 23:46

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 07/09/2025 23:24

Driving and running a car is not cheap. If it is her only choice due to disability then she should be paid for that.

If she did not drive her car then her life would be shit and not equal with people who are not disabled. PIP is paid to level the field. How can you not understand that?

But she’s not at any particular loss - most people don’t use public transport - where I live there are no buses and the trains would be more expensive than driving so how is it affecting her negatively? Are you suggesting just because someone might be disabled they should get x amount of money from the state and then spend it on whatever they like?

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 07/09/2025 23:48

Labradorlover987 · 07/09/2025 23:46

But she’s not at any particular loss - most people don’t use public transport - where I live there are no buses and the trains would be more expensive than driving so how is it affecting her negatively? Are you suggesting just because someone might be disabled they should get x amount of money from the state and then spend it on whatever they like?

She cant use public transport due to disability. That is totally different to not being able to afford it or it is not available. Both things can be helped in that respect. Earn more money or move somewhere else. You cant become less disabled so you can get a bus.

People on PIP can spend it what they like and find helpful. DWP dont care so why are you?

KhakiTiger · 07/09/2025 23:57

This thread shows that the scales are falling from people’s eyes. Everyone can see how broken and abused the benefits system is. The ever shrinking minority of people are fed up of being advantage of and seeing an ever growing number of people earning a living this way.

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 07/09/2025 23:59

KhakiTiger · 07/09/2025 23:57

This thread shows that the scales are falling from people’s eyes. Everyone can see how broken and abused the benefits system is. The ever shrinking minority of people are fed up of being advantage of and seeing an ever growing number of people earning a living this way.

It is one case that was bad enough to make the news.
He was caught. How does that prove the system is broken?

KhakiTiger · 08/09/2025 00:01

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 07/09/2025 23:59

It is one case that was bad enough to make the news.
He was caught. How does that prove the system is broken?

No proof needed. The gaslighting won’t work anymore. People can see for themselves. They can see people all around them scamming the system.

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 08/09/2025 00:05

KhakiTiger · 08/09/2025 00:01

No proof needed. The gaslighting won’t work anymore. People can see for themselves. They can see people all around them scamming the system.

Can they? Or is that a MN thing? It seems people on MN are convinced that people around them are benefit fraudsters for silly reasons and they always seem to know all the financial details too.

I have only know 2 people to be done for fraud and that was pretending to be single parents when they were not.

MickGeorge22 · 08/09/2025 00:06

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 07/09/2025 23:59

It is one case that was bad enough to make the news.
He was caught. How does that prove the system is broken?

It's not just about the fraud.
The whole system is overwhelmed. Even routine reviews are taking 15 months.
It's got completely out of control and needs an urgent overhaul.

PreciousLittleLifeForms · 08/09/2025 00:08

MickGeorge22 · 08/09/2025 00:06

It's not just about the fraud.
The whole system is overwhelmed. Even routine reviews are taking 15 months.
It's got completely out of control and needs an urgent overhaul.

What do you think should happen?
Cos when asked most people say money should just be cut.