Do people really think PIP claimants are fraudsters?!

[Greedybilly]

As someone with a chronic illness in the middle of claiming PIP I think it's important to point out it's very stressful to go through the process and actually get the benefit.
To those who were inferring it's an easy blag - I would say yes there will always be a few scammers who claim fraudulently ( though god knows how tbh?) the majority have to struggle for years/go through appeals/give up.
Just saying this for balance as I feel MN is turning slghtly into the Daily Fail.

😂😂😂😂

You couldn’t make it up.

Honestly. When does a parent stop funding their dc? Never ever apparently

You continue to make little sense. People with disabilities incur daily living costs as part of their condition, they may need special equipments / aids, supplements, taxis. This is what the money is awarded for, the many hidden costs of living with chronic illness / disability.

"No of course there isn’t! They are my child so I fund them! "

Or they could get a loan or work like other non disabled students do.

But they can't because of their disabilities. They'd still have extra costs that non disabled students don't have which isn't covered by disabled students allowance. (Which is given for extra costs due to being a disabled student and not general disability costs)

Again, incorrect.

To claim Carers, your child has to have the higher rate of DLA, which includes evidence that they need a higher rate of care, meaning one parent usually cannot work. I couldn't work, because my DS required 24/7 supervision, he didn't sleep, he roamed. You have to be providing 35 hours pw minimum care to qualify.

In those forms i had to explain, in fine detail, the high level of care he needed.. care that meant i had to quit my job as a SEN TA, to be paid a pittance of £62pw to replace the wages of the night time respite care we'd have needed to look after him.

He is 19, and i STILL cannot work, not because of my own disability that has come about in the 10 years i've been claiming Carers, but because even at 19 his disability impacts him significantly, and he STILL needs constant care/supervision.. which i AGAIN had to explain in detail on his PIP forms when he was switched at 16, and again got the higher rate care.

You can't claim Carers if the person claiming only gets standard rate DLA/PIP.

I don't have to evidence looking for jobs because i HAVE a job, that of being a carer because my child needs more than the standard parenting level of care.. as i said, he is 19, and it's still like looking after 6yo.. because he can't be left, can't prep his own meals, needs night time supervision, help to dress, help to shower, can't drive, can't use public transport.

I always take it with a pinch of salt.

I had huge imposter syndrome when I applied for PIP. I'd been in denial all my life about my developmental disability, and always tried to push through until I had a series of mental breakdowns. I always thought nobody would believe me because they've always seen me hide away all of my struggles and only the closest people to me know how profoundly impacted I am.

It made me feel like I didn't deserve it.

I provided all evidence and was honest at my assessment, and was awarded PIP. It was really validating that actually my struggles are persistent and I'd gone through a horrible system and come out of the other side with an award.

That said, I unfortunately also know one person who manufactures evidence. Goes to the doctor, says they can't leave the house, prescriptions aren't working, they need something else, they make appointments and cancel the appointments due to agoraphobia, they turn the tears on to all professionals. They know all the terminology, and speak like they've lived the experience they're describing.

Then they go out to work for their cash in hand job, go on holidays, make spontaneous trips out, can manage their own daily living tasks just fine, admonish those of us who actually can't manage our daily living tasks alone for our homes getting scruffy or lacking hygeine.

I have reported this person multiple times but they've got the "medical evidence" to back up their claim and it never gets anywhere. I just look like a vexatious complainant.

They're clever and always ask one of their relatives if they'd like to come along for a trip somewhere so they're never seen out of the house alone.

So I do think the fraud figures are actually higher than the DWP are reporting because of how easy it is to manufacture that evidence if you're clever enough.

I like to hope that the majority of claimants are honest. I'm also aware that many people are chancers.

You can claim carers if the person is on mid or high rate care / standard / enhanced pip care

It wasn't about PIP, but I knew someone who got early retirement on full pension because of a bad back caused by her work and now being unable to work because of it. She told anybody at work who would listen what she was doing and how she was fooling people and about the new job she had lined up for when she got the early retirement. She was positively proud of how smart she was and how easy it was to fake it, some people just have no shame.

We clearly have very different values in life,m.

Ah ok, Then that's changed, middle didn't qualify when i did it it was higher for DLA only i don't recall there even being a middle rate when i did it 10 years ago!

Still have to be providing a higher level of care for the person though, which has to be evidence IN the DLA form for them to get middle/higher.

It's not 'fraudulently claim DLA for some made up bullshit wrong with my child that my Gp's corroborated, with no actual evidence so i can sit on my arse" like the other person is trying to claim is going on.

And my original point was that if anyone wants to put themselves through all that process to claim money for a non existent disabilty, and risk having themselves charged with benefit fraud.. there is more wrong with them than being a bit lazy.

Quite. Likewise anyone who would ‘rather’ be on benefits for life rather than get a job. This is often tied up in intergenerational trauma, poverty and poor mental health combined with educational and environmental barriers (very few qualifications, often due to undiagnosed neurodivergence and chaotic home life. Living in an area of high social deprivation with fewer job opportunities). It’s rarely just ‘laziness’, but blaming individuals results in no systemic responsibility or change. The vicious cycle continues.

The idea that doctors will just write whatever the patient says is laughable and completely incorrect
Of course I used extreme examples for illustration purposes, I would have thought as a consultant it was obvious, but the point remains that tests are not forcibly going to distinguish capabilities that are key to assess eligibility for PIP by doing clinical tests.

I have a condition that affects my respiratory system. The tests confirmed it but only my narrative tells my consultant how much it impacts on me on a day to say basis. I could say I can run 5k but not 10k, they would have no reason to doubt me. This is why they want to see me regularly.

My friend got new knees. She can now walk without pain. Her consultant still asked her how far she can walk now. As it is, she is much better but her walking is still limited. He only knows that because she told him.

People with disabilities incur daily living costs as part of their condition, they may need special equipments / aids, supplements, taxis
argggg...Yes, daily living costs as per those non disabled occur also!

Take the taxi costs. Many non disabled people pay for taxis for ease, convenience, laziness, whatever reason, which are their own business. Some disabled people might take taxis because they absolutely couldn't cope with public transport...or possibly for the same reasons non disabled people do. We can't assume that every 'normal costs are inevitably occurred because of the disability. Its very different to someone using their PIP to pay for a wheelchair not available on the NHS, or extended intensive psychological therapy. These are costs that mon disabled people would have mo reasons to pay and just wouldn't.

Your point is flawed as your starting position is that people are out to cheat the system and lie to doctors. It’s just more of the tired, unsubstantiated benefit scrounger narrative.

This is such ignorance nonsense that it hurts my brain. There is no point engaging with you further.

Still have to be providing a higher level of care for the person though, which has to be evidence IN the DLA form for them to get middle/higher
No you don't. You don't have to evidence anything. If someone gets PIP for agoraphobia, it doesn't mean they need care. You can have needs that doesn't require 24h of care a week or what the fictitious number actually is.

So again, there is an incentive to claim PIP/DLA and CA to not be under the same pressure by UC as someone not claiming anything would be.

Your point is flawed as your starting position is that people are out to cheat the system and lie to doctors. It’s just more of the tired, unsubstantiated benefit scrounger narrative
Wrong. I haven't said that. I said there is an incentive to expand the truth. My old friend who was a community paediatrician experienced in on a daily basis. She started her career in the 80s when parents were horrified and cried when she delivered a diagnosis on autism. In the 2010s it became more and more common for parents to thrighten her when she said their kids didn't have it and yes, it was common for her to hear parents saying that their kids now wouldn't get DLA.

It IS thesad growing reality of our society. It's nothing to do with being against benefits I wish people claiming for yhe right reasons, using the money for additional related fees got much more than the pittance that is PIP.

Not all autistic children will get DLA though because it is based on care needs, you don't even need a diagnosis.

What’s wrong with receiving vouchers?

Seriously?

It won't save money, disabled people already have plenty of admin, I'm sure plenty of companies won't accept vouchers, why is it ok for people on UC to spend their money on whatever but as someone on pip, I'm told what to spend it on?

It would be restrictive, potentially more expensive because with cash you can shop around or buy second hand depending on what it is or may not be appropriate such as a different brand may suit the person more but the voucher only supplies 1 or 2 unsuitable brands.

Not to mention the fact that the vast majority of disabled people or carers of disabled children are more than capable of spending the money appropriately.

Because a lot of places wouldn't accept the vouchers and i dont want to have to travel 50 miles to use a voucher for something I can buy 2 miles away.

i wonder if anyone remembers the vouchers you used to get for baby products if you were on income support/maternity leave...etc.

I had them for my oldest and they were an arse to use because not every supermarket accepted them.