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.

Vouchers for PIP/DLA may make some taxpayers feel reassured but it would absolutely not be beneficial to disabled people.

So I suppose it's about what should be prioritised, the needs of disabled people or reassuring some taxpayers?

My mom and dad paid more in tax over their working lives than my son and i will ever claim in PIP. Also, ftr, my DB & SIL both have a 6 figure salary, they also pay more tax than most people will earn in a lifetime.

Why do people think THEIR tax is paying for MY pip? I worked too you know, for 15 years before i had to leave work to be a carer. My Carers Allowance also gets Treated as Taxable income and directly removed, pound for pound from my UC.

Why does anyone think vouchers would be cheaper?

Surely tax payers would also want to be certain that child benefit is actually being spent on the child. After all you can't trust parents to use it in a proper way.

No but it is pointed out again and again, as though people on PIP or other benefits dont work and that is not always the case.

I NEVER said I know who should be getting PIP so stop making things up

Some claimants are gaming the system, some aren’t. The former are making the system unaffordable for the country and will negatively impact the latter as we can’t just magically create more money to fund it.

and everyone needs to stop accusing everyone claiming it of being on the take/a potential fraud.

Yep.

Why single out disabled people? If PIP/DLA should be vouchers based then so should at least UC & child benefit.

Well you certainly seem to think that @ArseInTheCoOpWindow 's DC shouldnt be getting any

I think a lot of people are confused with Universal credit. People don't realise PIP is a working person benefit. They don't get it if they aren't working. Faking a back injury and being on sick may get you universal credit, it won't get you PIP!

Name changed for this - dsd diagnosed adhd trying her best along with her mom to get the enhanced rate because she wants a nice car on the motability scheme. And I’ve no doubt her mom will manage to do it aswell, conniving as she is ! Dsd is capable to fly to another country with her friends but apparently can’t get a bus alone due to getting lost/anxiety? Fuck off.

Also my sister claims single person benefits and pretending her bf is her landlord, been doing it years now so god only knows how much she’s had in taxpayer money!!!

I didn’t expressly say she shouldn’t be getting support did I. But as with any child the parent does have to provide some support and I am not saying that Arseinthecoopwindow isn’t doing that and by the sounds of it has been doing it a long time but you can not offload every single expense to the taxpayer.

No but you’ve stated quite vehemently who shouldn’t get it. So by default you have in fact said who should be getting it.

Meanwhile Dd and l will hoard our millions and spend it on shite.

I think you are some sort of female Joe Lycett in reality. What you say is funny enough anyway!

No I didn’t . Where did I expressly say who should get it or not?

No, because the majority of the population benefit from CB. Even if you don't have children yourself it is likely that your family benefited from it when you were a child. They have added restrictions to it in recent times but ultimately it is similar to the State Pension in that it is the norm to receive this.

PIP/DLA is an exceptional benefit. The idea that it is awarded only to those that have needs that are far greater than the average person. It therefore stands to reason that a much smaller percentage of the population should receive it and that the money awarded is spent on things related to those extra needs. Remember disabled people are still entitled to CB and a state pension like everyone else too.

It's discrimination to suggest that pip should be vouchers whilst ever other benefit is cash

Why as a disabled person must I be told what to spend my money on, yet a parent can spend theirs on whatever?

The absolute melts on here thinking you can just fool a consultant physician or psychiatrist are hilarious.

The notion of vouchers is just another way to shame and stigmatise disabled people. Once an award has been made, the recipient does not need to continue trying to prove their worthiness to society by justifying their disability related expenses! There isn’t a one stop shop for the chronically ill and disabled that stocks everything they need, paid for by these vouchers of shame to pacify the ‘tax payers’.

There are myriad costs that come with disability and ill health, which I covered at length in yet another benefit bashing thread yesterday. Any voucher system would not work on a practical or logistical level, would shop keepers determine whether the voucher was being used for a disability reason or not?! Ludicrous.

Yes, I am just a mindless automaton apparently just copying down whatever my patients tell me.

You know, my sister has severe learning difficulties, she can never ever work, and the doctor wanted to put her on a bus on her own with some money and see if she could travel alone, even stopped her pip!! my mom had to go see the family gp to read them the riot act ! The system is fucked up!

I’ve posted this before. Clearly I have changed my name to avoid being linked to my usual username.

I claim PIP, and LCWRA for myself and DLA and the carers element for my child.

I have a longstanding diagnosis of anxiety and PTSD. My child has ADHD.

I had previously managed to hold down a mid-senior level job earning £60,000. My take home pay was just over £3500.

Student Loan was c.£235 a month.
Mortgage was £1400pcm for a 2 bed flat.
Wraparound was £150pw.
Travel to the office was £40pw

I was on the breadline and my mental health was suffering. I claimed with genuine diagnoses but also completed all the forms very carefully.

I sold my flat and bought wi th shared ownership. I used my equity to buy the 25% share outright.

Now I get:
standard element UC - £400.14
housing element UC (for the rental portion) -£1581.67
Child Element - £292.81
Disabled child element - £495.87
LCWRA - £423.27
Carers Element - £201.68
DLA for my child - £103.10(pw)
PIP for me - £139.60(pw)
Child Benefit - £26.05(pw)

This gives me a take home each of month of £4560. I don’t work. My mental health is far better. The system is completely flawed, in many ways I’d have liked to have continued to work but it made no sense financially when it grinding me down and I could have a far easier life this way.

should the gov just invest in better support? Absolutely. But don’t hate the player, hate the game.

You can't get carers element and LCWRA

Yep.

If DLA/PIP should be vouchers dictating what people use it for then the same should go for child benefit.

And approx £900 a month for a child with adhd? That doesn’t sound right