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.

I have a job. But had few very crap jobs and not always jobs on nmw are working out. You can't pay bills with changing jobs, so as well you might claim something

I'm making it OK so far because my husband has what looks like permanent job.

I have to agree. Nmw cannot buy you a home or rent in the SE...why people should be starving

I think you fundamentally misunderstand the purpose of PIP, which is intended to help even the playing field between disabled and non-disabled people. For example, somebody doing the exact same job as me, but without my extra disability related costs, would end up earning considerably more money than I do, purely because I am disabled and they are not. As things stand, I already need to pay for some of my disability related expenditure out of my wages as PIP does not cover all of it, meaning I am already disadvantaged financially as opposed to my non-disabled peers. Without PIP I would have to cover all disability costs from my wages. Yes, this would significantly diminish my quality of life, leaving myself and my family with a very basic, meagre standarf of living, despite me doing the same job as a non-disabled person who would be able to enjoy considerably more disposable income than me simply due to not having my issues.
However, what some of the posters on here who are simultaneously outraged at 'work-shy disabled scroungers' and employed disabled people receiving PIP, seem to forget is that, if it weren't for PIP there is a good chance I could not afford some of the adaptive technology, equipment and support which makes it possible for me to work and I would then end up costing the tax payers (of which I am also one!) considerably more money. My employer already defrays some of the extra costs of employing someone with my disabilities, for which I am grateful as it is not cheap to do so and many employers would or could not do it. People complaining about disabled people not working often seem to forget that finding a job while severely disabled is not very straightforward.

@Kirbert2 I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. We never think it will happen to us, it’s always other people. But we, and our children, are all vulnerable to ill health and disability. It does not discriminate. It sounds like a really traumatic time for you and your family and I hope there’s lots of calm and joy ahead for you all.

I appreciate you and the many others in this thread who have taken the time to share your often deeply painful experiences, even when there have been ignorant and thoughtless responses. It is so important to recognise the very real lives and human beings who are claiming disability benefits, as that can be lost so easily in damaging and stigmatising narratives. Your posts remind people of that.

Because people are nasty

👏👏

Thanks, I really appreciate that.

He's doing well now thankfully, his body will never be the same again but he's come so far compared to where he was 18 months ago when it all started. I'm incredibly proud of him, he's amazing.

Well said.
The people that I know that work and claim PIP can only work because of their PIP.
You cant win on MN though. On another thread someone said that Motability cars should just be for employed people. They asked why someone who was not employed would need a car.

To be honest I fully aware it could happen to me at any time. That why I spend out on Critical illness and loss of earnings insurance every month. Hopefully I will never need it but noone gets any guarantees of what will happen tomorrow.

@Bumblebee72 Great. It’s very fortunate you can afford that.

and when your child has the critical illness?

Or a disability from birth, or many other circumstances that aren’t covered by this insurance. Not to mention it is extortionate to to get insurance as a disabled person.

That question is almost impossible to answer because a child is not binary disabled or not disabled; they have a disability or multiple disabilities and the nature of that disability would vary the answer to that question massively.

If it was long term we'd probably look at some kind of trust arrange to support them into the future. They would not stop being my responsibility just because they had a disability, and I'm not sure why the state should step in step in so we could still go to the Maldives.

It I didn't have the pool of resources I would rely on government help and I'm proposing that would go away but I see why wealthy individuals should automatically be funded.

i've never been able to get it because of my history with back pain.

Yep.

Insurance is always a fun one with my son. Used a new one this year and wish I hadn't, it was a bloody nightmare but thankfully it's all done and dusted and he's raring to go!

But can't you see how much more privileged you are to be born healthy i was born with a rare progressive congenital condition so I wouldn't be able to get critical illness insurance this is the whole point of pip its to equal the playing field. You was born privileged others are not that lucky how can you not understand this. Or do you prefer to keep people beneath you and in their place to make you feel better about yourself.

The last time I tried to go on holiday was over 10 years ago my travel insurance was over 2k my boyfriends was £13. This was a single trip in Europe no extreme sport or anything purely a beach holiday. Obviously we couldn't afford to go.

How is that going to help anybody who has an existing condition eg autism or somebody who has multiple children with NDs or children who have experienced life changing traumas or who have been continuously in and out of hospital battling for MH provision that isn’t there?

No, I don't misunderstand the purpose of PIP as it currently stands. The question is about whether this current stated aim is achievable considering the number of people now claiming the benefit and the state of public finances. As I stated earlier, many people will have a visceral reaction to the idea that a comparatively wealthy person should receive PIP so that they are not disadvantaged by their disability and can be as wealthy as their other wealthy peers. You can argue about fairness forever but ultimately lots of things related to benefits and all other aspects of life aren't fair or equal.

The chicken and egg regarding the state funding things that are needed to enable people to work exists in other areas of our welfare system too. You see it with childcare for example most notably, especially for single parents and also people that live in remote areas or need expensive equipment to do their job. None of these other aspects are currently tackled through providing people with payments that the individual can spend however they like irrespective of the recipient's income.

Its 4% of public spending your making out like its significantly higher

Indeed. The level of fixation on this is just bizarre to me. Is this really a hill to die on, disabled people getting money which can make their life a bit easier? Of all the issues in society, THIS is what needs to be focused on? To each their own I guess!

That is a huge amount of money. It is half of the UK's education budget and the same as the budget for transport. The fact you're making out that it is somehow not that significant is scary!

But all the other budgets I mentioned above would also make disabled people's lives easier. Having a good public transport system benefits disabled people. Having a good education system benefits disabled people. The list goes on. It's not like the total budget for all services is going to increase massively so it's about how we allocate the limited public money we have available.

Well yes the Tories decimated all that. I will never agree that reducing benefits for disabled people is the right thing to do here.

How does reducing PIP fund double the teachers to half classes and increase SEN provision, how does it help children who can’t access a one size fits all system, how does more buses help those who can’t use buses at all- why no money pumped into the NHS and MH so people actually get the treatment they need? How does a reduction in PIP go any way to sort that?How is reducing PIP and reducing what people can do going to help them in any way?