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.

How do you propose to determine the lying and work shy?

(And again... you can work and receive PIP)

Exactly . And there's a little gang of around four or five of them that pop up on every benefits thread and gang up on anyone who dares to suggest that fraudsters exist. Same old names all the time !

But the cuts will affect everyone.

Where did you get that figure from only 37% of all claimants are on high rate pip

@Dramallamafromyork-- yes I keep myself pretty well informed cheers but the massive deficit doesn't need to come by making cuts to disability benefits!!!
Do you know anything about evonomics/why we're in debt???
I've recently educated myself about PIP and the nonesence spouted on this thread ( and MN in general) is terrifying.

How easy is it to go to the GP and say your depressed and anxious and get prescribed anti depressants? And then apply for PIP on those grounds?

You are quite naive if you think that there aren't people who do this in order to avoid work.

I assisted a woman with a severe traumatic brain injury who has such severe vertigo that she vomits when walking more than a few meters. She cannot lift her arms and her legs are deformed and she has had upwards of 8 surgeries to correct all this after a drunk driver hit her and she was in a coma for 8 months. We have letters from multiple specialists but it still took 14 months from applying, mandatory reconsideration then an appeal at tribunal. Even then she was not awarded enhanced mobility. Meanwhile, somehow my coworker with chronic fatigue gets enhanced mobility despite going on long walks daily with her dog. Maybe it's fraud but also I think that caseworkers are human and must sometimes just make random awards.

It's stressful because having a chronic illness doesn't entitle you to benefits. It's how it affects your everyday life that does in which case they have to scrutinise you to ensure your not exaggerating (remember the always talk about your worse day crap advice) and I expect a fair few people do.
It's not about being like the daily fail it's about those who are classed as able bodied, working and getting no state help being worried about how they'll pay their bills, afford food and heat whilst the numbers claiming get bigger and the pool of taxpayers reduces. Many of this group also have chronic illnesses but aren't disabled/sick enough to claim.
We live in a country where people on benefits have to be told how many hours they're expected to work and many don't work until its absolutely necessary. That should be a red flag as to whether all PIP claimants are genuine.

@TempleOfShroomsnoone is saying that blaggers don't exist ( well I'm certainly not!) I just feel so many threads on MN are full of Daily Mail vitriol.

There are things called principles..so we don't harm a vast group of people just because some are bad...it applies to benefits and it applies to genocides. Imagine thinking its ok to frighten defenceless people who need help ...and also those who need help to keep working 🤢 all whilst we could have fair taxation to pay for it ...just yuck for your disgusting carelessness

I think it’s six of one and half a dozen of another.

my aunt used to be a very active chef, she had to stop working because of early arthritis in her knees. She was told that if she lost weight, it would likely ease and she’d be able to go back to work. She didn’t, she put on more and more weight to the point that she’s now deathly unwell. In my view that’s just as bad. But there are also people who need it and don’t get it.

Thats the job of the DWP to determine.

‘The Independent’s own analysis of health benefit claims found that disability entitlement in the UK, paid via the disability living allowance (DLA) and PIP, rose by around 30 per cent – to nearly 5 million people – between 2019 and 2024. ‘

‘Britain’s <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.md/o/i4xmB/www.independent.co.uk/topic/welfare" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">welfare bill has ballooned, with 23 per cent of the working-age population now in receipt of some form of <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.md/o/i4xmB/www.independent.co.uk/topic/benefits" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">benefits, figures analysed by The Independent reveal.
Labour has branded the spiralling costs of a life on sickness benefits “unsustainable” and has vowed to clamp down <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.md/o/i4xmB/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/rachel-reeves-spring-budget-benefits-oecd-b2716593.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">by slashing the budget by £5bn.

Analysis of government figures by The Independent shows more than one in five people between the ages of 16 and 64 <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.md/o/i4xmB/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/benefits-pip-universal-credit-disability-welfare-labour-cuts-b2717817.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">now claims some form of working-age benefits, including schemes such as the personal independence payment (PIP), universal credit (UC), housing benefit, jobseeker’s allowance, and carer’s allowance.’

This is obviously not just PIP, but anyone can see that this is unsustainable

*Genuine claimants should always get the help they need. No one disputes this *

https://archive.md/i4xmB Archive link to article

Try it then if you think it is easy. Because I had to have stacks of years worth of evidence to get PIP for MH. And much of it was traumatic. It was not me telling my GP stuff. It was getting restrained etc.

You have just bought into what the press is telling you. That people who claim PIP for MH are just a bit sad and go to their GP and cry and then get £750pm in PIP and never work.

Again PIP is not an out of work benefit. If I worked, I would still be disabled and still claiming PIP.

They are very random I don't understand it which is why i struggle to understand when people claim there is nothing wrong with someone and they get pip yet im in heart failure have brain damage multiple brain bleeds and im about to go into kidney failure yet I had to fight for it. I don't think their very good with rare and complex cases as stuff like depression, autism and adhd they know what it is.

Which is what they do already? So how would you change it?

..

Ever had arthritis in your knees?

To the point you dont want to get up for a drink or use the toilet because of the constant pain? Then having someone tell you to 'exercise'?

Things have changed a LOT since 1973. In 1973, a large number of people with mental health problem were kept in mental hospitals long-term. This was before the 'care in the community' movement started in the 80s.

In 1973, it was far too easy to put someone in (what was sometimes actually called) 'the bin'. Nowadays, the pendulum has swung the other way, so that there is often no space in psychiatric hospitals for people who are suicidal or violent.

And psychiatry as a medical field has progressed enormously in the last 50 years. Not as much as some other medical fields, but there has been a lot of improvement in both diagnosis and treatment. Not so easy to 'fool' psychiatrists now.

No one who lives in this country doesn't get state help...or are you not using roads, railways, child benefit, state pension, care services, NHS etc..

If you are a ordinary citizen attacking ordinary UNWELL citizens that's a morality problem YOU have ...affordability is absolute nonsense...let's stop paying for trident if it's a money issue

But alot is down to who you get on the day. He may have been seen by someone with more empathy than your dd was.
Totally wrong but very human unfortunately

She wasn’t that bad - she used to ride etc. she was offered replacements and said no (back when the NHS was actually functional).

Yuck to your ignorance. My point is remove the thieves so the deserved get it. Your attitude is let everyone share it, regardless of deserved, and the deserved will get less (or eventually cancelled all together because the moneys all gone)

I'm literally telling you, that they easily claimed it.

There are other people on this thread, saying they had no issue claiming.

And yet people still don't believe it happens. Absolute madness.

My original question 'How are they claiming' was an expression of disbelief at how it's allowed to happen.

I give up.

I am pretty sure she did not get more fat on purpose so she did not have to work.
If your knees are fucked then it is hard to exercise. And food can be a comfort and coping mechanism.
The only people I know who have turned things around on this have been on the weight loss jabs.