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.

@Dramallamafromyork-- just because something is legal doesn't make it right/fair /ethical though does it.
And it's "know' not 'no' btw.
Nighty night all - I'm off to prepare for yet another bloody medical appointment which may end in me being awarded £30.

They are on them too and are now waiting for a date for their op. The jabs have been a life changer for them. They can leave the house more and be out in the community.
But they did not get fat to avoid working. Their MH issues are to blame for that.
But there will be people on here saying they should not have the op at all if they are no working.

Good luck! Although it should not be about luck, and be common sense.

Exactly. The pot is already far too little. There’s not enough money. Where’s it going to come from?

The Ultra wealthy (who pay 30% of gvt tax in total) are leaving. Ed Sheeran is the latest. Others are reducing the tax they pay. More and more people are claiming some benefits. Totally unsustainable. The £ cupboards are already bare.

The only option Reeves will have, is to increase tax for everybody, no other option. And reduce the benefits bill.

Maybe we should start having referendums on what we the voters want governments to spend our taxes on.
I doubt abolishing the cap would be high on the agenda

I don’t believe sickness benefits should be for being obese. It’s a cjoicr

Exactly. Some conditions are hard to explain or don't initially look like they fit the questions. Also, disabled people often get used to their 'normal', especially if disabled since birth/a long time. It's easy to forget how much you have to do differently.

My community support manager at Debra went through the form with me. She helped me see how many ways I alter my life to cope with EB. Although I can physically walk, I am always in pain when I walk and my skin tears and blisters. When my feet are badly blistered I cannot walk. I have to plan my steps to avoid blistering. For example on Sunday I had to stay home because my feet were too sore to walk properly. DH had to do the food shop, I couldn't. He had to take our toddler out, I couldn't. My PIP claim was rejected. Fortunately, I was awarded 10 points for mobility and got lower rate mobility on mandatory reconsideration.

My type of EB is variable - some colder winter days (less friction and less blistering) I can walk much further than I can in Spring and Summer, and increasingly, Autumn thanks to climate change. Lots of conditions vary hugely/flare up etc. On some days I would probably look like I don't need PIP. The days I am housebound are the ones people don't see as I'm, well, home.

Hmm other countries who all experienced Covid in the same way, don’t have the same level of disability benefits being paid outs

Evidence of them going back and forth the doctors pleading depression and anxiety.

As with anything, most people are genuine and some are not. Those who are not tend to be very adept at filling in the forms as they are well practiced!

Also, the evidence I supplied was intensive - lots of medical letters, a copy of my genetic testing results, a supporting letter from Debra, a letter from my husband, photos of my skin to show my feet covered in wounds and blood from walking. Evidence of prescriptions. Evidence of my reasonable adjustments at work. They also contacted my consultant.

I get PIP, I was awarded it after a video call interview. I wasn't asked to demonstrate anything, or provide any evidence beyond a very brief hospital letter which confirmed I had arthritis. I could have said absolutely anything in that interview/on the form. I recently came up for renewal, I spoke to them about struggling to complete form due to hand pain, they said 'you can just write same as before on form, and we are so backlogged that it's at least a year before it will even be looked at and then will likely just be re approved without any in person interview. Of course, I'm happy to not have to go through the interview again, but I do feel that the process is very open to being abused. And that those who are fraudulently claiming will have done loads of research on how to do form to 'tick the boxes'. And some genuine people won't get it as they won't have the energy to fight for it. It's definitely not a perfect system

I am obese and it is not a choice. Why would I choose to be obese? I feel gross.
Or I could choose to not take the meds that keep me stable.
I am not able to work and it is nothing to do with my weight. The people I know who are big are big as a symptom or side effect of something else.

If being obese is a choice then why are not more people skinny then? Surely that is choice too?

Do you have figures on how many people are doing this?
Otherwise, you are just making it up.

I don’t honestly think that most people are claiming fraudulently. I believe that people are claiming within the rules but more are doing so now because of improved info online etc.

I think the rules will have to be tightened as otherwise I don’t see how we can afford for the bill to just keep rising and rising and more and more people being awarded.

I know someone who has missed the deadline a few times now trying to fill in the DLA forms for her disabled son. She spends every hour of the day trying to build him up, boost him and get him to see that he is awesome and work on his strengths despite his disabilities. Then the DLA forms are asking her to basically do the opposite to that and it has had a huge effect on her.
It is the same as an adult too and as you said when it is your normal and you dont know anything else then how can you word that?

I doubt that too!

I don’t assume that everyone is but the only person that I know of that receives it did lie in his assessment. How do I know? I was married to him.

Yes CosyNavyLeader go and collate your data from all the doctors surgeries in the UK and get some graphs together immediately.

In my personal experience of helping and advising people with a Pip claim it is tremendously difficult for a genuinely disabled person to claim. I have seen people who struggle to walk a step without a walker maintain that they are capable of walking 200metres. Or one who has a cpap machine for their copd state categorically that theres nothing wrong with their breathing ,they are just a little unfit.Or they dont put necessary information on their form as they assume all medical information is shared and they have put the details on previous forms .

On the other hand a lot of those with little wrong will have no compunction in lying about their symptoms. Often they just copy whatever a housemate put in their application. Most do not fill the forms in themselves but get caseworkers to do the donkey work, All the applicant has to do is not sleep for the 24 hours before a personal call or appointment and they can barely put 2 words together. Ive seen it often and worked with people like a PP who now refuse to accompany clients to an assessment due to this. Something needs to change,

How do you know? People who are defrauding do not tell anyone. Most benefit fraud is carried out by organised crime

I did not flll in my form. I would have no idea how to. That does not mean I cheated or defrauded the system. My CPN had all the evidence in front of her and knew how to word things to get the point across. I did not.

My DS would be in this category.

He can't organise himself well enough to dress without help. He can't plan anything. He's really vulnerable to exploitation and can't understand his finances. He's never made a meal, even a sandwich, without help.

However he loves the gym and his routines involve working out quite a lot. That he's physically healthy doesn't take away the challenges he has in living independently.

I get PIP. I have severe arthritis & a spinal injury incurred in a car accident. I need to use crutches to walk & need a wheelchair if I'm in the supermarket as I can't manage to walk around it. My arthritis also affects my hands meaning that I have problems with buttons & zips & (ironically) often stops me using crutches & a manual wheelchair making me dependent on my DH to wheel me around. I don't yet have a motorised chair as they're rather large to store & not as easy to get in & out of a car as a wheelchair. I can get my manual chair in/out of the car on my own as my car is adapted, has hoists etc. I also have continence issues - mainly around not being able to move fast enough to get to the toilet due to mobility.

My first application for PIP was turned down, but I appealed & was awarded the enhanced mobility component & standard care.

My mobility component of PIP pays for my adapted car. The care component pays for incontinence pads (NHS doesn't supply enough & frankly they're like the huge Dr White sanitary pads that were supplied in school machines in the 1970's, understandably, I prefer to use the more discrete ones), new mattresses (I've needed 2 in the last year when I've had an accident in bed - or to be more precise on the edge of the bed when trying to get up & out in time) and other things. My PIP goes into a separate account & is ring-fenced for my needs related to my disability.

However, I still work - ironically with people claiming benefits. However, it does help to build a rapport when they see that I'm also disabled.

But I can tell a funny story about a blind lady who was very negative about the help that my organisation could offer and spent the whole interview accusing me of not understanding what the challenges are for a disabled person & being 'ableist'. When it came time for her to leave she asked if I could accompany her to the door. I explained that I would have to get a colleague to do that because I was in a wheelchair. Kind of took the wind out of her sails. 🤐

This.

I get the highest rates of PIP indefinitely / ongoing. Apart from my husband not one single person knows. (And this is anonymous). I have multiple complex health issues and I’m under 5 different consultants but I’m absolutely terrified of people wrongly reporting me for being some sort of fraud because of the frequent posts here and in the Daily Fail about it all. I just don’t tell anyone. Ever.