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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To suggest that all the people who know people who are definitely faking disability for benefits should report them.

226 replies

Mokeytree · 03/12/2025 16:05

So many people post online about knowing a person or family, some apparently know multiple people who are lying to claim PIP or DLA for their children.
If you know this for a fact as us claimed then you should report them.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
11
SquareHead37 · 04/12/2025 02:09

Around two years ago I developed severe anxiety. The type that makes you feel shaky and your heart pounds constantly. I started to have horrendous migraines and severe depression. I started to struggle with basic tasks at home and work. I was constantly exhausted and had to sleep a lot. I was barely functioning. I tried anti anxiety meds that didn’t help. I paid for private counselling that didn’t help.

One day I woke up with severe vertigo and double vision and I went to to the opticians. She was really concerned and sent me to the hospital where I was diagnosed with a devastating progressive neurological condition. It’s progressing quickly and i can no longer drive or work. I’m constantly off balance, and exhausted with terrible headaches. My coordination is off, my speech is starting to be effected and all the other indignities you would expect with a condition like this.

I applied for pip. I didn’t get it because while they acknowledge the condition they don’t think it effects me very much because I’m not taking any medication or having any other treatment. There is no treatment. The condition is fatal. There is only counselling for support to come to terms with it. If you saw me on a rare day I feel well enough to go out you would think not much was wrong or get annoyed at me for dawdling.

I don’t know how long I’ll be able to live at home for. Or live at all. I’ve told one trusted friend who is helping me organise and declutter so my family don’t have to do it. I’m now living in poverty on universal credit much to my neighbours disgust.

I don’t believe it’s easy to get benefits and unless people are privy to peoples medical details there is no way to know whether they are claiming fraudulently. I would not disclose my health issues to anyone.

Plantatreetoday · 04/12/2025 02:13

Kettlepotkettle · 03/12/2025 22:07

It might have been you or a separate poster who also claimed to live in a really poor place where everyone’s allegedly fraudulently claiming. I mean sure but 99% of the uk isn’t like that. Apparently us middle class mumsnet people don’t get it ? Except most of the uk is middle class and most families need a uc top up to pay the rent and bills these days. It’s not just people in “deprived areas” who claim benefits practically everyone’s on uc to some extent.

But whether it’s your intention or not you and that other poster are making benefit fraud sound more common than it is by waffling on about how you live in the one of the poorest 1% roughest neighbourhoods where everyone’s apparently commiting fraud when 99% of the uk isn’t like that. You might not actually report people but someone reading your comment might

If you’ve got proof of that 1% it would be interesting to see

Meanwhile
9.9% of the population live in the most severe areas of deprivation.
Deprivation is measured as the Govn doc

Approximately 9.9% of the U.K. population
(around 5.25 million people) live in the 10% most deprived
neighbourhoods
according to recent government data.
Deprivation is concentrated in certain areas, with the North East having the highest percentage of households deprived in at least one dimension (54.55%) and urban areas showing higher rates of deprivation than rural areas (12% vs. 1%).

figures on population based on 2019

To suggest that all the people who know people who are definitely faking disability for benefits should report them.
To suggest that all the people who know people who are definitely faking disability for benefits should report them.
EleanorPeck · 04/12/2025 06:46

@squarehead37Im so sorry to hear what you've been through. Please do consider appealling the decision. Many people successfully get PIP when they appeal. All the best 💐

x2boys · 04/12/2025 06:59

Craftysue · 03/12/2025 17:35

I presume that the people that award the benefits have all the relevant information to make a decision. It's not my business to decide if someone is entitled - not everyone's disability or illness is visible

You would think so
But the amount of posters on here who definitely know somone who gets PIP for no reason [ according to them) is astounding.

40andlovelife · 04/12/2025 07:13

x2boys · 04/12/2025 06:59

You would think so
But the amount of posters on here who definitely know somone who gets PIP for no reason [ according to them) is astounding.

Yes it’s astounding. And when it’s the culture to speak openly about it, share tactics of strategies for getting it including what to say it makes it worse. I suppose those of us who live among this are lying though. They have shit loads of cash coming in from this, the drug dealing and their rent paid as their long term partners don’t tell the authorities they are living with someone as they are usually claiming single patent benefits too. It might not be the case in middle class communities but listen when we tell you this is the case in many deprived areas. Although I wouldn’t class driving around in a nice car, going on holidays and keeping up with your Botox, hair and nails deprived.

EleanorReally · 04/12/2025 07:16

going to the gym is a marvellous step in helping anxiety and depression
judge less

CatkinToadflax · 04/12/2025 07:17

x2boys · 04/12/2025 06:59

You would think so
But the amount of posters on here who definitely know somone who gets PIP for no reason [ according to them) is astounding.

Yes. And usually seems to be “a family friend”. Not very friendly to have those views tbh.

I find it baffling how all these people with allegedly nothing wrong with them are supposedly gaming the system so easily without diagnosis or need. That certainly wasn’t my experience of getting DLA then PIP for my DS1. There are probably people out there who think he’s faking too.

There was a particularly spiteful comment on another thread on here the other day from someone whose mum is a private school teacher. The mum has apparently told the PP that the private school students “all trot off to Harley Street to buy diagnoses to qualify for extra time in exams because they are geese but their parents think they are swans”. When other posters challenged her nastiness, she replied repeatedly with “please don’t be rude about my mum”. The irony seemed completely lost.

Too much spite.

x2boys · 04/12/2025 07:19

40andlovelife · 04/12/2025 07:13

Yes it’s astounding. And when it’s the culture to speak openly about it, share tactics of strategies for getting it including what to say it makes it worse. I suppose those of us who live among this are lying though. They have shit loads of cash coming in from this, the drug dealing and their rent paid as their long term partners don’t tell the authorities they are living with someone as they are usually claiming single patent benefits too. It might not be the case in middle class communities but listen when we tell you this is the case in many deprived areas. Although I wouldn’t class driving around in a nice car, going on holidays and keeping up with your Botox, hair and nails deprived.

I live in one of the most deprived areas in Bolton on a pretty grim estate
I also have a severely disabled child who gets the highest rates of DLA so I do have an idea of just how hard it is to claim thanks

40andlovelife · 04/12/2025 07:24

x2boys · 04/12/2025 07:19

I live in one of the most deprived areas in Bolton on a pretty grim estate
I also have a severely disabled child who gets the highest rates of DLA so I do have an idea of just how hard it is to claim thanks

That must be really tough and I am glad you are getting your entitlement. I never said it wasn’t difficult to claim though. I recognise this.Just because you claim it genuinly doesn’t mean others don’t or that anything I have said isn’t not the case. I also appreciate it must be really hard hearing people say that many claim benefits unneccesssarily when you are not.

40andlovelife · 04/12/2025 07:26

CatkinToadflax · 04/12/2025 07:17

Yes. And usually seems to be “a family friend”. Not very friendly to have those views tbh.

I find it baffling how all these people with allegedly nothing wrong with them are supposedly gaming the system so easily without diagnosis or need. That certainly wasn’t my experience of getting DLA then PIP for my DS1. There are probably people out there who think he’s faking too.

There was a particularly spiteful comment on another thread on here the other day from someone whose mum is a private school teacher. The mum has apparently told the PP that the private school students “all trot off to Harley Street to buy diagnoses to qualify for extra time in exams because they are geese but their parents think they are swans”. When other posters challenged her nastiness, she replied repeatedly with “please don’t be rude about my mum”. The irony seemed completely lost.

Too much spite.

Not a family friend in my case. It’s my mum, my brother and his wife, their adult son, my husbands brother, my husbands worker . And this is just the start.

LadyKenya · 04/12/2025 09:13

EleanorReally · 04/12/2025 07:16

going to the gym is a marvellous step in helping anxiety and depression
judge less

Exactly. I go to the gym, and I am severely disabled. The gym helps my mobility, mental health ect. People can be so ignorant, and think that disabled people are meant to just sit around, and not be able to do much at all, if they happen to be claiming PIP!

Kettlepotkettle · 04/12/2025 09:16

Plantatreetoday · 04/12/2025 02:13

If you’ve got proof of that 1% it would be interesting to see

Meanwhile
9.9% of the population live in the most severe areas of deprivation.
Deprivation is measured as the Govn doc

Approximately 9.9% of the U.K. population
(around 5.25 million people) live in the 10% most deprived
neighbourhoods
according to recent government data.
Deprivation is concentrated in certain areas, with the North East having the highest percentage of households deprived in at least one dimension (54.55%) and urban areas showing higher rates of deprivation than rural areas (12% vs. 1%).

figures on population based on 2019

According to this website at the time someone maliciously reported me 98% of the population was richer than me. Did I live in the post apocalyptic hellscape where “everyone is committing benefit fraud” that some previous poster described? No.

Sure 10% of the population may live in the most deprived neighbourhoods but that doesn’t mean all those places are like what that previous poster described.
I was called a meanie for saying “shitsville” but I think trying to claim almost everyone in a poor neighbourhood is committing fraud is more insulting

https://ifs.org.uk/tools_and_resources/where_do_you_fit_in

x2boys · 04/12/2025 09:22

LadyKenya · 04/12/2025 09:13

Exactly. I go to the gym, and I am severely disabled. The gym helps my mobility, mental health ect. People can be so ignorant, and think that disabled people are meant to just sit around, and not be able to do much at all, if they happen to be claiming PIP!

Exactly ,my son is physically very able but gets HRC and HRM under SMI
Disability doesn't end at physical mobility.

LadyKenya · 04/12/2025 09:23

I wonder if she actually paid anything back, seeing as she went to jail.

Seymour5 · 04/12/2025 09:23

@SquareHead37 please get some help to apply again for PIP. You should be getting it, your life has been seriously impacted. The CAB or a charity connected to your condition could help. I hope so.

SquareHead37 · 04/12/2025 09:53

EleanorPeck · 04/12/2025 06:46

@squarehead37Im so sorry to hear what you've been through. Please do consider appealling the decision. Many people successfully get PIP when they appeal. All the best 💐

Thank you. I did have help to apply. Appeals take around 15-18 months in my area.

LoveSandbanks · 04/12/2025 09:53

Plantatreetoday · 03/12/2025 18:25

I assume this thread on fraud has come about because of the increased measures being proposed
to detect fraudulent claims

The DWP pays benefits to nearly 24 million people across Great Britain, including 3.7m on PIP. The latest DWP report shows £330m was lost to fraud and error in the PIP system last year, up from £90m in 2023/24.

( some figures note 3.8mill on PIP )

330 million is 0.4%. My figures were correct.

Kettlepotkettle · 04/12/2025 09:56

Cat1504 · 03/12/2025 23:41

Where did I ever say that fraud is wide spread? I never mentioned fraud in any of my posts….I mentioned some facts about the places I have worked ….how people are many generations unemployed …..how many unemployed live in close proximity in purpose built overspill towns ….. who do you fucking think you are spouting shite about me

What’s that got to do with a thread about fraud then? You was agreeing with someone who said similar.
People going on about how they live in the ass end of buttfuck where everyone’s apparently commiting fraud to push the idea fraud is common.

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a malicious report? And I’m not just asking you personally but also the other people claiming they “know” someone’s commiting fraud?

Kettlepotkettle · 04/12/2025 10:00

Starconundrum · 03/12/2025 23:25

Same.

When my kids were young I was reported 3 times for housing benefit fraud in one year. i had to go to court to keep my rented house. On the third time the council wrote to me and told me that next time I was reported they would be investigating the reporter instead of me. It had cost the council far more to investigate than to just leave it and had caused me untold unnecessary stress. That last time they didn't investigate me or put my account on hold.They advised I tell everyone I knew what they would do, and, like magic, I stopped being reported.

I have a very very low opinion of people who maliciously report others. It happens far more often than people realise and the victims are very often vulnerable people.

They really do need to start doing something about people who make malicious reports, they shouldn’t be allowed to stress people out like this and potentially ruin lives

Maverickess · 04/12/2025 10:25

OonaStubbs · 03/12/2025 23:43

People have a right to know that their money is being spent properly. And it can get annoying going out to work every morning while some people are lounging around in bed with their curtains closed.

Yeah, my neighbours knew exactly the same of me, and whipped themselves into such a frenzy that it never occurred that some people work nights permanently and actually having ones curtains closed during the day (and shock horror my pyjama clad self hanging out washing or letting the dogs out for a pee in the afternoon) doesn't automatically equate to not working and claiming benefits.
I actually did 4x12 hour night shifts so with breaks removed was still working 44 hours a week - more than most of them who had created a whole existence for me based on closed curtains.
Somehow their 'knowledge' had failed to observe me leaving for and returning from work 4 nights a week, despite them apparently 'knowing' everything I was claiming and everything I was doing.
I moved to days a few months later, seen more often and curtains open - I bet they were congratulating themselves on making sure I'd had to get a job 🙄😄.

Plantatreetoday · 04/12/2025 11:34

LoveSandbanks · 04/12/2025 09:53

330 million is 0.4%. My figures were correct.

Hi Lovesand. I wasn’t actually disagreeing with your % figure. I was just putting a £ figure to it.

I hadn’t done the maths

but as you brought it up I’ve done the maths now
24/25 PIP spend £21.8 billion
£330 million of that is

just over 1.6%

( 0.4% as your figure would be £87mill which is the year before but there’s been more investigation recently after Labour came in )

justwaitingformyturn · 04/12/2025 11:41

My neighbours thought i was on some sort of benefit because I’m in the house all day. They started being funny with me, asked me if my car is a pip car when I was getting into it one day. I work from home.

Non of us know anyone’s circumstances, so we all need to concentrate on our own lives and families.

SkylarkKitten · 04/12/2025 14:05

Can I point out that not everyone with medical conditions suffer from them. I have had scoliosis since I was in my early 20s and never had more than the odd bout of sciatica. I certainly didn't warrant assistance or PIP.

30 years later, I now have a broken back (after a DA assault) and severe spinal deformities. I am now in pain every day, on morphine and every aspect of my existence is limited. I now genuinely have needs and expenses caused by my condition.

Nowadays all conditions are on Google. So it is far easier to have a condition and then take a view to get a benefit from it. I gave an example of someone I know because she genuinely has a slipped disc. However, she does not genuinely suffer every single day from it, nor the majority of days. I also felt she was listening to my woes in a 'making notes' manner, hence why I've stopped talking to her about my condition.

With a slipped disc causing enough pain to warrant getting PIP, I cannot see how you can do a "standing in the cold every night for 6 hours" type of job. It just does not add up. If she can do that in winter then what mobility restrictions can she have that requires PIP?

However, I am not her assessor. I don't know the ins and outs. I am basing my opinion on the facts given, and my own experience of back pain would never warrant doing a job like that (or construction work, which is the other thing she does)

So no, I would not report her
But yes, something seems amiss

Vivi0 · 04/12/2025 14:06

Kettlepotkettle · 04/12/2025 09:56

What’s that got to do with a thread about fraud then? You was agreeing with someone who said similar.
People going on about how they live in the ass end of buttfuck where everyone’s apparently commiting fraud to push the idea fraud is common.

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a malicious report? And I’m not just asking you personally but also the other people claiming they “know” someone’s commiting fraud?

People going on about how they live in the ass end of buttfuck where everyone’s apparently commiting fraud to push the idea fraud is common.

What is your problem?

Is Glasgow in the ass end of buttfuck? What about parts of London? Parts of Essex? Blackpool etc.

People live in deprivation up and down the country. It’s not 1% of people living somewhere in the “ass end of buttfuck”.

You are so incredibly ignorant.

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