To dob in family member - benefits

[Dragonsfoot]

I have a relative that does have health problems. They went to tribunal and were awarded higher rate PIP and have a motorbility car apparently supported by a Rottweiler of an advocate. I have no gripe that they deserve something - occasional falls, mild mental health problems, physical health problems that require monitoring and support and mild difficulties dressing themselves due to joint problems but don’t actually need to be helped. They do have a disability.

However, they are able to walk miles most of the time, decorate their home, complete domestic tasks and attend social activities on a very regular basis on foot. Morally torn. They probably will struggle without the money. Would DWP even do anything kind of thing. Either way I feel a bad person.

This x 100! That you would do such a rotten thing to anyone far less a family member! Decent people despise a grass.

Haven't a clue. There you go. I represent at tribunals as part of my job. The tribunal panel scrutinise all evidence thoroughly, ask extensive and detailed questions and only decide on an award after significant deliberation and examination of all that evidence. Unless you literally live that person's life and are privy to their movements and how they manage their conditions 24hrs a day, who are you to make this kind of judgment? Incredible.

I'd love to know what the related knowledge is that you have that made you feel you know better than the tribunal panel. The average appeal evidence bundle that I receive for clients is between 120 and 200 pages long, the same bundle the appeal board examine.

But it isn't just for people who "can't walk miles" - under the mobility descriptors enhanced rate can be awarded under the planning and following a journey criteria, physical mobility notwithstanding. There are also absolutely no points related activities under PIP relating to gardening, moving furniture or domestic chores. Not relevant.

Trust me, it was. I do this as a job and a tribunal board are more than thorough, believe me.

People like you should actually be prosecuted for making malicious allegations just because you’re jealous someone is getting something you aren’t. Such a shitty thing to do to anyone, but to even consider doing it to a disabled member of your own family is unforgivable.

This case is different. Tribunal panels do not change or make decisions lightly and the evidence has to be solid.

I assume you have a degree in medical science from Oxbridge then! To know so much better than all those medical professionals. Its said that we are all only a banana skin from disability.

Made me LOL. Thanks.

This.

I don’t understand. You don’t want them to live a normal life? Why not?

Are you struggling? Is that why you are so jealous? It is not a good look. Focus on your own life. See what you can do to bring in a bit more income if that’s what will make you happy. Otherwise you will remain miserable, bitter and twisted.

I would report - they might weasel their way round it even if checked out.
If we dont' cut benefit payments the country is stuffed - how many thousands are being signed onto them a year - PIP and DLA claimants rose by 450,000 in a year.
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/disability-benefits-pip-dla-soar-450000-dwp-3543847
All that could be paying for teachers, pothole repairs, SEN needs, mental health support for teenagers

I know a guy who was on this, his wife and daughter were on benefits too, they were all carers for each other. Yet they had a horse and he would go to the stables throwing bails of hay around. Someone dobbed them in and he lost his benefits.

It’s absolutely none of your business.

Most of my wider family don’t even m kw I have a disability. They see me at family events, they see carefully selected photos on social media that make it look like I have a life. They have no idea how difficult life is for me, how much pain I’m in, how little I sleep because of that pain, how any amount of activity leaves me back in bed for hours or even days. How much my husband has to help me, how utterly exhausted I am all the time!! They just see me smiling and appearing to have a ‘normal’ life, not knowing how much I’m struggling just to not rot away in bed all the time (because that’s what my body wants to do).

And do you know how HARD it is to get approved for benefits? Your relative has had to go to tribunal, jumping through hoops they really shouldn’t have to, to PROVE that they are disabled to a bunch of people who simply do not care. That’s why they had to have a “Rottweiler” to support them - because they needed someone to advocate for them, because it’s so damn stressful doing it alone. It is so utterly demoralising having to lift every single aspect of your disability and how it impact your daily life, having to be confronted by all the things you struggle with and cannot do and write them all down in detail for a stranger to pick through, to interrogate you about as if you’re lying, and smirk and snicker at the awkward bits. They will ask you the same thing in five different days trying to ‘catch you out’. It is completely degrading, and it doesn’t matter how much medical evidence you have, they still turn most people down. And then you have to fight, again, and harder, to go through a tribunal. It’s honestly shameful how we treat disabled people in this country! The incidence of fraud is extremely tiny yet the majority of people face uphill struggles fighting for what little help they are entitled to!

Your relative would not have won their tribunal if they didn’t have appropriate and adequate evidence of their disability. YOU may not think they ‘deserve’ it, but you don’t see what happens behind closed doors, whereas the tribunal panel/judge has had access to the evidence and deemed them worthy. Not only that, they’ve awarded them the higher rate, which means they are significantly impacted in their daily life by their disability.

Just because they don’t open up to you about it, don’t think they’re not struggling. Perhaps they haven’t been honest with you simply because they know how judgemental you clearly are!!

This, all day long.

My DS1 gets DLA. I never tell anyone because I am sure people would say 'but he doesn't need it'. They have no idea what our actual day to day life is like. It's hard and it's a struggle. Just because you don't see something doesn;t mean it does not exist. The tribunal has seen the evidence, you admit you have not. So wind your fucking neck in and think about the kind of person you are.

If I’m being honest. I hope your relative catches onto how you feel and what you were considering doing - so they can distance themselves.

Imagine chatting away with your relative over a cup of tea - unbeknownst to you, they are planning on reporting you - as they don’t believe you’re disabled enough for high level PIP.
Gives me chills 😖

So “Assesment”, took place in ancient history & under completely different rules & regs to today…which we assume OP’s ‘relative’ was investigated under?

I have a disability. I work. I do not claim PIP. I’m sure lots (majority) of those who claim PIP have real difficulties which justify the allowance, and fully support that. But there is a real issue as to whether as a country we can continue to support all the benefits we supply as comprehensively as we do, and a perception that not everyone who claims them (not just PIP) fully requires them, whilst other people don’t and work extremely hard. It is something that needs to be looked at frankly, without those who raise the issue being called “vile” etc. I think OP’s contemplating dobbing is a separate issue, and one where I have rather less sympathy, particularly given the Tribunal’s decision after looking at extensive evidence. But overall, we should be able to have these conversations/debates without name-calling or disrespect from either side.

You'd be surprised at what people are getting higher rate for. I doubt your report would go far if its already been to tribunal but by all means s make one if it makes you feel better.

They went to tribunal. They have all the info. Doctors reports are involved. The payments are fair and accurate. And also absolutely nothing to do with you.

Do you expect people on PIP to not be able to decorate their homes as they wish nor go for a walk??
what should they do? Languish in squalor ?

This is a fair position to take - but nothing at all to do with OP’s original post which is just about “dobbing” on someone who is not even doing anything wrong

A very sensible reply.

You feel like a bad person because you are.

My daughter is like you. And I admire and applaud you both. I also agree that, separate to this particular case we all need to have a grown up conversation about benefits, and tax for that matter. Politicians don’t dare grasp either issue properly. And we need to.
As an aside, in my daughter’s case, work is important to her. She’d be worse off in so many ways without it.