Is this just getting ridiculous! UNIVERSAL CREDIT

[ChristmasTime2023]

So had a review with UC today phone call she stated she would up date the journal with what I need to provide.
A full length photo of myself standing outside my front door with the key in the lock!?
Then a letter from the children's school & nursery saying they attend there
A letter from the children's gp
Passport photos
Child benefit award letter
Birth certificates (they have had birth certificates before )

This isn't a new claim either I dont understand why gp letters are needed they want one for me and my partner too.

Also on the phone call asked who I use for my gas and electricity
Ive never been asked these things before seems strange to ask?
Anyone else had a review lately what did they ask for.

Partner works full time if that matters.

Can you understand how suspect it sounds when you claim that you can't go to job centres because they make you ill. Is it just establishments that might take your benefits and make you work that makes you ill?

It's a daft assumption to suggest that those tired of the system being overused would be the first to claim when we aren't! That's the whole point! Many of us that get annoyed don't have children to use to get money and even when made redundant it's not worth the extreme aggravation to try and get a pittance. I've no interest in being in the benefit system I assure you! Some respect and appreciation from those of you who are funded by our tax money would be nice though!

We get tired of being told just how big the benefit bill is getting and just how big a percentage of the population is claiming - can you honestly not see what a bleak future it is for the UK! All the parents I see online claiming that all their kids are disabled for being ND/ADHD etc, we are heading for a future where too much of the population wants a paid for life and there won't be enough working tax payers to fund it!

I've known benefit piss takers in the past, laughingly showing me their unused boxes of anti depressants they don't even need but raising their kids on benefits, even the wife was allowed to sit and slob on benefits. Look at all the single mothers that have families several times bigger than working families to a secret daddy thay doesn't fund his kids. Any normal person of decency would get pissed off at the abuse of the system.

A huge amount goes on PIP, the anxiety and depression claims need cleaning down on as working will do them far more good than sitting festering on benefits. Also these single mothers sat having 6,7,8 kids plus whilst daddy hides in the shadows needs stopping. These women become u employable due to the large families they have that no job will realistically pay enough money to support. Funny how they always have these large families whilst workers often have just one or two kids or none at all due to cost.

It's not low, plenty of people get pregnant year after year to a secret daddy yet claim single parent benefits, plenty of people cheat the disability system, my good friend has lived next door to a guy for many years who claims a bad back yet humps paving slabs around his garden.

My partner got a letter a few years back telling him he'd had a benefit overpayment and owed the DWP - as a NHS worker that has never claimed anything this came as a shock. It turned out someone was using his name, address and even NI number to claim benefits and just to make matters worse this sponger with spasmodic work history had overwritten my partner's tax record! He had to have a new NI number and his previous tax record reinstated to it to ensure his pensions weren't harmed! They didn't even seem surprised or worried! I find it frightening that no checks were done to allow someone to do that!

I was just thinking the same, I'd happily upload a few pics securely, send a couple of letters, for a couple of hundred quid (or probably quite a bit more!!) free money each month! 🤣

Alas, I qualify for absolutely bugger all 🙄

Maybe be thankful you earn enough to support your family. OP is a full time carer for her mother, and we don’t know her other circumstances. Maybe he DH is on minimum wage. Do you begrudge the State supporting those in need? How would you feel if others had your attitude if you needed to make a claim in the future?

What about the billions that's lost in unpaid tax by the rich.
Or the billions that people are entitled to that goes unclaimed every year? Are you fine about that?

Benefits have changed a great deal over the years- far more people are eligible now because you can earn up to £50,000 a year and still claim it- when I last claimed you could get nothing if you had any income or savings of £500. This means the exposure to fraud,and claimants who don't qualify because of savings exponentially greater- so the proof they request have become far more reaching-it's only logical, without this the country would be even more bankrupt than it is already.

No. I have ME/CFS. They know that, it’s like being a mobile phone that only charges up to 10% when left on charge all night. I find normal everyday activities like having a shower exhausting.

I’ve found in the U.S. and some European countries they pay far higher amounts in unemployment benefits, but cap it at a certain length like 6 months.

I feel that would be much better if they had that here. So people genuinely looking for work would get enough money to cover their outgoings while out of work.

I feel here benefits are paltry if you don’t have kids, but they can get paid for much longer. I would rather a higher amount for a shorter period of time. And perhaps that might incentivise more people into work.

Obviously I’m talking about people who are well enough to work btw, not those who are too unwell to work.

Given your illness you could probably have grounds for a formal complaint. What reason could they have for insisting you attend in person for something that can be easily uploaded online?

That would make sense so of course it doesn't exist in UK. In Nordic countries everything is connected via your ID number. Police, taxman, social benefits services, GP, you name it - any government dept can double check what you are claiming for and if what you say is true or not. Their IT systems are fully linked, making cross referencing super easy and fast, making scamming the system almost impossible. But British like to be old-fashioned and impractical 😑😑😑

One of the most sensible and clear headed responses on this thread.

Being in receipt of PIP doesn't remove the work related requirement for UC- only UC LCWWRA, carers status or having a child under a certain age does that. Whilst some claimants on PIP have LCWWRA on UC, currently PIP does not give automatic qualification for it. PIP is not a non-work benefit.

I’m wondering about the purpose of the letter from the GP - were you given details of what they want the GP to write about?

This is what we should be doing.

To repeat, PIP entitlement will not remove the work related requirement for UC- this is misinformation. See my previous post. Many PIP claimants also work. LCWWRA is a separate classification via UC. Under the current rules, being in receipt of PIP does not automatically give no work related requirements under UC. It is assessed under different criteria to the criteria used for LCWWRA, and was designed as an enabling benefit. Whilst there has been rumour and talk about PIP being used as a gateway to the health element of UC it has not actually been brought into the regulations at this time. I'm also not sure why DLA is mentioned here. Disability Living Allowance is not applicable to working age claimants.

It’s the same in Ireland I did this up thread! Everything is done through your PPS number (which is given at birth!) and it’s all linked, even your dc’s PPS numbers are linked to yours as a mother, linked to the school they attend, nursery or childminder for the childcare subsidies etc. it’s all there on linked systems

Well said! I know so many working families who can’t afford to have more than one child while people claiming UC have 4 or more. I really disagree with someone on benefits deliberately having more children and expecting the government to fund this. These people are the reason the stigma exists.

There is likely more going on here, lack of engagement or suspected fraud. It could even be that the previous bank statements showed savings close to the limit. I’m not saying bad or unfair decisions are never made but it is highly likely that there are other factors going on.

I did make a complaint. I didn’t get anywhere. I don’t have the energy to peruse it further.

I believe they are breaking the law.

The working world is extremely tough and even having a job doesn’t guarantee a certain quality of life anymore. I think benefit fraud is more and more tempting the harder working life gets. This year is the first time ever I’ve thought claiming benefits would be better than working right now. With AI and computers, it’s probably easier than ever to try and fake documents as well.

Understandable - complaint processes can be exhausting.

Yes probably.

No! This couldn’t be further from the truth. They wanted to see my bank statements because I received a PIP back payment, which took me over £6k.

No suspected fraud.

No lack of engagement - in fact quite the opposite. They recently requested me to upload about 40 (!) documents but the upload link was set with a limit of 10 documents. I have been asking them for 2 weeks to give me another upload link but they are not even responding. If I behaved like this they would reduce my payment as a punishment.

What UC can you claim if you earn £50k?