To be cheesed off with Universal Credit entry fees?

[MaturingCheeseball]

I know it’s been done before, but…

I thought I’d like to visit Chatsworth House with (teenage) dd. The cost is £33 each PLUS parking at £7.50. So £73.50.

Then I saw the universal credit/pension credit/pip etc price. THREE POUNDS. And free parking! So £6.00 for two adults (age 17+).

I do not have 12 times as much money as someone on these benefits. I doubt many people do. I’m not begrudging the disadvantaged a day out, but come on! The price differential is ludicrous.

When I saw the £73 price I just decided we couldn’t go, and so be it. But upon seeing the potential for a £6 entry, it made me feel mugged off.

PIP isn't means tested so you can be a multi-millionaire and claim it.

Here's a list of the success rates for PIP claims by the 500 categories that the DWP sort them by.

The work and benefits site i'm linking is a site run by welfare rights experts, advisors and claimants who take their stats from the DWP.

Success rates for PIP claims by condition

Of course, more common illnesses or disorders have more claims and certain claims have much less success but it's all here. Looking at A - acne has a success rate of 15%. Go to the bottom of all the conditions and writers cramp has a success rate of 40%. I'm sure those conditions have very few claimants so 15% or 40% isn't a lot if the numbers are small but still..these are facts.

This website also tells you which conditions are most commonly awarded.

No, the getting everything for free when they have the same take home crowd is getting out of control. It is utterly ridiculous. You are actively penalised for NOT taking from the gov

That amount of profit and the op is raging at UC peeps getting in cheaper and not at the profit making attraction that's absolutely raking it in. 🙄🤦

OP why aren't you angry at Chatsworth for charging so much?? Why is your anger at poorer households and not at this money making profit house?

It’s ok OP the benefit clan would
be sniffed out straight away at chatsworth.Not the same vibe at all.

YANBU. Sickening isnt it and a ludicrous price gap. I don't know why people can't understand its not the claimants you are criticising but the crazy scheme. Its probably already be interesting if they did a survey as to what demographics their visitors represent.

I know right, swigging their cans of cheap cider in the queue and screeching at Kaylan and Leeanagh- May who are running riot, and generally being working class all over the place 😱

It's not for free though, is it? They still have to pay, it's right there in the op.

Exactly. I can absolutely understand the ‘point’ of it, no one wants children in disadvantaged families to miss out. But all that occurs here is that a wave of other children, from middle earning families, cash strapped and in receipt of nothing, miss out instead. Now, perhaps all the OP wants, knowing that this unfairness isn’t going to change in the near future, is acknowledgement of the unfairness of it. But OP, I’m sorry the very people who benefit from the disadvantage to your children will never admit to it.

these threads are so weird. If you can afford it go. If you can’t don’t. Why aren’t you mad at all the people who’ve got tons of money and don’t need to check the price before going/can go anywhere they want at any time? Why isn’t that making you mad

Thank you. I agree.

The problem is the cost to visit Chatsworth House and that your teenage child now has to pay adult price (if you book tickets online you get free car parking but that's a minor part of the cost). There are a limited number of UC tickets available any day and I expect there is a tax benefit to the attraction. I don't think you're paying extra, just because someone else is paying less. They're obviously hoping to get visitors who wouldn't otherwise come and rinse make money off them in the cafe and gift shop.

The take up of these schemes is extremely low. I have taken advantage of one of these schemes but I live too far away from any of these places to make use of them really.

Hope that makes you feel better op.

Only because it was written during the transitional period where people could be receiving legacy benefits.

Once you take out disabled people, the elderly and the people caring for them, you're left with JSA, which is the princely sum of £75-£95 per week.

Why? Why should someone in full time employment not be able to afford a nice day out, when someone claiming benefits, funded by the tax paid by aforementioned person be able to for way, way less?

I am sorry if that viewpoint is unpalatable, but maybe we shouldn’t be so comfortable with benefit-funded lifestyles these days that we then are okay with those who work and contribute to the state being worse off?

Can you blame some people for being a little jealous of people living in council/HA homes? My mate pays less than £1k a month for a four bedroom HA home in what is the most expensive south west London outer borough. And she lives there as a single woman. Average rent in the area for a two bedroom flat is £2,600 a month!

Not benefit bashing. That is a very low prices for those on benefits considering the cost of a regular ticket.

Another extreme example. Completely missing the point of the 95% who qualify.

I get what you're saying, Op. Surely it should be accessible to everyone not just the wealthy and the poor? How can that be fair?

Well it happened at ours. I know as I spoke to the mum of the twins who could not attend and she said they just didn’t have the money as they had to pay for their summer holiday. This was the overnight school trip so it cost £180 per child which is steep and worse if you have twins!

I'm bloody scared that if I find myself out of work I will have to sell my home.
There is no support for people with mortgages. I understand it's an asset and so it should be used to support me and my family, but once I've spent those assets on rent (which will be at least double my mortgage), I will THEN get housing support.
I guess I'll be able to go to Chatsworth House though.

I actually love these threads. They always highlight places some people didn't realise are part of the scheme and can also be helpful to those not aware.

This is a great list of all places included for those who are eligible by area which is handy.

Universal Credit Days Out from £1 (2026 + UK map)

I do think that under 18's should get a student rate for a start.

How do we encourage the next generations to appreciate places like this if they are out of reach for ordinary families??

Im on IC and work Monday to Friday day time then Saturday evening in to Sunday so essentially 7 days a week. I couldn’t use this as I’m busy in the week getting as much life stuff done on Saturday and too exhausted on a Sunday. 🙄

£6 is pretty much free compared to £78!

Honestly I am really considering selling our business. And becoming an employee.

Our current take home is 5.5k and we have no spare money for pension. I mean 0!

I worked out the other day if we were employees we could put 2k+ a month into pension and get UC. Our take home would be 4.7- 5.1 depending how mad we went on the pension, AND we would get all these free trips so it the difference there would put us in the plus.

You know what? I know this taps into stereotypes, but I'd rather people with little to no money visit Chatsworth House, go to the library, go to the theatre, access sports and healthy diets etc. It is good for us all. Why are you so invested in wanting people to sit in their house, drink cheap beer, eat UPFs and watch tv as that's all they can afford? Why do their children need to be deprived because their parents struggle financially? Why is it that money needs to buy access to art, beauty and education?

We are lucky in the UK that you can visit many world class museums for free. If you want something for nothing, there is actually plenty available. You may know that Chatsworth is private property, i.e. not owned or run by the taxpayer, and British nobility has, in fact, a long history of giving to the disadvantaged.

People on benefits should have the opportunity to further themselves and develop, this is cultural capital. Did you know they have access to some educational courses on free/ preferential rates also?

I am tired of living in a society where it's a permanent race to the bottom, rewarding the cheapest, crappiest things. Learning about arts, history and landscaping shouldn't be for the privileged. I don't want to live in a world where about 5% of the population can follow a conversation about arts, politics or history, because the rest think education is 'not for the likes of us'. Unfortunately we are largely there.

You may well have 12x more money than people on benefits. Say after all essential expenses, someone on benefits may have £100 spare. If you have £1,200 available to spend, including whatever you choose to save, you have 12x more money. If you have £600, you probably still have 12x more money.

Regarding specifically advice for your visit. You can park for free in a nearby village and roam the grounds for free. You're welcome.

And here's 50% off if interested: https://www.artfund.org/explore/museums-and-galleries/chatsworth