PIP isn't fit for purpose

[Ljcrow]

I made this comment on another thread and thought I'd start a separate thread purely on this topic. This is all from my own personal experience rather than from reading/hearing anything, I'm only going off what I see day to day.
The people I know who claim PIP do not need it financially. One works full time and earns more than me (and I'm not at imminent risk of homelessness or starvation) and the young people I know literally tell me things like their PIP's come in so they're off to get a new tattoo, which they then do. They appear to have much more disposable income than me.
These are all people who can function in society by the way and as far as I can see, all PIP does is give them extra spending money, which I'm sure we'd all like.

I'm aware this won't be the case for everyone who recieves PIP but it is for the people I come into regular contact with. Which is why it needs reloooking at so it only goes to those who actually need the money for a specific purpose related to their disability.

We're not in a position as a society where we can afford to give people money who do not actually need it.
Things like this should be means tested, both in terms of whether people have enough income to live a decent life without additional benefits and in terms of what the money is actually going to be used for.
PIP is not fit for purpose and needs scrapping or totally changing.

Yes, Kemi B wants the small amount that job seekers get to be on preloaded cards. No gambling, booze, or cash withdrawals.
If is it tax payers money, then why should the same not apply to anyone in receipt of money from the government? That includes the state pension. Why are job seekers being singled out?

Name changed as dont want linked to my account. I think PIP is definately misleading as being a benefit that allows people not to work. There are sone people yes who rely on PIP because their health/disability means they cannot work but to suggest it also be taken away from those who earn good money is also not on balance. For example I earn above 60k but I recieve PIP. But what enables me to work is the cost of the equipment that allows me to work that the nhs cant yet provide (they say technology is about 15 years behind private sector in my disability). If I didnt pay for this then I would have struggled to progress in my career. I shouldn't have to pay for something that i was born with that hinders me, out of my own money just because I earn good money. If I earnt less id pay alot less tax. I pay more in tax than I recieve in PIP.

I do agree that there needs to be a shift between minimum wage support and benefits though as im aware there are many people who are worse off working than being on benefits so therefore claim benefits.

It isnt fit for purpose really, it focuses to heavily on assessment criteria over how real life needs impact you so it doesnt really capture difficulties that well it also overlooks recovery time. . it can be a degrading process and assesors make a lot of mistake. Its also pretty slow process. The forms are very difficult if you have communication need so guides have to exists but people think thats telling you to lie. Break down the questions more then the guides wouldnt have to exist. But like they did with university personal statements

Yes, manual wheelchairs aren’t the answer for many - and it’s a real fight getting an electric one on the NHS.

I think the problem is, on here, and elsewhere, is that few fit and healthy people have any idea of the different effects and needs of a physical disability. 🙄

The fact that you have tons of robust evidence backing it up doesn't mean that everyone who gets it did have. As I said tge person I knew who got enhanced mobility certainly had mental health problems but they wouldn't have robust evidence that they couldn't go out without assistance because they did. And yet they got it.

I'm not in the UK but in a country that gives a small amount of disability to those who qualify. You never know the circumstances of what other income/assets/savings the individual has that can subsidize their tattoo purchases, etc.

I have a young adult relative who is disabled, I don't know if their family have applied for or receive any disability benefits but they can well afford to support their family member who lives at home so has low expenses. They could buy a tattoo if they wanted bc either their parents would pay for it or bc their expenses are so low that a disability payment could cover it. Others are below the poverty line.

Can you imagine the cost? Taxpayer funded Child benefit cards alone would cost the earth. 🙄

People also don't understand that the nhs is massive postcode lottery im currently going through the icb yet again for something that isn't available in our trust but is readily available in others its meant I've had to pay out off pocket again for something others will get straight away on the nhs due to where I live

If it goes in that direction it should be for all benefits including child benefit and UC. Not just aimed at disabled people.

People determined to take advantage will still find a way to do it though. Ultimately, it will just make things harder/more embarrassing for genuine people.

The issue is that living with disability can have significantly high costs in many cases. That’s what PIP is paid for. And the reason it’s not loaded onto prepaid cards is because that takes away the choices disabled people have to use that benefit in the best way possible to support their individual needs - which they are best placed to decide.

Kemi’s proposed ‘policy’ of loading benefits onto pre paid cards has been widely recognised and denounced for what it is. A waste of time which will cost the tax payer more than it will save. It’s the politics of desperation and it’s already been tried in several countries - notably Australia where it was abandoned after a short trial period because it was unworkable and expensive. And if you singled out disability benefits to be paid in this way it would very likely be unlawful discrimination.

And they told you this did they?

Which benefits though? And does it include school uniform, school shoes, travel to get to school and work? What if you need a new washing machine or you energy bill is higher over winter so you need to pay more on that. And never mind the fact that so many people on universal credit have jobs so will be able use that money to buy what they want.

If there is so many people on benefits and they all have the right to vote this is hardly the way forward.

Well, I use my DLA for ad hoc carers, cleaners, taxis, extra heating, extra electricity costs, home DIY that I can’t manage. Etc etc

Cards would be no use really. 🤷‍♀️

MN would explode if the government tried to dictate what child benefit could be spent on. The hypocrisy is palpable. And l have no idea how that would work for disabled people given the diversity of disability and that no condition affects any two people in the same way. It removes choice and treats disabled people as one homogenous mass.

I also know baby pip and dla claiments and they just basically lied and exaggerated about their so called needs on the forms, it's easy enough to do actually.

Yeah, everyone wants taxpayer funded benefit restrictions….but not if it affects them. 😂

I mean yes anyone can lie on their forms
But they dont just tske your word for it.

"Baby pip"? You need to be 16 to claim pip. And both forms are extensive and require evidence from professionals.

Do you know I’ve suffered from incontinence most of my life and only recently discovered that it, and IBS, are common features of ADHD/ASC. Because they aren’t just a brain thing - ND is neurological so it impacts your entire CNS and also is often co-morbid with other physical conditions like ehlers-danlos. So the hyper-focus moments of adhd that mean you miss the body signals that you need to pee, right until you realise you are desperate, is then compounded by EDS because your pelvic floor/connective tissue doesn’t hold your bladder in place when it is full. I’ve had pelvic floor and shoulder surgery without understanding until recently how it all intersects. I have to take medication now to be confident enough to go out in public for fear of not being able to find a loo quickly enough. And a course of Emsella chair therapy twice a year as a patch.

You know, as a result of this thread I may actually review applying for PIP as the costs of incontinence knickers, extra washing, extra showers, The £1000 per course of Emsella, the need to have my own blue badge as the disabled parking spots are nearer the public loos, the anxiety around going out (I leave the house a couple times a week) means I may have been underestimating just how much my ND has been impacting me.

What’s baby pip?

Absolutely.

I assume the poster means those applying for DLA for very young kids. 🤷‍♀️

Are you still not getting that it’s based on need not diagnosis. There are 4 diagnosed with autism in my family, only one of us qualifies for PIP.

Yep.

I'd find cards to be pretty useless too. I know my child better than anyone and I know how to best spend his DLA without someone who doesn't have a disability or a disabled child trying to pat me on the head and offer me a prepaid card like I'm fucking stupid.

No thanks.

Yeah its funny how everyone apperentleu fraudently clsiming PIP spends it on nails ,sunbeds and Botox ....