Motability Cars

I agree Deborah what comes around goes around and I in good consciouns couldnt snitch on anyone, they have to live with it not me.

On saying that I could snitch on a P, I'm sure u can work that one out.

Talk about double standards Deborah moaning about someone defrauding the system and then passively endorsing it by refusing to 'snitch' although you are happy to share the information on a public forum?

If your 'friend' is openly boasting about defrauding the system she will be 'snitched' by someone I can assure you that. Indeed it might have happened already sometime ago and the DWP have already looked into it. The difference being they will use ALL the evidence and not just the bits you have picked out to blacken somebody's name and of course they will be present to defend themselves unlike here where you have given just one side of the story.

You would be better expending your efforts on yourself rather than pointing fingers at other people.

Actually this person is a distant family member and I don't condone it at all she's awaiting being moved from dla to pip and is quite confident that she'll con them I know that wont happen after what I have gone through to get it...thank you for your opinions though..because like you I'm entitled to mine and I have all the facts regarding this person

In your defence , I think  that we all must know someone that is fiddling something and don't do anything about it.

?My son in law's brother has been stealing from his employer for over 10 years - money out of the till, stock etc. He also 'sells' drugs to other employees.

?He only works 2 days a week, yet is able to have expensive holidays and owns a nearly new Range Rover. He is currently on bail on suspicion of theft. Nothing will be proven as he covers his tracks up.

?His wife owns a hairdressers and tells both the DWP and HMRC that it is just about breaking even claiming top up benefits. Ummm she went out with my daughter a few weeks ago to buy herself a birthday present from her husband - a £12,000 ladies Rolex watch using cash!!!! She too owns a 2 year old white 'special edition' Ranger Rover Sport.

Would anybody report them? I doubt it.

Thank you les I know it and everyone else knows it that its wrong she claim's it but we all know it will be taken away as she was awarded it 20 year's ago and hasn't been checked yet hasn't been to the doctors in years so I do know all the facts about her and know she will have no evidence to claim pip

Even if she doesn't get PIP she has had a damn good 20 year run of benefits that she may not have been entitled to. The DWP will simply close her DLA claim down and ask no questions over her previous entitlement.

?At best guess she has raked in over £50,000 - not a bad little earner in my opinion.

Let's get this right you are actually stating that this ‘friend/family member’ is openly bragging that she plans to defraud the benefit system and you ‘know’ enough about them to know they are intending to commit benefit fraud but you won’t take personal responsibility to do anything to stop it?

Stuff like this doesn’t fit into the classic defense of “it is only my opinion” because I ‘know’ them better than you. It is a FACT not opinion that by staying quite you are aiding and abetting benefit fraud.

Les the problem with stories like that is we never get to hear what these people have to say about your accusations. You can state until the cows come home that you ‘know’ but where is the hard conclusive evidence? Everything you have just stated is circumstantial and there could be plausible explanations for all of it. At the end of the day all you have posted is your ‘interpretation’ of what you think is going on but without seeing bank statements, tax returns, till receipts and such how can you know for sure?

People should be a little more careful about posting their ‘opinions’ when it involves make serious allegations. Basically this is how malicious untruths start which can destroy lives when in the wrong hands.

If someone has the top rate of care for either PiP or DLA there will be a good reason for it.  Since this government started the reform of disability benefits pretty much everyone undergoes an assessment, and since the care component looks at the effects of your disability on a range of activities and not just the disability itself, it's well nigh impossible to fake entitlement.  And since when is it a crime for disabled people to go on holiday ?  Tour operators cater for the needs of the disabled and the benefits system builds in an entitlement to benefit for a maximum of four weeks each year out of the country in recognition of the fact that people need holidays. This is very judgemental.

Well put Pam. The whole idea of PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE PAYMENTS is for the claimant to be able to overcome barriers. Why shouldn’t disabled people enjoy foreign holidays? It is nonsense to suggest that taking such a holiday is ‘proof’ that someone is fiddling the system.

I have said it once and I say it again if Deborah has conclusive proof this person is fiddling the system then she has a civic duty to report it but on the other hand if she has nothing but this kind of jealous spite then she should mind her own business.

From bitter experience I have to agree with you.

But what I can’t fathom out given the argument that the government put forward for bringing out PIP – to reduce the amount of money being spent by 20% of what the DLA budget was and to ensure that only those that have the most serious of disabilities with the greatest needs are awarded it, why are those, who in my opinion, have difficulties caused by conditions that are way down on the list?

I do a lot of reading on the web and have come to the conclusion that those that are awarded PIP aren’t those that have the greatest needs but those that can put up the strongest argument and are probably supported by a Welfare Rights organisation.

Reading the forum on Rightsnet I see time and time again how with good knowledge of the system claimants with ‘minor’ difficulties/needs are given an award. As an example who would ever have considered a bed that you sit down on to dress can be said to be an aid? I have to take my hat off to those organisations that constantly win claims by what I would call, dubious means.

Then looking at the MS forums, Mental Health forums, Parkinson’s forums, Cerebral Palsy, Dementia and Spina Bifida forums, etc., I read of claimants that are being denied awards.

So yes I agree awardees have proven their case and rightfully receive an award, but in all of this where has the promise of making sure that only those with the greatest difficulties/needs are given an award.

Now I might get lambasted but surely Arthritis, ME, Fibro, trapped nerves etc aren’t even in the same league as those that I have mentioned. In fact I read of one case where the claimant had died whilst fighting a decision to refuse PIP. He had suffered for a year or so with Motor Neurone disease but it was only in the 6 months or so of his life that he claimed PIP. His long suffering wife filled out the claim form on his behalf and sent it in.  He was denied any award even after a home assessment. He didn’t get the chance for his case to be heard before a Tribunal.

A lot can be said that if you are lucky to live in an area which is served by an excellent Welfare Rights organisation you have a far better chance of being given an award than if someone with exactly the same condition and difficulties/needs but who has to go it alone with little knowledge or experience.

So whilst I do agree with your argument, I would add that having the right support working with you gives you a much better chance.

I don't think I'd disagree that a welfare rights support worker or other professional support will probably help, but at the end of the day it's how he DWP assessor and decision maker view the effects of your disability on the activities contained in the assessment.  You are also right in that PIP was introduced to 'better target' support at those who needed it.  It doesn't mean that those with lesser disabilities won't qualify, it just means that they will get a lower level of award under PIP than they perhaps would have done with DLA.  You also have to factor in the criticism that assessors are neither trained or experienced in all disabilities and there have been, and will continue to be cases where people will fall through the net because the assessor has failed to fully recognise the effects of their disability.  This is one of the main failings of PIP and is the reason that so many people who go to tribunal actually win. Any savings from the introduction of PIP are eaten up in the cost of tribunals so there is little gain to the tax payer and a lot of misery for the disabled.  If your disability doesn't fit the descriptors then you don't qualify - it's not fair and it's not right but for the moment we appear to be stuck with it.  I'll give you an example. PIP is supposed to help with the extra cost of living with a disability.  Someone who has double Incontinence is likely to have very high costs due to this aspect of their disability - higher bills for water, energy because of extra laundry, bathing etc, and personal Incontinence padding - but they can still fail to get any help at all under PIP  because  the way in which Incontinence costs are assessed is by how much help you need in things like getting on and off the toilet, and help with changing padding/underwear. That's why George Osborne brought so much criticism down on his head because at the last budget he wanted to reduce the points given for these activities even further.  PIP is NOT designed to support those who need it - if it was, the assessment would factor in actual cost instead of theoretical ones based on how much help you need or what aids and appliances you use.  it's also never been proved that those people who can only walk 20m have significantly higher costs than those who can only walk 50m.  It's an arbitrary figure introduced to effect a cut in support - this government and its' advisers have no idea what it's like to live as a disabled person, no idea of the costs involved, or how to properly assess them, and what's more, if the PIP consultations are anything to go by, they don't want to know.  Every charity and support group who took part told them that this was not the way to best support disabled people, but by then the machine was in full, unstoppable swing.  It's not about support, it never was, it's about saving money.  That's why I don't lay the blame at the door of the DWP - they don't make the rules, they only follow them.  Sometimes it's incompetent, but then that happens everywhere.  It's all got too complicated and too caught up in policy.  As far as I and a lot of others are concerned the PIP system is not fit for purpose and should be overhauled.

I'm sure that most people in the past would not have snitched but this attitude has changed as I have SNITCHED on neighbours after they have claimed enhanced DLA .This was done after much deliberation that they did not qualify as they were seen doing tasks that would be done by  someone half their age.In closing you seem to forget that they cheating the system that was intended for the disabled.

Take heart Deborah this will change when they need to apply for PIP. Very few are given any help unless they appeal.

I totally agree.I knew someone who orchestrated a mental breakdown at the doctors,was hospitalized,came out three weeks later .This actress had medication that was never taken so that she could go shopping after the community nurse left.These unscrupulous cheats are given  precedence over physical illnesses.

I agree totally.I have a neighbour who has been claiming Enhanced DLA for years.She walks her dog regularly,cuts her back @ front lawn which 

could be done by the council,visits the hairdressers,and is never away from the garden centre.Before I am accused of being jealous You need a high degree of immobility,which is not evident in this case.She will not be in any hurry to transfer to PIP as she has no hope in keeping her car but has been singing all the way to the bank netting thousands of pounds.

Annemarie, you sound very bitter when you talk of these people. You may or may not be right, that's not for me to say, but in all honesty you have absolutely no idea what kind of disability other people have or how they suffer.  Just because someone seems OK one day, does not mean that they are OK the rest of the time, if you have a problem of your own, then surely you should know this and quite honestly I really don't think you should be talking about other people in this way.  

I totally agree with sukes here. You do seem very bitter. Youhave no idea what goes on behind closed doors. I claim Enhanced mobility PIP BUT yes i can walk, i go shopping in my MOBILITY SCOOTER, i also go and have my hair cut, and i cut my grass. JUST because i do all those things it doesn't mean i'm not entitled to the mobility component of PIP because i am. You just can't compare one person against another, which is what you're doing here. This thread was started 1 year ago and i'm unsure why you've decided to reply to those posts now. Most of the people don't even post here anymore.