Is this fraud
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I remember reading about a fella who got done whilst on ESA for playing golf which was deemed proof of being fit for work.
It was his Doctor who suggested he played it to keep him supple.0 -
I would remind everyone that we are here to provide help and advice about benefits, and not to discuss the merits of benefits or judge the people claiming them.
OP if you think someone is committing fraud then only you can decide what to do next about that.
Could not agree more venison, however if a low life is defrauding the taxpayer and impersonating somebody in need of a Blue Badge, as the OP reads, then he needs to be reported.
It is the fraudulent (let us not forget this), fake persons that mock the system, just as it reads he may be, that make it difficult for the genuine claimants and, I am afraid, make the non-claiming taxpayer more suspicious of all claimants.
In other words, if we could make everybody take a decent person test, and a truth drug, we would not even be responding to this thread, the thread would not exist. A utopia I admit, but fraud is prevalent. I await some chequered individual to tell me it is less than 1%.
Go for it Monkey. You are doing your duty. If he has nothing to hide then he should not be concerned. Plus he would therefore be keeping somebody employed, paying their taxes which in turn pay his benefits. What is there not to like about that circle of events?
These vile, cheating persons cannot continue to defraud the rest of us. Where is their self-respect? I guess the pound holds more value than morality, even if they are robbing others. Selfish people indeed!
However, don't expect much, I have reported my brother in law four times yet still he flaunts his ill gotten gains.0 -
Is this fraud
If hes on the mobility component of dla/pip , then if he qualifys for a car !, then he would have admitted that he carnt walk above 50 mtrs .0 -
If there is reason to believe fraud may be being committed it is not causing trouble for no reason. The biggest question seems to be over entitlement to Blue Badge and from what the OP says I can certainly understand why they are questioning that entitlement.
Are you suggesting that some forms of fraudulent claim are OK and some aren't? If so I love to hear the difference.
The OP also says the person in question is 'claiming benefits and DLA'.
How does he know unless he's actually seen the entitlement letter? Or us he just assuming?0 -
Is this fraud
If hes on the mobility component of dla/pip , then if he qualifys for a car !, then he would have admitted that he carnt walk above 50 mtrs .
I don't know the criteria for being eligible for a car but I do know that you can claim DLA mobility regardless of the distance you can walk. It's not restricted to physical disability.0 -
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OP - you say that the person you feel is defrauding the system has MS. My brother-in-law had MS, he could (sometimes) walk around, play with his boys, do diy, drive, etc etc - and other times he would be confined to a wheelchair. MS attacks are spasmodic - there is no way of telling when an attack might occur. He died, aged 39.
Beating only happens during the shooting season - which lasts from the beginning of Septemer, through to the end of January. During December there may well be shoots three times a week - but early in the season, there would only be one a week, and the same in January. The beaters are not walking for the whole of that time - a "drive" will last for maybe 45 minutes, there will be a long period of picking up and the beaters are driven from one drive to the next - so although a shoot might cover 15-20 miles, the person you are querying will not be walking that amount.
The shoot manager will of course contact your friend to work as he is not being paid at the legal minimum rate - it is the shoot that should be reported!0 -
Thank you, thorsoak, that puts things in perspective and is certainly a different picture from what the OP presents.
However, I still think a report should be made due to the claimant's insistence on being paid cash in hand. There are only two reasons to do this: 1) you are claiming income-based benefits and don't want them to be reduced due to your income, or 2) the reason you're claiming doesn't gel with the type of work you're doing.
In this circumstance, the claimant isn't insisting on being paid cash. All beaters are paid cash, no matter what. It's often kids earning a bit of pocket money. As thorsoak points out, there isn't a lot of strenuousl work involved and certainly someone with MS (I must have missed that point originally) having a good day would be more than capable of doing this job.
I think the OP is possibly being malicious. I go back to my previous post and ask that he/she just asks the person in question what the situation is. They don't even have to mention benefits.
Maybe enquire how they cope with a day out beating whilst having MS. Hopefully they'll then receive an education into how illnesses such as this and fibromyalgia can affect a person's life and why they can appear more well one day than another.
By reporting this person without the full facts will no doubt cause no end of stress which is something to absolutely be avoided with MS. It could easily cause a relapse that might be difficult to recover from. Just leave well alone.0 -
MS is one of those conditions that will affect people differently and at different times. Taking into consideration that PIP descriptors can be quite subjective when it comes to 'how often' and 'how severely', it isn't surprising that someone could have ticked the right boxes, covering them for three years, but then finding themselves that the drugs are actually helping so that they are able to do things they were not able to before.
I would love to know the statistics of people reporting that 'their symptoms have improved' during their entitlement. I would be less than 1%. At best people just wait until they are reassessed and accept the verdict if they are not entitled any longer.
Saying that, I do respect that with MS, it is difficult as you could have a relapse the moment you call to say you are better. Taking into account how long it takes to be reassessed, I expect investigating potential fraud in such cases is going to be the least of the priorities of the dwp.0 -
We can only respond based on what the OP tells us. He said:
If the claimant has genuinely said these things, then a report should be made, as he's clearly stated he doesn't want to be on the books as it conflicts with his benefits award. The comment about being him being declared unfit for work implies that he's also receiving ESA, which means he should have declared this work. If he has, then why would he have a problem with going on the books?
I currently claim ESA and am in the process of appealing a PIP refusal. I understand how awful it would be to have a false allegation made against me. I'm only saying that if what the OP has said about the claimant is true, it should be reported.
Obviously, if the OP is just being one of the curtain twitching types I mentioned earlier and is either making things up or is not as certain as he claims, then he should take his nose out.
But the OP is stating the claimant doesn't want to declare this work due to claiming DLA, a motability car and blue badge. Working would affect NONE of that. None of these are exclusively for "out of work" claimants.
However, if he's claiming ESA (the OP doesn't mention ESA) then he would need to declare this work, although it wouldn't necessarily affect his benefit as permitted work is allowable.0
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