MSE News: 'I'm on benefits but I'm no scrounger'

leedsmodus

kathrynklear wrote: »

A scandal indeed! Why are normal GPs not sufficient to back up claims. They usually know far more about the illness, the person and how it will affect them. Nope... it's another one like the Work Program. A company being paid by the government to do what is already being done. All the time creating an atmosphere of mistrust.

if your in bradford for example, most GP'S are ''brothers''

cash speaks, so does what goes on the application forms

oldnewhand

At first my sympathy did go out to this man and his family and then I did get a bit hacked off with his whinging about how hard it was and all the other ailments within his family group. If the £11000 p.a. was what he actually had to live on he should be perfectly fine. As a pensioner (with occupational pension too) we live very comfortably on this amount OK it's only the 2 of us but we have all we want; but then we are content to enjoy what is around us and free.
I was "on the dole" for a short period but didn't feel judged or mistreated by anyone. Our daughter and her husband claim benefits due to low income and also DLA for their daughter. Their only gripe is with the benefits office regularly miscalculating and accusing them so every transaction they get copied and file for evidence; this is sheer inefficiency not judging. Son in law has just been laid off and has found himself better off than when he was working but he is still applying for jobs and has interview Friday.
I get really annoyed that I pay taxes that help to pay benefits to people on minimum wage - minimum wage should not need subsidies from pensioners especially when it is often large businesses that pay those peanuts. This brings me to my other gripe - yes overhaul benefits, hang fraudulent claimants out to dry but also bring down the bigger cheats, the affluent tax dodgers.

thedrsmisses

@leedsmodus he isn't going to the local corner shop he IS however going to big companies and no luck as no one knows how long he will be off when he has his op, you going to employ someone who could go into hospital anytime and be off for up to 18months depend on op and recovery time???? they get round it by hiring someone they say is more suitable for the job, try and prove otherwise. its not that easy

smk77

thedrsmisses wrote: »

Hello all i'm Ross' partner

I've just sat and read through all these posts and i'm slightly disheartened by the fact that some of you have taken it upon yourself to do a benefits check on our behalf nothing like being treated like a liar until you can prove your telling the truth.

Interesting post.

One thing I would say about people checking up on the benefits situation is that a lot of people on here use entitledto. I've done it myself in the past (not today to check up on your behalf!) and have seen how easy it is to rack up big benefit entitlements when kids are thrown in - especially if there is a child claiming DLA. So, to many people, £11k seems quite low for having 2 kids.

A lot of people make the assumption that if you are are on benefits then you get housing benefit. This benefit doesn't exist if you are a home owner.

There was someone complaining earlier saying that their income was only £4k more each year than yours. I wonder how many people that was to provide for? Don't feel disheartened by people like that.

leedsmodus

thedrsmisses wrote: »

Hello all i'm Ross' partner

I've just sat and read through all these posts and i'm slightly disheartened by the fact that some of you have taken it upon yourself to do a benefits check on our behalf :

To those of you who "got" the point myself and Ross would like to thank-you, and especially those who have wished us/him well with his arm and all the lovely comments on twitter there has been so many lovely comments its going to take Ross a while to reply to each one

Natalie aka @thedrsmisses

I sympathise with your situation whote heartedly, speaking as a disabled person myself, however the issue is that people are not doing a benefit check on you, theyre merely stating that all the information has not been provided.

I know of disabled people that are better off than me, ok i work part time but if i did not , then i dare say i would get my rent and council tax paid off and my incapacity benefit or what ever it is called nowadays. When i go along that assumption i probably would be in a similar situation to your husband. I have a partner whom works and a 7 yr old child. if both of us packed in work and she became my full time carer i would probably be better off.

whilst your situation may have some silmilarities , people are pointing out that minimum wage versus, dla at higher rate mobility middle to higher care, with rent, council tax , incapaciity, carers allowance all thrown in means you may be better off than someone working at mc donalds or tesco for a pittance

JVP_3

I understand this man. I am in receipt of DLA at the higher rate for mobility and middle rate for care due to a stroke 2 years ago. I am also in receipt of ESA at the rate of £38per month ..yes per month. because I also have a monthly occupational pension of £920 per month. I pay a mortgage of £823.46 pm plus building insurance, council tax, fuel, food,phone, life insurance and tablet prescriptions, all from my total income. If it wasn't for my DLA I think I would be destitute.

Many people say i am lucky because I have a works pension. Yes I am in away. but had I not had a works pension my mortgage, council tax and prescriptions which takes up the vast majority of my income. would have been paid for me. I would be in receipt of a higher rate of ESA, so actually I would be better of.

I have paid into the system for 39 years with the exception of 1 brake for 8 months maternity leave. and if it wasn't for my stroke I would still be paying into the system. So please ....please STOP calling us scroungers. Genuine people in receipt of DLA especially at the higher rate have to go through many hoops to receive it, it is not given lightly.

leedsmodus

thedrsmisses wrote: »

@leedsmodus he isn't going to the local corner shop he IS however going to big companies and no luck as no one knows how long he will be off when he has his op, you going to employ someone who could go into hospital anytime and be off for up to 18months depend on op and recovery time???? they get round it by hiring someone they say is more suitable for the job, try and prove otherwise. its not that easy

yes the large companies would, but it depends on your locality. I know call centres would and also tesco,

i can vouch for british gas, hsbc, rbs, tesco, ventura, lloyds. ok most of the work are call centre work apart from tesco but i know they;d employ someone with a right attitude irrespective of disability. i have either worked or no someone whom has worked for these companies through a disability support group. Ok your hubby may face an operation or sickness but the bottom dollar is he will be a harder working more appreciative individual whom will stay with the company. A friend of mine has one arm, one leg and cancer and works for tesco on the tills, and when he started he had those issues.
again not everyones ideal work but in this day and age, if one is serious about work you will take anything to put food on the table and have self respect....even if it is a supermarket

leedsmodus

JVP wrote: »

I understand this man. I am in receipt of DLA at the higher rate for mobility and middle rate for care due to a stroke 2 years ago. I am also in receipt of ESA at the rate of £38per month ..yes per month. because I also have a monthly occupational pension of £920 per month. I pay a mortgage of £823.46 pm plus building insurance, council tax, fuel, food,phone, life insurance and tablet prescriptions, all from my total income. If it wasn't for my DLA I think I would be destitute.

Many people say i am lucky because I have a works pension. Yes I am in away. but had I not had a works pension my mortgage, council tax and prescriptions which takes up the vast majority of my income. would have been paid for me. I would be in receipt of a higher rate of ESA, so actually I would be better of.

I have paid into the system for 39 years with the exception of 1 brake for 8 months maternity leave. and if it wasn't for my stroke I would still be paying into the system. So please ....please STOP calling us scroungers. Genuine people in receipt of DLA especially at the higher rate have to go through many hoops to receive it, it is not given lightly.

jvp as a recipient of higher rate dla, mobiltiy , and lower rate care i understand you. had you not the pension then i dare say if you had no property and you rented, then the rent and council tax would be met by the social. sometimes i wonder if it is worth while saving and trying to get your own property because if the s*** hits the fan and you become ill one gets next to nothing from the government

Trinitrotoluene

Many, many years ago I was young and naive about how benefits worked, and my view point was definitely out of whack. I used to think most people were scroungers/defrauding the system. When I got into my first serious relationship, I got on immensely with my then partner's parents. They were absolutely lovely people, to this day the most altruistic people I had ever met. They were honest to a fault, both had worked all of their working life's into their sixties/seventies and had even owned businesses. They fell on bad times when my ex's dad fell ill. He suffered from kidney failure/heart problems and had to stop working. The man was sick, he had his ok days, but he struggled with even menial tasks like cooking/getting himself changed etc. He could do it, but it was extremely painful for him but he was a proud man. They both had to leave work as he needed care pretty much daily.

I knew they weren't well off but it wasn't until I had a sit down with them to discuss DLA (I worked within the DWP at the time) that I gravitated to how horrible it was for them. Both of them hated the idea they had to survive on benefits, they claimed what they could but it meant they could barely scrape by. One of the things that had never occurred to me before is how people fill in the forms for DLA. These people being honest people gave truthful answers on the forms for DLA. They would answer positively on questions about mobility, he could move with difficulty, he was in pain, but he could still do it just on his own. He could cook his own meals, but it was difficult for him. Pushed though, he could still do it on his own. It had subsequently led to him not getting the full care and full mobility allowances. Their truthfulness and honesty bit them in the !!!.

They really did struggle. Me and my then partner were paid quite well and they would never accept a penny of either of us. I am no longer with my ex, but her parents had a profound effect on my life and they both collectively changed the way I approached life and my viewpoint of people around me. The system that we have at the moment is patently unfair. People who lie and over exaggerate their problems in the DLA application form for instance are better taken care of than those who are honest and genuinely don't want to have to live on benefits. I am lucky that I am a young, healthy, employed adult who is earning a good wage. My heart really does go out to those genuine people out there who are struggling by when they deserve more. I, and we collectively should never have to witness people who are old, disabled and ill worry about putting their central heating on because they are scared they will not be able to afford the bill. It is disgusting.

We all know there are people out there who are fraudulently claiming benefits, but there was a fantastic post at the beginning of this thread about the tax evasion from clubs like rangers whose deception and failure to pay tax amounts to thousands and thousands times more money being pulled out the pot than any level of fraud that you will see within the benefits circle. Instead of people focussing their energy on attacking the poor, we should focus our energy on the rich who are not paying their fair share. The companies that are using legal loopholes to get out of paying hundreds of millions in tax. The companies that take millions of pounds from British people, then ship all their labour abroad. The banks where mismanagement and ludicrous bonuses lead to billions and billions in debt. This should be the focus of effort for the British people.

It is very easy to criticise people who are on benefits, I used to be one of those people. I can categorically state though that until you have sat down with those people and gotten to know them and their story, you genuinely have no idea. You can't put a value on circumstance and peoples lives.

Just my two pence

CazGreg

The only thing that confuses me about this article is the lack of mention of his prognosis. From what I can work out, his condition is treatable, even if there is a later chance of recurrence. Living on a small amount for a short while is very different to living on that same amount for the foreseeable future.

And as has been already said - all those NHS travel costs can be claimed back, often cash in hand on the same day.