Annoying

srcandas

Just a saturday morning rant so ignore me but:

Lots of posts say "I have never benefited from benefits - growl, moan, ................:mad:"

The benefit system is surely an insurance policy. I have insurance in case my house burns down. I don't regret paying it simply because I haven't had the bad fortune to claim.

I know there are benefit frauds but I for one am glad there is a safety net if I needed it, am happy to pay for it, but I do not have a desperate need to use it.

End of rant. Enjoy your week end folks

hugheskevi

The benefit system is surely an insurance policy. I have insurance in case my house burns down. I don't regret paying it simply because I haven't had the bad fortune to claim.

I think benefits are different to insurance in a couple of crucial ways.

Insurance policies set the premium based on risk. Whereas National Insurance usually works the opposite way - those least likely to need the insurance pay the highest premium.

And if you reduce the risk you pose to an insurer, you get a lower premium. But with benefits, if you reduce the risk you pose (eg, by saving) you still pay the premium, but don't get the payouts.

But benefits are very similar to insurance in one key way - both suffer from the moral hazard problem, that once you are protected some folk will change their behaviour such that a claim becomes a lot more likely

srcandas

hugheskevi wrote: »

But benefits are very similar to insurance in one key way - both suffer from the moral hazard problem, that once you are protected some folk will change their behaviour such that a claim becomes a lot more likely

Look Hugh I'm only storing petrol in the kitchen because the government told me to!!

Agree on your assessment but I would say perhaps in some ways I am claiming. If by paying unfortunates stops then robbing my house or mugging me

atush

Well I have gotten child benefit, but apart from that nothing.

But that isn't a moan, but more of a fact of hard work and good fortune. Good to know something is there when you need it.

But the bureocracy is quite confusing at times.

I have private medical ins, and my child needed once to get treatment at a specialist hospital. That involved a flight and taxi. But I offered to use my insurance (having already been approved for NHS treatment) so as to save them money. But they said, if I did I would have to pay for my flight and transfers and be 2-300 out of pocket. SO we went NHS in the end. I was just trying to save the local service some money, but they couldn't handle it lol.

DavidLaGuardia

atush wrote: »

Well I have gotten child benefit,

For the sake of the Queen's English, I sincerely hope you are from North America or that you have been transported from the seventeenth century.

Mrs_Arcanum

Fact is, without benefits there would be a huge number of people without work (myself included).

jem16

DavidLaGuardia wrote: »

For the sake of the Queen's English, I sincerely hope you are from North America

Atush is indeed American.

whitesatin

srcandas wrote: »

Just a saturday morning rant so ignore me but:

Lots of posts say "I have never benefited from benefits - growl, moan, ................:mad:"

The benefit system is surely an insurance policy. I have insurance in case my house burns down. I don't regret paying it simply because I haven't had the bad fortune to claim.

I know there are benefit frauds but I for one am glad there is a safety net if I needed it, am happy to pay for it, but I do not have a desperate need to use it.

End of rant. Enjoy your week end folks

You are, of course, entitled to your rant, it can make one feel better.

I don't see the benefit system as an insurance policy at all, you have to pay into an insurance policy to get anything back. Not always the case with benefits.

I am all in favour of helping out those who need it but I am led to believe there is much abuse of the system which annoys me.

I know I sound like a grumpy old woman and maybe I am but it seems to me that I am not much better off for forward planning my life. My plans were very different to the reality.

jem16

whitesatin wrote: »

My plans were very different to the reality.

In what way?

TBagpuss

whitesatin wrote: »

I am all in favour of helping out those who need it but I am led to believe there is much abuse of the system which annoys me.
.

I think this is part of the problem. We are all led to believe that there is much abuse of the system, but in fact, less than 1% of the cost of the benfits system is due to fraud (and a further 2-3% is lost due to mistakes) In terms of cost, it's about 1/15 of the cost of tax evasion, for instance.

Of course that doesn't make it OK,but maybe some of our anger is directed to the wrong places.

atush

DavidLaGuardia wrote: »

For the sake of the Queen's English, I sincerely hope you are from North America or that you have been transported from the seventeenth century.

I am both (from NA and I read old books lol).

So what is your excuse for being 21st century rude