Preparedness for when

daz378

you see it in all walks of life , people try it on , whether fraudulently claiming benefits , artificial car accidents etc and when caught just shrug their shoulders (see saints n sinners)bbc1 yet those that need it , but unable to navigate the bureaucracy , go without..... it would interesting to know if these conmen exist on the margins of Bell curve in terms of population, i hope the margins .but probably not

GreyQueen

I dunno, daz, I honestly don't.

Can't comment on that prog as don't have a telly but I recognise the phenomenon of the rueful shrug when confronted by irrefutable evidence that they've lied. Such as CCJs for utility bill debts in cities hundreds of miles away when someone has sworn blind they've been living here all that time. People tend to withdraw homelessness applications when confronted with evidence of their deceit.

It's a bit like Oh well, you have to try it on, don'tcha? {sigh}

****************

Another day which will end with my archery class tonight, yippee! I love it soooo much. Hope I never have to apply the skill to hunting critters for the pot in extremis, but life is long and you never know what's round the corner. I regard it as a fun hobby now which may, in a certain set of circumstances, have a preptastic function.

But I do it because I enjoy it.

westcoastscot

I think almost everyone knows someone who's "trying it on", however those of us that work with these marginalised groups continue to do so because some people in this so-called civilized country - a growing number I might add - live absolutely dreadful lives through no fault of their own.
Might be good to count our blessings and thank whoever our personal god is that none of us need my services just now.
WCS

Goldiegirl

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Could you not have turned the water off at the stopcock?

We did........ But I'm still a bit paranoid about it ! :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

WCS thank you for redressing the balance and putting things into prespective. We are all so much better off than theose poor unfortunates you deal with day after day, time I think to count blessings and be very grateful for what we actually DO have, rather than yearn for what we don't!!! Lyn xxx.

nuatha

GreyQueen wrote: »

nuatha, they're not fabricating. I've been on the sidelines and in interviews and the level of dishonesty in homelessness presentations makes the banking industry look as pure as the driven snow.

It certainly can.
Some 10 years or so back, we regularly had people presenting at a local homeless office at 3:30 on a Friday afternoon, knowing they'd be provided accommodation for the weekend in a local party town. If they went to their homeless interview on Monday morning they'd admit they had no local connection and ask for a travel warrant home.
Though the worst lies I've come across in this area were from social workers trying to find accommodation for their clients.

charlies-aunt wrote: »

:rotfl: Speaking as an ex-homelessness officer, I have to agree :rotfl:

The sheer breath-taking bare-faced lying & brazen attempts to cheat the system quickly disillusion anyone dealing with this client group

Unfortunately everyone gets tarred with the same brush.
I have come across more than a few where the presumption of deceit was not only unfounded but caused additional problems.

westcoastscot wrote: »

I think almost everyone knows someone who's "trying it on", however those of us that work with these marginalised groups continue to do so because some people in this so-called civilized country - a growing number I might add - live absolutely dreadful lives through no fault of their own.
Might be good to count our blessings and thank whoever our personal god is that none of us need my services just now.
WCS

Well said WCS.
I've seen many facets of the homeless situation, from being there myself, to advocacy work and working for a hotel providing emergency accommodation. I've seen the greed of some landlords and seen the consequences of benefit system failures.
There aren't any easy answers but everytime there's a reaction to someone "playing the system" there are a lot of innocent people hurt.Equally I know that the local statistics show a huge decline in the number of people seeking help because they are homeless and the reality is that the numbers are increasing - its just that there's no point in just being given a list of landlords and hotels that's ten years out of date and wasn't accurate when it was put together.

As you say thank the Deities ...

fuddle

I'm sat in my home reading both sides. I'm nodding at both arguments wholeheartedly. Then I remember facing the repossession and bankruptcy. Trying to get help to rent another property - private landlords wouldn't take us in without a guarantor, agents wouldn't take us on because we were newly bankrupt and the council suggested we were band C priority as we had a home and the only reason we were losing it was due to an 'affordability problem' and therefore categorised as intentional homelessness. Can anyone understand those panicky feelings? No one to listen to you, no one to help you, no category to slot into.

The only way to get help I saw it was to actually be physically removed... in order to get the paperwork - the proof of need. Who can do that to their young children? Who can let it get that far? Who can sit and do nothing and just wait? Not many, I certainly couldn't. I searched my backside off and found a pit of a damp house and a bullish landlord but I got it. I got me a home and only because we were lucky enough for DH to still have a job.

What would have happened to my family had I not been so damned determined to find a private landlord and DH had lost his job?

Anyone can be on the verge of homelessness. I hope I never ever have to experience those feelings again.

pineapple

nuatha wrote: »

Some 10 years or so back, we regularly had people presenting at a local homeless office at 3:30 on a Friday afternoon, knowing they'd be provided accommodation for the weekend in a local party town.

It was the same when I worked at a social services HQ. Friday afternoon after 3pm you could guarantee someone would turn up. It never ceased to amaze me that people - especially those with families - would just decide to up sticks to another town/city and present themselves at the desk expecting us to sort it. Also, in those days, they would often have sold the furniture that had previously been given them. Maybe it's been tightened up now.

RAS

I have been on the small end of losing a home more than once; we lived at 7 addresses in 18 months at one stage. Two of those were repossessed, another was about to be repossessed when we moved out and 2 were temporary accomodation (living with other families).

I recall later watching Cathy Come Home and knowing how very easily that could have been us.

Right now one family member would be on the streets if he did not have the "good" fortune to have people who would take him in, even though he hates the dependency. The combination of housing problems, employment problems, dealing with benefits and mental health is not good.

On the other hand I have been presented with forged documents, forged histories and even false identities and am amazed at how blatant some people are. Even faced with the evidence, they just lie.

It seems to me that they are different facets of the us and them mentality; people not understanding that they and others are members of a society and that what we do individually affects only ourselves but other members of that society.

ginnyknit

When we got our home re-possessed many years ago we went to the council as soon as we found out. The staff were amazed, they said people usually turned up with their suitcases on the day they took possession with the kids in tow :eek: As we went early we had time to get a decent house and move straight from one to the other. We moved most of our belonging with the aid of a roof rack and our mini. the rest went on the back of a mates lorry. The only glitch was I had life saving surgery 2 weeks before the move and had to be carried around for a few days I managed to stand at the sink and wash everything as it came in while my Mum and my cousin cleaned the old house. It was the most heart breaking thing in my life losing my beautiful home but we survived.