Ex DWP staff set up advice site to help those with sanctions

dippy3103

FBaby wrote: »

Spending DLA on anything that has nothing to do with one's disability is not fraud, but in my view, it is cheating the system as it is not spent on what it is intended for.

If someone meets the criteria to claim I don't think it can be policed how the money is spent.

My son has various conditions meaning he needs very supportive shoes which can accommodate his orthotics. So buying his school shoes is much more expensive than other kids. So if he got DLA would that be ordinary expenditure or disability expenditure?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

dippy3103 wrote: »

No idea. Nor do I know what is being done to tackle VAT fraud, shoplifting, kiting, bilking and a plethora of other offences. I doubt the people employed to investigate those issues can give much detail about the steps taken to tackle benefit fraud.


And tax fraud can range from a very low level few ££'s here & there to thousands of
pounds. What if someone on a low salary was working cash in hand in a pub one night a week- maybe earning £30. Should they be jumped on ahead of people on benefits.

Just because someone is perceived to be getting away with something does not give someone else a mandate to break the law.

I look towards our elected Members of Parliament for my moral compass when it comes to tax issues. If the people who make the laws can fiddle the system use loopholes and tax avoidance and get away with it then it must be good enough for us to follow.

Viberduo

missbiggles1 wrote: »

That may say more about you and the people you mix with than it does about JCP policy and actions.

But its not just people I mix with but relatives of friends, friends of relatives etc.

The only way it is people I mix with is because I come from a poor family I get on better with them than people who grew up with a better lifestyle growing up and quite ignorant of the poor like when I was at university I remember discussing with people and the ones around 18-20 were the worst who never worked a day in their lives or a few hours a week not paying tax and would go on about scroungers, the amount of times I heard people talk about people on benefits being lazy, or that it was their own choice or fault to the point quite a few people thought that homeless people were lazy and should just get a job!!! That they could get a house the same day and be working tomorrow etc.

So because of that I still was friends with people from better off backgrounds but only got on the most with the ones from poorer backgrounds even the ones who grew up in a family with not much money but worked full time as they knew what struggling was like.

Viberduo

FBaby wrote: »

Spending DLA on anything that has nothing to do with one's disability is not fraud, but in my view, it is cheating the system as it is not spent on what it is intended for.

I see what you mean but at what point does it become something to do with someones disability i.e if I was autistic even mildly and needed a lot of stimulation to stop feeling depressed and I bought things like comics, and video games with the cash would that be not spent on its intended thing? or that even travelling to a museum was stimulation ut you needed to spend a night in a cheap hotel to get there.

This is what its like for me, I do buy cheap stuff online and when I was at school it was easier as I had things like school trips so even a quid or two to take with me was a lot as could buy things like pencils and rulers or postcards but as a adult I have nothing or noone to help me with that and things like travel will be expensive and excessive travel would be stressful i.e 45 minutes on a train I can get which costs me a fiver to get to edinburgh or two and a half hours travelling by bus as have to change twice

I feel guilty about that but thinking about it, it helps my mental health so helps me back into work and I am not splashing the cash around i.e if I do get a meal out when there I will find a cheap side street shop.

BillJones wrote: »

I fear that you are banging your head against a wall here, as many on this site think that there's nothing wrong with it being a lifestyle choice.

I disagree, strongly, and fortunately most of society in the wider world agree with us.

Hmm I think very few people think its a lifestyle choice, at most people think that life is hard enough on benefits so they dont want to make their life worse by working for less money than they get on benefits, some of these people are lazy others just know their mental health cant cope with it, you COULD say that was a lifestyle choice because they may see a job available and not take it but thats not looking at the bigger picture

FBaby

I see what you mean but at what point does it become something to do with someones disability i.e if I was autistic even mildly and needed a lot of stimulation to stop feeling depressed and I bought things like comics, and video games with the cash would that be not spent on its intended thing? or that even travelling to a museum was stimulation ut you needed to spend a night in a cheap hotel to get there.

I think you can always justify that some of your costs are related to your disability and I think mmany do. My kids also needs a lot of stimulation but for a reason that is not considered a disability, yet they are not entitled to any benefits as a result (and I don't think they should).

I have a number of friends who claim DLA for their children and they are honest enough to admit that the money is just absorbed in the budget as a whole and is a nice little additional income. Yes, some is spent on their child's needs, but no more than most children spend on their children for their various needs.

A friend of mine meets the criteria for DLA as he suffers from a foot deformity. That hasn't stopped him being very successful professionally and earn over £80K. Yet he is entitled to a mobility car. Even if he didn't have his disability, he would still have needed a car for his professional needs.

When I got the most shocked about DLA is when I went on a cruise and sat at a table with 6 strangers (nowhere else to sit). They were going on about how it might be the last year that all got together (as clearly this was an annual reunion) because of their worry they might be transferred to PIP and they might lose it all. They were actually bragging about how saved their DLA every month to pay for the trip. I think it is that day that I felt that DLA was in a real mess!

dippy3103

FBaby wrote: »

I think you can always justify that some of your costs are related to your disability and I think mmany do. My kids also needs a lot of stimulation but for a reason that is not considered a disability, yet they are not entitled to any benefits as a result (and I don't think they should).

I have a number of friends who claim DLA for their children and they are honest enough to admit that the money is just absorbed in the budget as a whole and is a nice little additional income. Yes, some is spent on their child's needs, but no more than most children spend on their children for their various needs.

A friend of mine meets the criteria for DLA as he suffers from a foot deformity. That hasn't stopped him being very successful professionally and earn over £80K. Yet he is entitled to a mobility car. Even if he didn't have his disability, he would still have needed a car for his professional needs.

When I got the most shocked about DLA is when I went on a cruise and sat at a table with 6 strangers (nowhere else to sit). They were going on about how it might be the last year that all got together (as clearly this was an annual reunion) because of their worry they might be transferred to PIP and they might lose it all. They were actually bragging about how saved their DLA every month to pay for the trip. I think it is that day that I felt that DLA was in a real mess!

Those 6 people are therefore abusing the system as opposed to committing fraud..

rogerblack

dippy3103 wrote: »

Those 6 people are therefore abusing the system as opposed to committing fraud..

You cannot know this.

The criteria for DLA and PIP differ.
It is quite possible to be legitimately entitled to one, and not the other.

There is no requirement whatsoever to pay for only disability health costs - if you choose, you can blow it on coke and hookers.

BillJones

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

I look towards our elected Members of Parliament for my moral compass when it comes to tax issues. If the people who make the laws can fiddle the system use loopholes and tax avoidance and get away with it then it must be good enough for us to follow.

It's worrying that a housing benefits officer feels that fraud is OK. When people suggest that I should be paid more, on account of doing well at work, and being paid a decent amount, it's people such as you who will convince me that I should not. I won't increase what I give to subsidise your criminality.

Johnnytwostep

FBaby wrote: »

Spending DLA on anything that has nothing to do with one's disability is not fraud, but in my view, it is cheating the system as it is not spent on what it is intended for.

here, here
same as that motability swindle where you can get a free car for having a migrane

missapril75

rogerblack wrote: »

if you choose, you can blow it on coke and hookers.

Or you can waste it. :rotfl:

(As George Best once similarly said)