Benefit fraud

dktreesea

catz1ct wrote: »

sangie595 you are 100% correct in what you are saying.

I had a meeting with the DWP recently and they said they are moving away from the days where someone would be signed off by a doctor for being sick and live the rest of their life claiming benefits. It’s about helping them find work for people that they can do which is difficult and I think employers should be more consider towards employees and offer them more opportunities and different ways of working.

I know someone who refuses to work just because she said if she got a job she would need a 2 hr lunch break. Well maybe she does need a 2 hr lunch break but perhaps she needs to consider what type of work she can do. She doesn’t even need to work full time, even just a few hours a week. After all she can look after a new born fairly easily so in my opinion there must be something out there for her.

She could always get a job with split shifts. Oh, that would mean the 2 hour "lunch" break wouldn't be between 12 and 2. How silly of me too expect flexibility as to when she would take the break.


A lot of working people are expected to show tremendous flexibility when it comes to fitting in their employer. Lets see, unexpected overtime, asked to take lieu or leave days when it is quiet, or how about (some office workers) working for no extra pay when its busy? Why are the non working so precious about what they'll do for a living?

nannytone_2

dktreesea wrote: »

She could always get a job with split shifts. Oh, that would mean the 2 hour "lunch" break wouldn't be between 12 and 2. How silly of me too expect flexibility as to when she would take the break.


A lot of working people are expected to show tremendous flexibility when it comes to fitting in their employer. Lets see, unexpected overtime, asked to take lieu or leave days when it is quiet, or how about (some office workers) working for no extra pay when its busy? Why are the non working so precious about what they'll do for a living?

in regards to this thread, the ''precious non workers' are sick disabled.

it isn't about what they WILL do, it is about what they CAN do

dktreesea

nannytone wrote: »

but that isn't true, even the OP hasn't claimed that to be the truth.

you're advocating another level to this fraud and i think you should stop giving the OP 'outs' and let them take their punishment

If I thought the DWP staff were completely trustworthy and fair in their actions towards claimants, I would agree with you but my own experience of them suggests you get a different story about what the procedure should be from each different person you talk to. They don't seem to be across either their jobs or their responsibilities and make a mockery of the word "client" when dealing with the people they are SUPPOSED to be helping.

dktreesea

nannytone wrote: »

in regards to this thread, the ''precious non workers' are sick disabled.

it isn't about what they WILL do, it is about what they CAN do

On any one day, there are far more sick and/or disabled people working than there are not working. I'm one of them.


Just because someone is sick doesn't mean they can't work, likewise disabled. It's one thing to be willing to work but not able to get work because an employer won't employ you. It's quite another to be able to work - i.e. what the person can do - but not to want to because the jobs on offer don't meet what the person in question is willing to do.

nannytone_2

my experience of a disability advisor was ' theres nothing i can offer you, so you don't need to attend again'

he was very nice but no help whatsoever

missbiggles1

dktreesea wrote: »

She could always get a job with split shifts. Oh, that would mean the 2 hour "lunch" break wouldn't be between 12 and 2. How silly of me too expect flexibility as to when she would take the break.


A lot of working people are expected to show tremendous flexibility when it comes to fitting in their employer. Lets see, unexpected overtime, asked to take lieu or leave days when it is quiet, or how about (some office workers) working for no extra pay when its busy? Why are the non working so precious about what they'll do for a living?

Lots of companies who offer flexitime would allow somebody to have two hours break at lunchtime.

dktreesea

nannytone wrote: »

my experience of a disability advisor was ' theres nothing i can offer you, so you don't need to attend again'

he was very nice but no help whatsoever

I guess all that help went by the board when the DWP stopped being a labour exchange, and when the government cut subsidies to companies who employed disabled workers.

dekaspace

Lanzarote1938 wrote: »

Do you not think that some of your problems with landlords, bosses, authority, DWP etc could perhaps be your own fault?

I have only had a problem with one boss, and are you saying the DWP losing sick notes on two claims is my fault? That sending me a giro that was stolen despite having clear instructions on computer to not send a giro out due to unsafe address was my fault?

Some things can be interpreted as my fault like when I damaged my toe and phoned to say I would be late to sign on to be told the advisor was part time and going on a weeks holiday, then had benefit stopped as didn't come in within a week.

Or when they called me in for a "interview" a few days before Christmas and I was too naive to realise that her supervisor being there was for their benefit not mine and they claimed my 5 hours at college would involve 35 hours of "self study" which meant I was in fact doing a 40 hour course therefore I would get student loans (!!!!!!!!)

That when I decided another time 10 years later to study 5 hours a week but this time made it clear from the let go I was doing course, brought in student card, official documents from establishment and they decided to change my sign on time to guess this, THE SAME TIME AS THE CLASS, turns out when I spoke to friendly advisor a few weeks later as I left as couldn't attend the classes they did so because they thought I was doing cash in hand work!!!

What about the time I moved to a different area of the country and they messed up my transfer and forgot to book me in for signing forms and then stopped money, well considering I won the redecision then I must of been right, shame they then sanctioned me for not attending 3 sign on appointments so I lost that same money I won at appeal, and the appeal for that I lost.

Now can you make any sense of how I can be sanctioned when I never even filled in forms or signed a document to agree to sign on at the times they gave.

As for landlords, first one was perfect in fact the best landlord I ever had until he found out parents were on benefits, at which point it became a witchhunt, how is it my fault that whenever something went missing I was accused of theft? That he kept my deposit.

The one after that had an actual reputation around town and was BANNED from letting to students and had a black mark from many people, hey even taxi drivers and takeaway workers knew him, he conned me into giving him an extra weeks rent, and I lived there till I found employment for summer, then I moved to another property of his where he stored a full sized cooker in my box bedroom, got paid 4 extra days from council than I actually lived there (moved in on the Friday, he got paid from the Monday 4 days before) He outright said I was paying too little on the meter so tripled its standing charge, then illegally evicted me, should I mention some of his tenants at another property he had burgled my house about every 3 months in a row from a "loose" window pane that lifted up.

The landlord after that was actually the only one I had no issues with apart from him moaning a few times about small things, says a lot when I lived there 3 years.

The one after that had no problems at first except washing machine broke 2nd time I used it and lived there for 10 months total, during the tenancy I shampooed carpet quite often, dusted pretty much every day, and only went in bedroom to sleep, and even used my own sofa bed in living room and not LL's furniture.

When I moved to a 2 bedroom property of theirs they claimed I left the last property disgusting dirty (despite photos and me shampooing carpet the day before) and despite the new flat having human waste from both body parts over walls and floor, spending days cleaning up.

Every month the agent was rude to me when I paid rent, he tried ILLEGALLY evicting me and friend which was when friend lost job and had to wait a few weeks for his benefit to come through, sure it meant rent arrears but he refused to leave bagged our stuff and threw it down into derelict basement(no stairway down there) had to get police involved and he was threatening to sue the police, I moved as was going to uni so moved in a few months early, my friend had nowhere to go and the LL changed locks on him one day and kept all his stuff.

The one after that no problems, just slow at doing repairs but was a lovely person.

One after that refused to give me tenancy agreement and so this is one thing I was wrong in, I refused to pay rent till he did so as I needed the TA to claim housing benefit, it wasn't that I didn't want to pay bills but there was a time limit on backdated claims and it had passed, in the end due to problems like parcel thefts, food thefts, etc from other tenants plus we found rats he agreed to let me out of contract. I only ever paid a few weeks rent there (despite not being given a TA so couldn't get benefit)

I then moved to a place where the owner was essentially a wannabe gangster who owned 2 nightclubs in town and many other small businesses, the local businesses disliked her as she was well known to cause problems, she moved her 17 year old junkie son around who had his dealer around every night, and one day had my new pc stolen by her son with CCTV to prove it (she "lost" our CCTV but luckily the hotel opposite had proof) one of my housemates made multiple spare keys and made his room into a 24/7 party house and LL didn't care, there was a mentally ill tenant in room next to me who used so smash his furniture and take legal highs and threaten people with knives, she let him stay as she was getting paid direct from council.

When I signed on over summer I was 2 weeks behind in rent (even though I asked her to get paid direct) and she illegally evicted me even though she got paid that day and more than what was owed and I never got deposit back.

I then moved back to parents area for the rest of summer, LL never turned up to collect rent and gave me DEATH THREATS over the phone and accused me of doing a runner, phoned council to say I did a runner so they stopped my benefits, then locked me out for 2 weeks saying I couldn't get in until rent arrears were cleared (which is a criminal offense) then when I did a week later he illegally evicted me as he again didn't turn up to collect rent then claimed I did a runner with his cash, I had a 3 month old tv worth £600 in there, a replacement new Sky box, a games console, pc all together worth well over £1000.

I then moved somewhere that had no problems till moving out time and LL refused to give me back deposit till I proved I owed no debts to utility company (and as it was in housemates name I could get no proof) so never got that back, oh and he never protected it.

I then moved somewhere, which my neighbour was a drug dealer, his clients stole as much as they could so in 3 years never got any birthday/christmas cards multiple parcels were stolen, giro was stolen, and the LL himself basically polished a """, the kichen cabinet doors were hanging off as he put it in himself badly, the first time I went to change the halogen bulbs when I was on the ladder I noticed above every cupboard was deep homes in the walls (like the actual frame behind it)

In the hall was a homemade cupboard door made from PLYWOOD that the first time I used a tiny bit of force on it my hand went through it, literally was a milimeter thick.

When I moved out not only did he keep my deposit but claimed I did £1000 in damages, this was that he wanted both the living room and bedroom painted as where the bed and the sofa sat there was a few tiny scrapes against the wall(only noticable if you moved the furniture), and for one cracked kitchen tile (which looked like poundland ones)

Yet the drug dealing neighbour who let his dog urinate and waste on the carpet, half his kitchen tiles were missing, the clients urinated on the stairs he said was a good tenant and when he moved (and a few weeks later moved back) he never charged him a penny of his deposit, this was a tenant who had regular drug raids, arrests, was involved in a shooting!

The one before this I lived in first off the landlord was recently done for FRAUD, he was using tax discs for his bus firm that were owned by another person, his buses were so run down they failed mots and these were ones he used for pre high school kid runs!

He bought the flat 15 years before I moved in and the furniture in it was there when he did, the washing machine door rusted off the first time I used it though the machine worked, so I dodgily jammed it shut with books (which was hit and miss to if it worked)

His armchair was so worn out that you almost fell through it, the bed was sunken, and when I moved in the wardrobe was full of junk, there was old underwear under bed, pay slips, and fist sized lumps of lint everywhere. Even though my lights kept blowing to the point the sockets were burned and on more than one occasion the bulbs actually EXPLODED he refused to send a electrician out, he never protected deposit and when I finally moved he claimed he had to empty the entire flat, buy everything new, thats bed, cabinets, wardrobes, sofa, washing machine cooker and evne removal costs, and cleaning costs as I left it a tip, I had photos of it not only spotless but better than when I moved in, oh and the day before I moved in my social worker went round and there was a gas leak and instead of sorting it he just switched gas off at wall.

The most recent one, I find ok as they have done quite a lot of repairs here but got worse over time, its been 2 months almost since the ceiling collapsed and as of now they STILL haven't sent someone round to inspect it, expected me to spend hours cleaning up rubble, and when the floorboards afterwards are now loose or cracked they said "its not a priority to fix"

Wow that was a lot to write, sorry for sidetracking thread.

dktreesea

Dekaspace, I'm sorry for all the things you have gone through, but your life experiences really aren't that different from a lot of people. People who rent often find themselves moving every six months or a year, end up in unsuitable properties, have bad neighbours etc. And benefits these days are certainly not a reliable cash flow. They can be stopped at the drop of a hat, plenty of people who have done nothing wrong can end up temporarily (we hope!) destitute. If you had death threats from someone you should have got the police involved.


The best thing you could do for yourself, imho, is try to get to the bottom of your mental health issues by your own efforts and try to get a part time job. Even one two days a week - at least you would have a reliable income.

dktreesea

Lanzarote1938 wrote: »

This thread does make me wonder about ESA in general. Here we have someone claiming to be too ill to work and receiving taxpayer support for many years.

However he has been working for several years so obviously not that ill. Not even working just a few hours a week either but 47!

How many more are on ESA that are capable of working but simply choose not to? They are all as guilty of fraud as the OP.

But sure that applies to all benefit recipients? How many people choose to work part time and claim benefits when they could work full time? How many self employed people choose to work for less profit than the full time NMW, enabled by having a generous benefits system that will top up their incomes instead? How many people choose to rent rather than scrimp and save up to buy a place, because all or part of their rent is paid for by housing benefit? Or choose to have more children so they don't have to go back to work and can stay on income support?