PIP, DLA and the disabled

[Bonjon]

No, as I don't generally work in a public facing role, I just escort the kids round the sets.

 

 

Surely you could do a paid role then?

[MrSmith]

All of the available figures show a fraudulent claim rate of 1% or lower amongst those who are in receipt of DLA, so I'm not sure where the 'plenty' figure comes from. DLA is the least abused of all of the benefits.

 

As for what there is to fear, how about the many years of fighting to get the benefit in the first place that many face? I've had to go to tribunal 3 times and I've had it easy compared to many.

 

I suppose that depends on how you define a disability, I know three alcoholics that are on DLA, and they are Alcoholics because they wanted to access DLA. There is no way to prove they are not alcoholic or whether they are alcoholics through choice. If the government knew how many claim were fraudulent there wouldn’t be any fraudulent claims.

[Tony Erikson]

Personally, I think that you should be paid for running SF and generating the income.

 

I definitely agree with this. We pay for the income, the owner of SF gets the resources. I know they say the site doesn't make any money but I reckon the domain names are worth a few quid. Someone estimated £50,000 a few years ago. Why shouldn't Medusa and the other moderators get a share of that income?

 

I would love to hear Geoff's opinion on this.

[Tony]

I suffer from severe lower back pain and have to take Paracetamol, Napraxone, pregabalin, Omeprazole, Oxy-Codone and Zopiclone (to keep me asleep through the pain at night) for the forseeable future. Back pain was a common ailment that has been abused to get benefits but with the Invention of the M.R.I. scanner, these people that cry wolf can be caught out quite easilly. M.R.I. scans do not lie and can see any abnormalities in the spine or back muscles. I have had the snide comments about 'getting away with it' because it cannot be proved, well now it can be in 30 minutes.

 

I'm sure that you have a genuine problem. It's the ones that don't and make false claims who you and me are annoyed at, yea?

 

Even with your bad back, what work are you able to do?

[Shogun]

I've got a really bad back and I still keep working, I don't want to be on benefits at all, some days I can not even move but I work for my self so if I have a day off it is me that looses out,if I was on benefits I could not stand sitting at home it would drive me crazy,I have seen a lot of people who are fitter than me on benefits that makes me mad,I think some of them need to be looked at to see if they are not just swinging the lead, and that money saved from people like that should go to people who are really ill,

[pottedplant]

I suffer from severe lower back pain and have to take Paracetamol, Napraxone, pregabalin, Omeprazole, Oxy-Codone and Zopiclone (to keep me asleep through the pain at night) for the forseeable future. Back pain was a common ailment that has been abused to get benefits but with the Invention of the M.R.I. scanner, these people that cry wolf can be caught out quite easilly. M.R.I. scans do not lie and can see any abnormalities in the spine or back muscles. I have had the snide comments about 'getting away with it' because it cannot be proved, well now it can be in 30 minutes.

 

Not quite true. MRI does not detect nerve pain which can be very debilitating. I have back pain caused by nerve damage caused by previous radiotherapy. I have regular MRI scans which do not detect the damage.

[MrSmith]

I've got a really bad back and I still keep working, I don't want to be on benefits at all, some days I can not even move but I work for my self so if I have a day off it is me that looses out,if I was on benefits I could not stand sitting at home it would drive me crazy,I have seen a lot of people who are fitter than me on benefits that makes me mad,I think some of them need to be looked at to see if they are not just swinging the lead, and that money saved from people like that should go to people who are really ill,

 

They don't sit at home; they go down the pub or work in their allotment, that’s when they aren't on holiday. I just changed what I do for a living when I put my back out.

[medusa]

I've got a really bad back and I still keep working, I don't want to be on benefits at all, some days I can not even move but I work for my self so if I have a day off it is me that looses out,if I was on benefits I could not stand sitting at home it would drive me crazy,I have seen a lot of people who are fitter than me on benefits that makes me mad,I think some of them need to be looked at to see if they are not just swinging the lead, and that money saved from people like that should go to people who are really ill,

 

If you can keep on doing what you were doing before then with great respect your back problem isn't that severe.

 

Imagine pain so bad that you pass out when you try to do things, then add in numbness, pins and needles and muscle spasm and you'll be approaching the sort of pain that I and many people who have chronic degenerative back conditions have on a daily basis.

 

The number of people who tell me that they don't agree with taking medication and that they would never consider taking pills every day really stuns me. If they had been in the sort of pain where they have considered suicide just to make the pain stop then they would understand that the reason they have never considered taking pills is because they have never had an illness or pain serious enough which would make taking pills the natural thing to do.

[medusa]

They don't sit at home; they go down the pub or work in their allotment, that’s when they aren't on holiday. I just changed what I do for a living when I put my back out.

 

Judging every person with a disability as though they are swinging the lead is exactly why I felt the need to justify myself as I did earlier in the thread.

 

Of course I'd rather lie in a recliner and watch everybody else living a full life and having enough money to not have to save up for every small thing they need to buy if I had the choice- why not?

 

The comments you make devalue every person with a disability.

[Swampster]

See my post above.

 

Technically "Fraud" is less than 1%.

But, in addition: ...

Over 10% is being overpaid because of a failure to report changes in circumstances.

Over 6% is being underpaid for similar reasons.

 

 

http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd2/dlafraudjuly05.pdf

 

"Technically", being the widely accepted figure and being made up of the numbers they can actually quantify to some degree of accuracy. Looking at that document you pointed out it seems the other numbers are based on a fuzzy notion that there's some suspicion of fraud but no proof whatsoever.

 

Even if we accepted the figures quoted as being fact (and even if they REALLY are fact), combined with the accepted 1% means that at the absolute most only 5% of the budget is being spent on people who it could be argued shouldn't really be entitled.. so where's the other targetted 15% of cuts coming from?

 

The other notion of who is or isnt entitled all depends on where they set the bar, they set the bar higher and suddenly more people aren't entitled to DLA.. it's my opinion that this is their intention. As I mentioned before they keep lumping it in with IB/ESA in order to blur the issues and sway opinion. Sadly from the views I see posted by some in this thread it would seem their strategy is working remarkably well.