It's a difficult one. My job is to ensure that people have the best possible chance to get the benefits to which they are entitled. It's not to get benefits for people who should not have them. So I cannot and would not encourage people to lie in their application. Saying that a condition affects them everyday when it doesn't is a lie and thus effectively attempting benefit fraud. However I can understand the temptation because DWP often try to exploit every opportunity to deny someone benefits.
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The mental toll is spot on. Having to say you can’t do x (even if you can sometimes) feels like lying. Plus mental gymnastics isn’t my strong point.
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They absolutely do get a payment for LCA
Benefit and pension rates 2023 to 2024
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Ok I understand now, it’s not for newer claims since 2017 (who has been LCW since 2017?)The mental toll is spot on. Having to say you can’t do x (even if you can sometimes) feels like lying. Plus mental gymnastics isn’t my strong point.
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They absolutely do get a payment for LCA
Benefit and pension rates 2023 to 2024
www.gov.uk
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It's a pretty common mistake that claimants make. They exaggerate the effect of their liabilities or health conditions and then get caught in the 'lie' by the assessor. Often it's because the claimant has forgotten what they said on the PIP2 form, gets into a 'friendly' conversation with the assessor and ends up contradicting themselves. That's why when I complete a PIP2 form I always give the claimant a copy and tell them to read it before they attend their assessment. I also tell them to be aware that if they attend the assessment in person that it doesn't necessarily begin when they walk into the assessor's room. It's possible that they will be watched when they arrive or in the waiting room. I did have one case when the assessor said that claimant only started limping when they got in the assessment room and I've had a similar experience in our offices.
Yes, I guess we were both right, or wrong.
It's a pretty common mistake that claimants make. They exaggerate the effect of their liabilities or health conditions and then get caught in the 'lie' by the assessor. Often it's because the claimant has forgotten what they said on the PIP2 form, gets into a 'friendly' conversation with the assessor and ends up contradicting themselves. That's why when I complete a PIP2 form I always give the claimant a copy and tell them to read it before they attend their assessment. I also tell them to be aware that if they attend the assessment in person that it doesn't necessarily begin when they walk into the assessor's room. It's possible that they will be watched when they arrive or in the waiting room. I did have one case when the assessor said that claimant only started limping when they got in the assessment room and I've had a similar experience in our offices.
Yes, I guess we were both right, or wrong.
I currently waiting for my pip review to be dealt with it is a horrible process My last review the assesser did a home vist and She was wonderful knew Her stuff re MH and what the the meds I was on etc This time around I am seriously scared I will lose I am currently having to decide wether to Heat or Eat hence why I spend most my time in bed where it is warm , I also just found out that when i start reciving my work pensions which i worked bloody hard for the amount will be deducted from my ESA so basicly get nothing this is soul destoying and incredibliy cruel and it really makes you think why the hell did I bother actully working if I get treated like a criminal
We don’t always “exaggerate” though. I can only cook a meal once a month, maybe twice. Otherwise I use kettle/microwave - for a simple food, not protein, two veg and carbs with sauce.
Then they will ask you about walking/going shopping, and extrapolate it, so if you can walk 100m you can stand up to cook. No mention of the cooking being prevented by shaking, memory loss, breathlessness.
I’d be all for a more intrusive exam if it wasn’t going to be Cherry-picked for snippets that are used against you. Tabloid journalists in the 80s reported with better accuracy than a PIP assessor!
Then they will ask you about walking/going shopping, and extrapolate it, so if you can walk 100m you can stand up to cook. No mention of the cooking being prevented by shaking, memory loss, breathlessness.
I’d be all for a more intrusive exam if it wasn’t going to be Cherry-picked for snippets that are used against you. Tabloid journalists in the 80s reported with better accuracy than a PIP assessor!
I receive pip from having COVID in early 2019, then I had long COVID and now CFS.
I also get UC.
I also own my own home with no mortgage.
I get everything else paid for me and receive just under £2200 per month into my bank from DWP.
Now if I was well enough to work and trust me I would bloody love to be working. I would be at a deficit.
I'd get around £400 a week after tax and NI etc. then have to pay full utility bills (I get a ton of money from the cost of living utility crisis. Also I'd have to pay council tax, prescriptions, kids school meals, the list goes on.
I've always worked hard. Always been the 1st in and last out. Always worked 12hr+ days. So while I don't enjoy being laid up constantly. It's nice to be looked after for a change.
I also get UC.
I also own my own home with no mortgage.
I get everything else paid for me and receive just under £2200 per month into my bank from DWP.
Now if I was well enough to work and trust me I would bloody love to be working. I would be at a deficit.
I'd get around £400 a week after tax and NI etc. then have to pay full utility bills (I get a ton of money from the cost of living utility crisis. Also I'd have to pay council tax, prescriptions, kids school meals, the list goes on.
I've always worked hard. Always been the 1st in and last out. Always worked 12hr+ days. So while I don't enjoy being laid up constantly. It's nice to be looked after for a change.
I never meant too suggest that you do. Perhaps I worded it badly. I meant that sometimes when people exaggerate on their PIP2 form they make the mistake of contradicting it at the assessment. But even if people are not exaggerating I'd always recommend keeping a copy of everything sent to DWP and making sure I was clear what I had said before talking to them about it. The DWP and the assessors are experts at finding and exploiting any apparent inconsistencies. And that's without the 'mistakes' that assessors make in reporting the assessment too.
I’m similar but only on lower pip, I should be on higher rate, I’m not lying down about 2hours per day
Obviously I don't know your situation but it's perfectly possible that someone with kids bringing home around £400 per week would still get some UC and of course all the other benefits that it brings.
I don't think that taking into account other income is "treating you like a criminal" or "incredibly cruel". The point of income based ESA is to provide an income to people that are not able to get it in another way. The technical term is an "earning replacement benefit". If someone has income from other sources why shouldn't it be taken into account. That's what means tested benefits are.
I’m dreading the full announcement, you know it’s going to be bad. Tories are hopefully on their way out next year, so it might not get into practice.
I had to come post on here after hearing all of the ‘rumours’. I was SW before I left after having my third baby last year to be a sahm. I’m not entitled to anything that’s not my reason for posting on here. My reason is the worry I feel for people. With my previous job majority of people and families I worked with were on the bread line already never mind with all the cost of living crisis. I honestly can not imagine how people are feeling about this. It’s easy to say ‘they should just get a job’ but it’s not that easy for starters there aren’t enough jobs out there for people with little to no experience. I know of people who have tried and tried to get jobs but they just can not. I don’t like to talk politics but I can not wait to see the back of this government. I can’t imagine the devastation all of this is going to cause for some People….many vulnerable People with children.
I’m curious - how do you get so much with having M.E/CFS? I have M.E and have done since I was 13 and I get around a third of what you do. I’m not saying that you’re not entitled to the amount, far from it, I’m just wondering if different areas have different criteria? I have to live with my mum and don’t own my own house and I don’t have children. I wonder if that adds to it. My PIP is peanuts too, I’m grateful that I get money but in this environment I don’t see any of it because it all goes on rent to my mum.
I’d love to work and my problem is always that, because I’m a bit intelligent people think I’m lying about cognitive issues, but they don’t see me when it’s problematic. Also it’s executive function issues. And they’d want me to sit up to type, my voice is unpredictable whether it works. I hope I don’t get encouraged to start a home business making cupcakes again (they’re easy!you can do it from home!)
I have read parts of this and what worries me is how out of touch it is - because working from home is now the norm then obviously people on benefits can easily get a job? No, it’s not that simple. I’ve looked into working from home and a lot of it requires you to travel once a week or a month (no good if you can’t travel or live rurally) or have a background in a certain career (a lot of jobs were things like graphic design or copywriting where you needed to have experience). There was no jobs available that would be suitable for people who have little to no experience because of their conditions. Unless you count multi level marketing which I do not.
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How do they know it’s the DWP camped outside their house?
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I do wish I could work, I hate being indebted to the state and the taxpayers. I hate that this sort of surveillance is done
Shedding light on the DWP staff guide on conducting fraud investigations - European Digital Rights (EDRi)
In 2019, the UK Department for Work and Pensions published their two-part staff guide on conducting fraud investigations. Privacy International went through the 995 pages to understand how those investigations happen and how the DWP is surveilling benefits claimants suspected of fraud.
edri.org
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I was born with a condition and have had dla/pip since childhood. My whole childhood was surgery in an attempt to improve my physical health, unfortunately due to negligence it ended up worse. I did work full time for a few years in an office job but couldn’t continue and as I’ve got older (still under 40) my health is declining rapidly.
I moved to a council property which has had some adaptations, a wet room with a seat in the shower and a wash dry toilet which has literally saved my life. I couldn’t clean myself after a pee or a poo and had constant kidney infections to the point I’d spent months on antibiotics so you can imagine the state I was getting into, now with the toilet I’ve not had a infection since it’s been put in a year ago! I have a carer twice a day to help with food prep, shopping and domestic tasks, I can walk but it’s incredibly painful and I’m unsteady (iPhone constantly sends updates with my walking steadiness being low/very low), I don’t have any movement in my toes and foot drop so I literally trip over on my own feet/toes, as well as having one leg shorter than the other. I have falls weekly, worst case I lost my front teeth in one as my arms are too short to “save” me. I have an electric wheelchair which I use to go locally, I did have the adapted car but couldn’t afford the petrol it took to take the wheelchair anywhere so now I go out a lot less with the car as it involves having someone with me to take the chair apart etc.
I also have spinal stenosis which was sorted with a fusion but that limits my mobility more, and with age I’ve found that the damage the original stenosis caused is coming out more now, I get a lot of numbness all over my body and weakness.
Despite all of this I’m on very limited painkillers as I’d spent so long in my younger years on them and became addicted to morphine and baclofen that I’ve been put off, going through cold turkey at 15 from spending 4 years on them was enough to up my natural pain threashold. I do have a young child and I feel incredibly guilty that we don’t do much at all out of the house, and how scared he gets when I fall.
I constantly feel like a fraud though, I think part of it is the fight in my head not to give up or give in, and I am clinging on to the tiny bits of good days I have, I worry I’d be accused because one day maybe I made it round the small supermarket clinging onto the trolley but that person didn’t see the next 3 days where I didn’t move, or once I’ve dropped my son at school that I’ll then lay in bed from 9 until 2. I don’t think the constant media thing of targeting the disabled helps. And I’d be the first one to get a job from home, I’m reasonably intelligent and as I said had a good job before which I loved, but it’s easier said than done with this working from home business, there’s a lot that isn’t suitable or I simply don’t have the qualifications for. I dream of financial independence from the state and I know that it’s a dream of many disabled people, this life isn’t a choice.
I moved to a council property which has had some adaptations, a wet room with a seat in the shower and a wash dry toilet which has literally saved my life. I couldn’t clean myself after a pee or a poo and had constant kidney infections to the point I’d spent months on antibiotics so you can imagine the state I was getting into, now with the toilet I’ve not had a infection since it’s been put in a year ago! I have a carer twice a day to help with food prep, shopping and domestic tasks, I can walk but it’s incredibly painful and I’m unsteady (iPhone constantly sends updates with my walking steadiness being low/very low), I don’t have any movement in my toes and foot drop so I literally trip over on my own feet/toes, as well as having one leg shorter than the other. I have falls weekly, worst case I lost my front teeth in one as my arms are too short to “save” me. I have an electric wheelchair which I use to go locally, I did have the adapted car but couldn’t afford the petrol it took to take the wheelchair anywhere so now I go out a lot less with the car as it involves having someone with me to take the chair apart etc.
I also have spinal stenosis which was sorted with a fusion but that limits my mobility more, and with age I’ve found that the damage the original stenosis caused is coming out more now, I get a lot of numbness all over my body and weakness.
Despite all of this I’m on very limited painkillers as I’d spent so long in my younger years on them and became addicted to morphine and baclofen that I’ve been put off, going through cold turkey at 15 from spending 4 years on them was enough to up my natural pain threashold. I do have a young child and I feel incredibly guilty that we don’t do much at all out of the house, and how scared he gets when I fall.
I constantly feel like a fraud though, I think part of it is the fight in my head not to give up or give in, and I am clinging on to the tiny bits of good days I have, I worry I’d be accused because one day maybe I made it round the small supermarket clinging onto the trolley but that person didn’t see the next 3 days where I didn’t move, or once I’ve dropped my son at school that I’ll then lay in bed from 9 until 2. I don’t think the constant media thing of targeting the disabled helps. And I’d be the first one to get a job from home, I’m reasonably intelligent and as I said had a good job before which I loved, but it’s easier said than done with this working from home business, there’s a lot that isn’t suitable or I simply don’t have the qualifications for. I dream of financial independence from the state and I know that it’s a dream of many disabled people, this life isn’t a choice.
I think we all need to apply for jobs with DWP (who have the highest rate of losing disability discrimination employment tribunals in the country) then when we inevitably get fired for being off sick all the time, we just tell the DWP that the DWP wouldn’t employ us. Case closed!
I’m very very lucky in the sense that I have a permanent WFH contract with my employer (government department- NOT DWP!) but I only got that as a doctor in Occy Health essentially said ‘she works permanently from home or she’s going to have to retire on health grounds and she has full grounds to pursue a constructive dismissal case’ (my manager has been horrific to me) coupled with 12 weeks off sick purely because of my manager, scared them into moving extremely quickly.
I have ME and fibromyalgia, alongside complicated Type 2 diabetes (I struggle with hypos a lot) I also have various complications from fibromyalgia, three mental health diagnoses and currently going through the assessment process for autism, which I’m not coping well with at all. I’m also partially deaf which doesn’t help matters.
I do love my job though, I’ve been doing it nearly 5 years (unheard of in my department!) and I often help newbies or anyone with a question by them shadowing me or doing a bit of coaching. I have a silly amount of adjustments in place, and to be honest some of those have been very hard to get.
It’s incredibly hard to find any job (I’ve been through multiple interviews and as soon as they find out the extent of my disabilities that’s it) it’s all well and good the government saying oh disabled people must find work but where are the employers going to take them on?
I have ME and fibromyalgia, alongside complicated Type 2 diabetes (I struggle with hypos a lot) I also have various complications from fibromyalgia, three mental health diagnoses and currently going through the assessment process for autism, which I’m not coping well with at all. I’m also partially deaf which doesn’t help matters.
I do love my job though, I’ve been doing it nearly 5 years (unheard of in my department!) and I often help newbies or anyone with a question by them shadowing me or doing a bit of coaching. I have a silly amount of adjustments in place, and to be honest some of those have been very hard to get.
It’s incredibly hard to find any job (I’ve been through multiple interviews and as soon as they find out the extent of my disabilities that’s it) it’s all well and good the government saying oh disabled people must find work but where are the employers going to take them on?
We are currently WFH 60% and its being pushed down to 40%. Its amusing to me that they expect other companies to offer full WFH contracts but be unwilling to offer it themselves or be flexible.
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Opposite story in my department- they’re forcing people into the office more. Thank god I changed my contract when I did.
in office up to 60%.