‘An amputee had to show his arm hadn’t grown back’: The truth of benefits testing
‘An amputee had to show his arm hadn’t grown back’: The truth of benefits testing
Posted by theipaper
‘An amputee had to show his arm hadn’t grown back’: The truth of benefits testing
‘An amputee had to show his arm hadn’t grown back’: The truth of benefits testing
Posted by theipaper
17 comments
Benefits claim decisions could become more “weird” and “cruel” once Labour’s reforms kick in, former assessors and welfare experts have warned.
The current assessment process to decide whether someone merits incapacity benefits and personal independence payments (PIP) is already flawed, they said, adding that they feared the tests could become even “harsher” once the Government tightens access.
One whistleblower who carried out benefits reassessments for a triple amputee recalled the claimant saying he felt he had to keep proving his limbs had not “grown back” to ensure his money was not cut.
A benefits adviser said people were judged capable of cooking their own meals when really they were eating beans cold from the can.
“I’m dreading what lies ahead,” said Dylan Thomas, who supports PIP claimants at tribunals in Somerset. “There will be pressure on assessors to reduce the number of successful claimants,” he added.
The Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is set to unveil plans to cut the higher rate of out-of-work incapacity benefits and make it harder to qualify for PIP on Tuesday.
The Government wants to make £5bn to £6bn in annual welfare savings, with the bulk expected to come from restricting access to PIP.
# Culture of ‘catching people out’
Whistleblowers previously told *The i Paper* that there is a culture of trying to “catch people out” during benefits assessments run by Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and its private contractors. They also said the assessments were “target-driven”.
Benefits adviser Thomas said assessors often judged people with fluctuating conditions on their best day, rather than their worst.
He knew of cases in which the short walk from a car, bus or taxi to an assessment centre had been used to “catch people out” and deny people points for mobility.
“There are cases where people were found able to cook their own meals, but I knew they were not able to use a cooker and were eating beans cold with a spoon,” said Thomas.
“I think cruel and arbitrary decisions will become much more common.”
Ex-benefits assessors previously said they were even encouraged to note “how people smelled” during interviews in order to find them capable of bathing.
They claimed that assessors were encouraged to find various ways to deny people the points needed to qualify for PIP awards worth up to £737 a month – money aimed at supporting extra needs with daily living and mobility.
Murray Goulder – who has a form of epilepsy that gives him dozens of seizures a month – has won two tribunals to get his PIP reinstated after money was taken away.
Goulder said he was initially rejected in 2018 after being told in a report that he had been was “well dressed” and had a “good gait” so had little difficulty looking after himself.
The government – both sides – are more concerned with people falsely claiming benefits than they are with actually helping people.
Here’s a saving for them. Spend 20k on stem cell repairs on my brain, and I can look for work, saving them 15k a year on my disability benefits.
Instead I’m on my ass crippled because the toffs at the top will slash the NHS because they can afford private healthcare.
Covid has made the number of people unable to work rise , instead of being truthful about the damage Covid has done the government is making it difficult to claim benefits
Give everyone UBI and abolish the DWP, problem solved now and forever
It sounds like Labour want a rerun of the ATOS horrors we heard about under IDS regime
Guy Fawkes was onto something
Record your assessments. Last assessor I was given got fired for deliberately provoking me and sending me into a panic spiral then claiming it “wasn’t safe” for her to continue the phone assessment and she “felt threatened” after bullying me into floods of tears.
DWP got an angry call from my social worker and when the DWP called back one of the cops who’d rushed around to check on me (thank you, social worker, for caring so much and I mean that genuinely) and they gave the DWP a right earful as well.
Things got so much worse when I finally managed to communicate to the good officers that I had recorded the things that vicious cow had said in all of the four and a half minutes it took to send me into a panic attack, and it’s on my extensive files that I’m considered a heart attack risk due to the constant strain my disorders have already put on it.
They’re not that bright: outsmart them and fight back, it’s the only way you’ll win.
FYI I’m blind and have PTSD + panic disorder after I was attacked by a bunch of chavs who are definitely benefit fakers, bet nobody’s brave enough to fuck with their awards. My PIP paid for my guide dogs’ training and equipment, my white canes and home adaptations, and most of my therapy because the NHS is shite.
No, I don’t have a sky TV subscription and I’m not addicted to any drugs.
Did they actually ask whether his arm had grown back… or did they ask whether it was amputated in the first place, reaffirming that his claim that is arm is amputated is true, and not just a lie?
This sounds like classic spin to make the government sound incompetent. This sounds to me like it is just standard practice keeping records up to date.
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As someone with MS I am always at risk of losing ALOT. I currently work but the idea of relying on these monsters who run Disability benefits in the future terrifies me. Feels more like they are beginning to punish people for being born “wrong” rather than helping those who need it. Sad world.
If you didn’t have so many utter slime bags abusing our system then there wouldn’t be cases like this to begin with.
As always it’s the shysters and fraudsters who make those in need’s life more difficult.
For every genuine person that needs our help, there’s 5 or 6 chancers trying their luck for an easy ride and it has to be stopped.
The truth is that mental health is over diagnosed and relied on by too many as a get out of work ticket
until any Government wants to put reality at the heart of disability benefits, rather than trying to generate positive headlines in the right wing media, dumb shit like this will happen time again.
We trust Doctors to treat people in the NHS, yet for some reason we dont trust them when it comes to benefits, until someone can explain to me why that is the case, I will always see Government as being more interested in forcing people in to work / cheaper benefits than helping people.
The government seems to make it tougher for disabled people every generation it seems.
This is the reality that a lot of people don’t seem to understand. Getting benefits is not easy and most people avoid getting to that point. The assessments are so often demeaning and dehumanising.
As mad as that title it, shit like this does make me laugh how mental the world is 😂
With my sense of humour being asking if my arm had grown back, I would take some serious time thinking up the most awesome means of responding to this shit 😅
Could slash it easy if they were to take the 1million off the support…you know… but no our sick and disabled will suffer instead. Geniuses.
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