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Originally Posted by nomadking
You don't receive PIP because you're not eligible for any other benefits. There may be those with an income and/or savings which make them not eligible for any other benefits.
Difficult and a lot of effort to prove fraud. NOT ZERO cases, just a low %age. Eg 0.9% for 2023. As the number of new claims soars with non-disprovable "mental health" claims, any level of identified fraud get diluted.
They had a holiday home long beforehand(over 20 years before). They didn't go there for her "health". It was a case of being caught out and trying to come up with excuses. They stayed mainly in the summer and not in the winter months. Sun lamps are ALSO suitable. If staying in Iceland helped her condition, then they wouldn't have gone there. All contradictory to her claim.
My point remains that, could people claim holidays on the NHS as a "treatment"?
I don't think the perceived issue is with those ONLY receiving PIP alongside other earned income, such as a job. It is when combined with UC/ESA etc, that people can get large sums for doing nothing. There is no incentive to look for work. Even Labour say they are going to address that.
There seems to be a general misunderstanding of the reason for ESA and PIP. IIRC The extra money with ESA is meant to be a form of compensation for not being able to work, so that you're not on very basic benefits. IIRC the principle is that you are unable to increase your income any other way. PIP is meant to be for aids and assistance, and not for general living expenses.
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No, one doesn't receive PIP simply because they don't receive any other benefits per se, but they can do, one of the reasons is given in your example.
If any sick or disabled person receives a higher amount than the unemployed (not all do thanks to the Cameron Government) this isn't compensation for not being able to work, but to reflect the additional expenses of being disabled. This began in 1988 when the Thatcher Government scrapped the 'Additional Requirements' payments in favour of premiums targeted at certain groups.
PIP fraud is officially so low that it registers as zero in Government figures, it's one of, if not the benefit least likely to be claimed fraudulently.
There has been a large increase in young people claiming for mental health problems, that is true. The Government has for some time taken steps to tighten up what they call the 'Gateway' to benefits ie to stop fraudulent or exaggerated claims entering the system in the first place and PIP is no exception.
Cameron introduced PIP as a way to reduce the cost of DLA for adults. It was made much harder to claim by changing the criteria to qualify, scrapping one of the Care Components and requiring face to face interviews by so called health professionals. These have been widely criticised for being set up to make claimants fail, even by former members of staff of the privatised companies paid to carry out the interviews.
So, as you can see, PIP isn't easy to get either legitimately or fraudulently.
There is talk of going back to the old DLA system where it's based on what is wrong with a person and requiring a formal diagnosis as opposed to the current system based upon how it affects them.
This could address your concern that those with mental health problems are, in effect, making it up as a diagnosis would be needed by a qualified person.