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ian@huth · 14-03-2005, 00:02

I used to have a view that I would never sponge on the welfare state and didn't believe in having a day off work sick. I would drag myself in no matter what having the view that if I felt rough I would still feel rough whether at work or home and being at work would take my mind off of it.

However things change and an accident coupled with a big deterioration in my health due to Parkinsons disease and osteoarthritis meant that I couldn't work. Principles have to change when hard reality strikes and benefits were the only way. I get DLA and other benefits but they aren't as easy to get as some people make out. It was quite a fight with the DWP as Sociable would back up if he was posting. What used to get me though was during the time that I was fighting with the DWP there were quite a few articles in the press about people being convicted for benefits fraud. Some people were making several claims under different names and getting them all passed. One chap from the Indian sub-continent was getting DLA under seven different names and many other benefits under even more names and had a seven figure bank balance hidden away. He had been caught out after several years and when checked by medical examiners was found to not even qualify for DLA. Over the last few years I have seen plenty of people who are disabled enough to qualify for DLA but are being refused it and plenty of others who are getting DLA but shouldn't be. Some people know how to work the system.

On the other side of the coin there is my 85 year old Mother. She is disabled and gets various benefits besides her state pension. During her working life she worked hard and struggled to make ends meet. Now she is getting far more money than she knows what to do with. She could manage quite easily on half of what she is getting. Maybe if she was fitter and could get out she could spend more but then she wouldn't be getting as much as she now gets.

The whole benefits system stinks and needs a good shaking up. Having several kids to enable you to have benefits income far above what most people earn should be one area that needs looking at. If the culprits getting the benefits knew that the rewards wouldn't be there I am sure their family size would never have got as big as it did.

14-03-2005, 00:02	#23
ian@huth Inactive Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire Services: VM 10Mb, TU, 1xSky HD, 2xSky+ (HD,all packs, sports & movies) 2xDVD PVR's, Freesat Freeview & other Posts: 4,536	Re: The Welfare State I used to have a view that I would never sponge on the welfare state and didn't believe in having a day off work sick. I would drag myself in no matter what having the view that if I felt rough I would still feel rough whether at work or home and being at work would take my mind off of it. However things change and an accident coupled with a big deterioration in my health due to Parkinsons disease and osteoarthritis meant that I couldn't work. Principles have to change when hard reality strikes and benefits were the only way. I get DLA and other benefits but they aren't as easy to get as some people make out. It was quite a fight with the DWP as Sociable would back up if he was posting. What used to get me though was during the time that I was fighting with the DWP there were quite a few articles in the press about people being convicted for benefits fraud. Some people were making several claims under different names and getting them all passed. One chap from the Indian sub-continent was getting DLA under seven different names and many other benefits under even more names and had a seven figure bank balance hidden away. He had been caught out after several years and when checked by medical examiners was found to not even qualify for DLA. Over the last few years I have seen plenty of people who are disabled enough to qualify for DLA but are being refused it and plenty of others who are getting DLA but shouldn't be. Some people know how to work the system. On the other side of the coin there is my 85 year old Mother. She is disabled and gets various benefits besides her state pension. During her working life she worked hard and struggled to make ends meet. Now she is getting far more money than she knows what to do with. She could manage quite easily on half of what she is getting. Maybe if she was fitter and could get out she could spend more but then she wouldn't be getting as much as she now gets. The whole benefits system stinks and needs a good shaking up. Having several kids to enable you to have benefits income far above what most people earn should be one area that needs looking at. If the culprits getting the benefits knew that the rewards wouldn't be there I am sure their family size would never have got as big as it did.