Benefit Cheats
By selby70
@selby70 (283)
May 8, 2008 4:09am CST
I am so angry and I hate discussions about this, as I was once on benefits when I was divorced and living on my own and I know how hard it is to manage on benefits, I got a job and was able to come of them and the extra money went on food and treats for my children.
I know someone that has applied for benefits her partner is working and not declaring it and I thought she was really struggling, She went on 4 holidays abroad last year my husband is in full time employment and we could never afford that, well get back to this person she has applied and I thought she will not get anything she has been in touch and told me how they are sending a cheque for £3000 back pay and she will no longer have to pay rent or tax, the next thing she said is that she is booking a 2 week holiday abroad with it, the money sort of made me angry but when she mentioned the holiday I was livid.
She said she is entitled but I have said you have not told them he is working and she dismisses that as if that does not matter.
Just would like to hear some opinions on this.
My son was made redundant from his first job a couple of years ago he would not go and get any benefits after a bit I told him he would have to go and get something even if it just paid for his clothes I went with him they kept questioning him how had he managed to live for the couple of months he had not claimed and I pointed out in no uncertain terms that we had supported him, making out that he had been working or something and he had not, so how do these people get away with it.
2 people like this
6 responses
@mark17779 (667)
•
8 May 08
Well it is actually quite easy to get away with benefit fraud. The easiest way is to not declare that your partner, who is working by the way living with you. The only way you get caught that way is if some one grasses you up.
You could be working cash in hand and get away with it aswell and that would be hard to prove as obvioulsy an employer will not admit to tax ivasion.
Allthough it is wrong and it is fraud, I can understand why some people do it though.
2 people like this
@selby70 (283)
•
8 May 08
Just read your other post so when you were working hard every week and people you knew who were cheating were in the pub every night drinking, going to Bingo etc. and of course people are entitled to a holiday not 4 at 2 weeks at a time.
Yes and like you when my son was made redundant like I said we got questioned up side down and were made to feel like dirt because we had supported him.I AM NOT KNOCKING PEOPLE ON BENEFIT BEEN THERE.
2 people like this
@mark17779 (667)
•
8 May 08
I wasn't having a dig at you. It was the other poster, who like all employment benefit staff make you feel crap.
Like I said in my other post, only a tiny tiny % of people's taxes they pay each week go to support benefit system, more goes in the goverment's back pocket's. That is why I could not give a damn if people choose to stay on benefit's and spend my couple of pence I give them each week.
It all come's down to moral's. I could not sit on my ar5e all day doing nothing and claiming jsa, I want to better myself by working and providing for my family.
1 person likes this
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
8 May 08
i am really fortunate that i never have to be on benefits before and i really thank God for that... but i can really relate to what you are saying and i will be mad as well if it is happening to me... i think it is very wicked for people who do not actually need benefits to apply for it as there are many other people who need it more... so i can understand your anger and frustruation... but we can't really do anything, can we???
2 people like this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
8 May 08
Forgive my ignorance when it comes to foreign money but I can see you're no from the U.S. but we sure have the same kinds of problems here. It's frustrating when you know of someone who needs help for a valid reason, or if you need help yourself, and you can't get it or have to jump through hoops to get it but you see those who don't deserve it and who are cheating the system blind get it seemingly without an effort. I've never taken a vacation abroad and I've worked my entire life, over 35 years in total, up until the last two or three years when I became disabled. I'm one of those still fighting to get a single nickel! I'd really love to know how these people get away with it! I know of some people personally also who are cheating the system but I hesitate to turn them in because you never know if they may take revenge and I'm currently staying with my 91 year old mother and we're all alone so I don't like to make waves with my neighbors no matter what I know about their lifestyles. It's frustrating because the cheaters only make it harder for those who truly need a helping hand to get it.
Annie
1 person likes this
@sharkbiter (382)
• United States
9 May 08
I totally agree with you and am currently in the same situation. I have become disabled and have been fighting for help for over 2 years now. I've seen and heard about people I know getting help for some bogus reasons, but like you, I don't want to stir up anything. I can't seem to get any help anywhere and I am in a money crisis at the moment. I don't know where to go from here, but those people who sit back and draw there checks and laugh about it just make me ill.
2 people like this
@anonymili (3138)
•
9 May 08
I feel so sad when I hear things like this. In the 4 years I worked with long term unemployed we had separate programs for people on disability benefit and these were the people who tried the hardest to get back into work - they really put many of the able bodied people to shame! I do not at all begrudge people who really need assistance. I have a friend in a wheelchair and she regularly attends interviews since she was made redundant a few years back and she always get turned down, she knows an employer would never say it's because she's in a wheelchair but it's funny how she manages to get interviews without them knowing she's in a chair...
Someone was complaining a few years ago about the company I worked for at the time having to pay out for disabled ramps and the like a couple of years back and a senior manager turned around and said "I've been here 5 years, if I had an accident tomorrow and was wheelchair bound, how would I feel if I was told I couldn't do my job anymore because I'm suddenly in a wheelchair?"
I had to put up with people saying they couldn't attend job interviews because it would take them 45 minutes or an hour to travel to the job if they got it and there were not happy to do that, or they had a hairdresser's appointment with an elite hairdressing salon where it takes months to get an appointment or they had to stay home to look after the dog. These are not valid reasons for turning down jobs!
1 person likes this
@margret1980 (1)
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8 May 08
Hi,yes it makes me sick aswell. i have nothing against people claiming benefits and need to, but its when they take the total p*ss it gets to me. I have a friend who is claiming as a single person and has just return to work getting loads of different benefits including child care cost and her partner is sat at home doning nothing, but claim from another address. To top it all she is pregant againt, her first child is not even one yet. So she will get her grants for this baby as well, i am not saying people shouldn't have children. But i am just sick of listerning to how they have no money but seem to be getting everything payed for them, and she isn't the only person i know doing it.
1 person likes this
@mark17779 (667)
•
8 May 08
Maybe you should no longer be mate's with her then if you feel so strogly about what she is doing.
What your friend is doing is one of the most common form's of benefit fraud ..... Housing benefit deception.
On one hand you have the goverment blaming socities problem's of thug's/hoodies on the family back ground as both parent's are not around. Then in the case where both parent's are still together, regardless of if they work or not, they will not receive as much help from the goverment in term's of financial aid. If your friend's were to claim together they could be as much as £100 a week worse off, and that's alot of money in anybody's eye's.
1 person likes this
@Citizen_Stuart (2016)
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8 May 08
The welfare state was originally supposed to be a safety net for those in absolute need. Nowadays it's a lifestyle choice.
It's easy to live on the dole if you never have any intention of working and don't mind lying. It's not just dole money, but you'll never have to worry about paying for rent or Council Tax. You can even have kids and their upkeep and education will be paid for by the taxpayer.
Personally, I'm between jobs at the moment, so I'm claiming JSA and trying to claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. Unfortunately I've been in this pattern lately of being in work for a few weeks, or months at the most, then being out of work again. It's one of the worst positions to be in, because I don't earn enough when I'm working to put anything aside, and when I'm out of work the council stuff up my Housing and Council Tax benefit claims about half the time, so I have to take time out of job hunting to try and get that sorted out. But I'd rather work than sit around at home.
The current system isn't sustainable. It costs an absolute fortune (which is extorted from those who do work) and creates a permanent underclass. Radical reform is needed before the system collapses. You might be interested in having a look at the Libertarian Party's policy on welfare reform:
http://lpuk.org/pages/manifesto/welfare-and-pensions.php
1 person likes this
@mark17779 (667)
•
8 May 08
Free education is something you would get regardless of being on benefits or not.
Refering to your statement of the dole being a lifestyle choice. I hope you mean working and sgning on because £44.00 a week is NO lifestyle for anyone.
It so easy to criticise benefit fraudster's but people never look at the real reason's why they did it in the 1st place. The system itself must be blamed for the fraudulant claim's as it so easy to obtain benefit's by deceipt. You see in the paper's all the time how people have been brought to court for housing benfit fraud of over £20,000 in some case's. £20,000 for god's sake. How many year's rent is that ? Once you are on a benefit you are kind of safe, the check's should be done reguarly after the decision was made to grant it.
1 person likes this
@mark17779 (667)
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8 May 08
I cant see that party getting many vote's from the unemployed amongst us. To say people will not get extra benefit if they have another child is riduculos, as that in a way is controling peoples lives...... human rights will have a field day....
Donet get me wrong, people who you see who have 7 or 8 kids and want/are having more when on the dole is taking the pee but a couple, who like myself have 3 children, wanting/having another child if I was on state benefit should be our choice whether we could manage/afford not the goverment's.
@Citizen_Stuart (2016)
•
8 May 08
This is what I'm saying, with a massive government bureacracy running the benefit system, there's always going to be scope for fraud. If someone has limited ambitions, then you can live on the dole as you don't need to worry about rent or Council Tax. If you do want more, you can make money in the black economy without declaring it. The current system penalises people for being honest and hard-working. As for children, if you can't afford kids don't have them. I see no reason why taxpayers should be forced to subsidies other people's kids.
@trish331 (33)
• United States
10 May 08
Some people just have no respect for a system set up to help those who really need it. I recieved benefits when I was alone and pregnant with my daughter, 11 years ago. As soon as I had her and was able to get a full time job, I stopped the benefits. To this day, I make sure that I give back in every way I can...donating coats, canned food, helping at the schools. I feel that by doing these things, it somehow pays back the support I was given.
As for your friend, I have learned that sooner or later, people such as her are always caught. She wont feel so deserving once she has to pay it all back.
