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Accused of DLA Cheating
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At the begining of this week I was visited by the job centre plus regarding my DLA. I was told someone had accused me of claiming when I need not! I was mortified, hurt, upset and questioning who would do it.
A compliance officer visited me she was very nice and explained what had happened. I have been disabled for about 2 years after a failed spinal surgery and am currently being re assessed in conecting to other neurological problems. I walk with a limp on a good day and on a bad don't walk at all - now most people don't see me when I am bad as am house bound - I have afriend caring for me, helping me with household chores and getting around as needed.
I do work about 3 hours a week but did try working 20hours for the nhs but was dismissed for medical reasons - now I have court case against them due to treatment whilst I worked for them. ( i'm working if this is all connected). I left my driiving licence at work when I was dismissed so they have alot of personal information.
I am so scared that I'm going to get in trouble( though I don't think i've done anything wrong) and questioning relationships with everyone I know as I'm unsure who would do this. I have tried to work because I wanted to and though I know you can work on DLA this did come up when I was visited.
Has anyone else been through this horrible experience can you share what happened? I would welcome any bit of advice as this is distorying me.
Thank you -
DLA is not connected to work. It is immaterial whether you work or not.
What they worry about is if your medical condition has improved but you have not told them about it. If there has been no change in your condition then there is no need to say anything.This is a reply to this message.
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I think most of us have been accused of not being as disabled as we are by spiteful people who dont see our daily struggles with life, they see a new car and they want one to but not the disability that goes with it.
I wouldnt worry unless youve been playing 18 holes or climbing a ladder and fixing your roof charlik.
ddThis is a reply to this message.
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its easy for us to say not worry as we dont have this, but as long as your DLA form was accurate and thruthlful then there is nothing to worry
its only if u say u cant walk 5 yards, and at work you a porter or some such walking about all day.This is a reply to this message.
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Unfortunately, genuine people like yourself get regarded in the same way as those who do scam the system.
In today's news there is a case of: "'Disabled' civil servant who claimed £33,000 benefits is exposed as golf champion"
In yesterday's news, there was a woman who had been found guilty of DLA fraud for claiming she could barely walk, when she was so fit she had won a running race.
I know some posters will say the woman was probably running on a good day and she could hardly walk on other days; but the DLA do not regard being able to run so fast that you can win a race on one day as being virtually unable to walk on all others.
Same for the golfer. He did orignally, twenty years ago, have a knee problem but he failed to declare it got better. There was a great deal of photographic and video evidence showing him on numerous occasions, all on different days, walking, crawling under vehicles, climbing into high cabs, climbing step ladders and dancing as well as winning golf trophies.
Because of people like the two mentioned above, the rest of us are regarded with suspicion.This is a reply to this message.
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I just can't believe someone who be so spiteful! Someone who is close enough to me to know my personal details but not know the daily struggle. Does anyone one know what they will do next - I have been told not to worry and that they will send out a new form and compare it to the old one is this true????
My condition which is being looked at as suspected MS can be better one day and horrific the next I worried the first time filling in the form should I put my best day worse day or in between.
I can understand someone who runs a race being accused and rightfully so but for some who has problems I feel so betrayed!!!!!
I believe there is no way of know who sent this to the DLA and it is driving me crazy !!!! Could they find me still in need of DLa but cut my money ? If they do this will I be proscuted??? I would never say something that is not true on purpse but am worried that because my condition varies they will see my rates as lower has anyone been through this?This is a reply to this message.
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Dear Charlik
It could have been anyone. Someone in a shop, someone who lives in the same street or the bus driver. Don't get all het up worrying about who it was.
Just fill in the form and tell the DLA that it varies from day to day. Tell them why you cannot go out some days, and what happens at night too. Also go to your GP and tell them that you are filling out another form and why. Make sure that it is the GP who writes to the DLA, not the receptionist.
yer 'ole auntieThis is a reply to this message.
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I've had people ask what's wrong with me as I look so well, even the scooter salesman, quite shocked when I told him. Unfortunately people only see what they want to see, never the reality.
Best of luck
Dave
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Working is only an issue with DLA if the work you do is greatly at odds with your stated disabilty. Did you tell them you were starting or restarting work as they do see that as a "change of circumstances" and would have sent you a review form. I'm afraid they take the rather old fashioned view that disabled people finding work must have "got better" rather than found an employer who is helpful or a job that fits the disability. If your employer made any special adjustments for you (or if they didn't and you had to stop work) then that is evidence to support you.
It is very likely that the person who "reported" you didn't understand that work has nothing to do with DLA.
Unfortunatly many people are reported wrongly and investigated which is very distressing but most of them don't lose benefit and stay as they are.
TinThis is a reply to this message.
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If you have done nothing wrong then why are you worried?
Just tell the investigator the truth?
Agree with other oucher that investigaion may be very stressful but they would have to have really compelling evidence filmed by a member of the fraud team. As long as you aren't running marathons, cycling from John O'Groats to Land's End, building houses, and taking part in iron man competitions or similar!This is a reply to this message.
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I guess Like many I have I have not so much got better but learnt to cope better with life. Having a think about things and reading what people have written restore my faith in people!!!!
No - I didn't tell them directly about working but did inform the Dwp as came off other benefits - I didn't realise that getting a job was a change of circumstance.
I guess i'm worring because i'm one of these people who feels guilty when accused and double guess myself. I told the person who visits me the truth so I guess I will have to wait and see.
Can some tell me what the DLA mean by change in circumstances ..... outside of maybe being healed! i've informed then of medecine changes and consutants but what really are they asking for ?This is a reply to this message.
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Your gp could maybe support you and offer evidence to prove your claim.
The annoying thing about whats happening to you is that there will be many people out there claming dla and incapacity benefits who are not disabled or no longer should be claiming.
If you are honest in your dla claim and you condition hasnt improved then you should have nothing to worry about but going through this must be very stressful and worrying, i would certainly be paranoid as hell with everyone if it were me!
I hope this clears up for you. please let us know what happens.
cxThis is a reply to this message.
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change of circimstances- in temrs of your condition this would mean if your condition improved, usually significantly
eg
1) you origianlly claimed as a wheelchair user but now you are able to walk using walking sticks for example
2) you originally claimed for being blind but now your sight has improved to the level of being partially sighted or even sighted
3) you were origianlly claiming becuase you were bedbound with CFS/ME and now you are able to manage quite well most days without as much support.
4) You origianlly claimed for bipolar disorder and were on medication and needed alot of care to keep you safe but now your mood is stable and you no longer need support and have been able to reduce your medication to a low level.
Just becuase your condition improves it doesnt mean you will loose your DLA. they may still think you are entitled to the level you are claiming, it is jut important to tell them if you improve.
You should also tell them if your condition gets worse eg you go from walking with one walkign stick to needing a wheelchair alot of the time, or your mental health has got much worse and you now need alot of care and support to ensure you are safe.
These are just examples i would think were what they mean. obvisouly everyone's different reasons for claiming dla will effect what 'change of circumstances' mean.
If you are ever in doubt, get your origianl claim form for DLA (you should make a copy when you apply for your own records) and read it and see if your condition now is much different from then. If you read it and think 'My God i can't beleive i was that bad!!' i would take that as a sign that you need to tell them you have improved lol.
hope this helps reassure you
cx
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One problem with DLA isits not just about the conditions you have and their severity but about what care needs arise from those conditions.. this means that sometimes 2 people can have exactly the same conditions at the same level of severity, but because one can do more by developing their own coping strategies they are entitled to different rates. Hardly fair if you work like billyo to learn how to do things for yourself on your good days or have to struggle like mad to learn to be more mobile on your good days if you then loose money you need on less good days because your care needs have lessened.
If you have learned to cope better and can look after more of your own needs now to the extent you can for example cook yourself a meal when you previously couldnt or get yourself to the toilet when you previously couldnt, perhaps becausae you have a raised toilet or a frame round the loo which means you can get yourself on and off without assistance etc etc etc then sometimes it will be taken that your situation has improved.If nothing has changed with the things you need help with in terms of personal care then id say youve little to worry about. Make sure when you get some help filling out your new forms you have emphasised on my bad days I cant do.. (whatever ), on an average day I can do "whatever " but cant do "(whatever ), on a good day I can do" whatever " but still need the help of another person to do " whatever "
when you fill in the new forms please make sure you get the help of a welfare rights organisation who have some experience and expertise in filling out DLA forms so that they can best put your case and the ways your conditions effect your everyday living and the effects your conditions have on you. If your doctor will support you and explain your neuro condition, ( whatever the diagnosis ), mean you are struggling to do X/Y and Z and simply cant do A,B annd C that would support your claim too.
It does sound rather as if you had someone who believed you werent defrauding the system if theyd suspected you were theyd have questioned you under caution and probably threatened you with court action.
Im really sorry that someone has reported you and caused you so much pain and distress..sadly there are always people who, without being aware of your lifes reality, see you doing something they dont think you should be able to do and report you..
Try to concentrate now not on the whos and whys of having been reported but on getting the new set of forms filled out and getting what youre entitied to.This is a reply to this message.
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DLA paid irrespective of income, its to pay for higher costs associated with being disabled. I told DLA people I worked and I still received the benefit without any problems whatsoever.
Circumstances changes are if your health gets worse or better, I guess not on a daily basis but long-term, you need to tell DLA people about these type of changes or else you run the risk of being over or underpaid.
I think you have nothing to worry about as long as you've been honest about your health. You should also try, hard as it may be for you, not to dwell on who reported you. Life will pay whoever it is back with interest in the fullness of time which is the way I think now if anybody treats me badly.
Good luck and try not to worry too much about this.
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Posted by STRANGELY STRANGE ( A brain on a spring ) (U2496023) on Sunday, 15th November 2009 permalink
These days it seems the less people you tell about receiving benefits the better, for a quiet life!
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yeah i agree
its best not to crow about benefits to anyone.This is a reply to this message.
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I agree unfortunately i am one of those people who is very open about my condition and that has proably got me in to trouble also the fact I'm going through a court case and accusing someone of verbal abuse has encouraged the situation.
I would like to keep this page up to date with whats happening just incase someone else finds themselves in this situation.
Thank to those who have posted messages - I feel so much better today ( not quite up to running a marothone or playing golf !) .
When you stressed and you head is in bits it is so much harder to deal with your body not working, but to know that this has happen to others makes my head a little better.This is a reply to this message.
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also the fact I'm going through a court case and accusing someone of verbal abuse has encouraged the situation.
Now that sounds quite a likely source of the problem to me. Living as I do in Cornwall,everyone knows all about everyone else. It's very common when people have a dispute for them to be mysteriously grassed up to the authorities. Do you get Council Tax Benefit?
It's wise to tell people as little as possible about the source of your income. I usually let people think I am of "independent means". Under no circumstances do I tell anyone I don't know well about my income. The moral here is "What people don't know they can't use against you".
So it sounds to me as if this complaint has a malicious basis and it would probably be a good idea to tell the DLA authorities about the court case. I am sure they will see the point.
As far as your benefit is concerned if you are in the same condition or worse than you were when you were granted DLA originally then you have nothing to worry about.
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>> Same for the golfer. He did orignally, twenty years ago, have a knee problem but he failed to declare it got better. There was a great deal of photographic and video evidence showing him on numerous occasions, all on different days, walking, crawling under vehicles, climbing into high cabs, climbing step ladders and dancing as well as winning golf trophies. <<
Some of that was presumably inconsistent with his declared disability, but let's not forget that people will be reading these articles as being representative of what any disabled person can do. Climbing is not walking, crawling is not walking, dancing is not walking. It's possible to have a mobility impairment and still be able to do all of these -- I know because I do and I can. The yellow press is positively sponsoring ignorance and hatred of disabled benefit claimants and unfortunately people like Charlik suffer for it.This is a reply to this message.
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