£50 fine for errors

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to face fines of at least £50 for "preventable" errors in their benefits claims.

Benefits: Thousands face £50 fine for errors

It would seem that people are up in arms about this fine of £50. So let's see why ...

If you are claiming state benefits, and do not inform the DWP of changes to your circumstances, you may be fined £50.

Changes of circumstances are any of the following:

• You got married or formed a civil partnership.
• You got divorced or your civil partnership was dissolved.
• You became widowed or a surviving civil partner.
• Someone else you are claiming for has died.
• You separated from your partner or moved in with someone.
• Someone else moved in or out of your household.
• You changed your name.
• You changed your address.
• You changed your Post Office.
• You changed your account details.
• Your income has changed.
• Your pension has changed.
• You have changed the number of hours you work, or the amount you earn has changed.
• You are ill and cannot attend the Jobcentre.
• You have started a further education course.
• You are going away from home, for any reason.
• Your savings go up to £5,500 or more if your savings of more than £6,000 go up or down (We may need to see a bank or building society statement).
• You have remortgaged your property r taken out a home improvement loan.
• Your home loan payments have stopped.
• You had an emergency that stopped you attending the Jobcentre.
• You have had any other changes you think we need to know about.

You can download the DWP Change of Circumstances form on the following link. I am assuming you can use the same form for all benefits. It is ridiculously difficult to find information on this. It seems that the time you have in which to inform the DWP of a change of circumstance varies according to which benefit(s) you are receiving, and which change has happened. As such, I would say that it's simply advisable to update the DWP as soon as you can.

Change of Circumstances

If you do not update the DWP, you are essentially committing fraud. As such I personally consider it fair for them to fine people. I am hoping that they are writing to people to check that they are correct about a change of circumstances before issuing fines though, and that they are being sensitive in cases where a loved one has passed away. However, I do not think that this 'change' is something people should be getting their knickers in a knot over.

The title of the article is 'Benefits; thousands face £50 fine for errors'. What a stupid title! It is not errors at all. The word 'errors' makes it sounds as if they will be finding people who are applying for benefits, for errors they are making on their application forms. Many people have simply read the title of this piece and reacted with alarm. They don't know what errors they could be penalised for making on their forms. Spelling errors? Getting the date wrong? Thankfully none, but sadly, so many people simply read the title of a piece and react rather than reading the whole article.

I'm now going to sit and watch the misinformation spread.

National Union of Journalists Speaks Out

The National Union of Journalists today released a statement asking journalists to stop calling disabled people scroungers. You can click the title of my blog post to see the whole article, but there are also some snippets below.

I personally find it interesting that it states the rate of Incapacity Benefit fraud to be 0.3%, and the rate of Disability Living Allowance fraud is 0.5%. 0.3% being the lowest benefit fraud statistic. Given the demonisation I've personally felt from people I have met and people I know, it is evident that the press coverage of benefit fraud has indeed lead the public to believe otherwise.

"Over the last few months we have seen a continuous drip-feed of stories which have promoted a range of inaccurate and generalised accusations against disabled people with long term health conditions. As a result disabled people have faced greater hostility from the public, with many claiming that they have experienced hostility, discrimination and even physical attacks from strangers.

"The Work and Pensions Select Committee on Incapacity Benefit have themselves criticised the Government for the language it uses when it releases and comments on official statistics on the incapacity benefit reassessment programme resulting in some media using terms such as "scrounger" and "work shy". 

"Rather than offering constructive support to disabled people, certain stories and features have portrayed disabled people as unsustainable, unproductive and even not disabled at all, but profiting from fraudulent benefit claims"

I've not personally experienced violence, but hostility I have. In fact, one of the reasons I left a dating site earlier this year was the number of people who had a go at me when they discovered that I am incapacitated. The most hurtful incident was Easter Sunday (long time ago now). Having spent Easter very sadly alone I went to the Chinese take away to get something to eat. A new person working there asked me if I had just finished work. I said that I had not. He then asked me what I do. I explained that I do not work at present. I didn't even say I was ill or claiming benefits, but received a mouthful from him asking whether I just intend to live off benefits for the rest of my life. He then had to answer the phone, otherwise I'd have given him a mouthful back and asked for a refund. 

I agree with the NUJ. The media is deliberately stirring up hatred against the disabled and incapacitated. I cannot begin to imagine why. There is a lot of benefit fraud happening. People claim Job Seekers Allowance with no intention of actually working again. Everyone I know who claiming sickness or disability benefits, would much rather be healthy and working. 

One of my friends summed it up beautiful recently. He has Cystic Fibrosis. He is on high rate mobility, and therefore has help with costs towards a car. Someone expressed to him that they were envious. His response was that he would gladly exchange them the car for their healthy lungs.