news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/8303782...m
Great idea - claim £3000 Motability, then go on a national TV programme doing break dancing :-)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdUCkpzohHU
EDIT: actual 'dancing' starts at about 1:35
Now repaying it at £10 a week according to BBC report.
Edited by Focus {P} on 13/10/2009 at 08:53
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"He said he never deliberately deceived anyone adding: "I would never do that." "
Oh? So why are you having to pay some money back, then?!!
This sort of thing really annoys me, we had to go through hoops to get SWMBO's allowances, and she can hardly walk, let alone dance, and then this guy comes along and fiddles the system then doesn't even have the good grace to admit he was in the wrong...
I'm glad that the next Gov are going to clamp down on false claims, now if someone could do a proper review of the Blue Badge scheme it would be handy as well...
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b308,
Agreed.
Penalties for this type of offending are often feeble - pay the money back at £10 a week.
And where does the £10 a week come from?
Out of the benefits the dishonest scrounger is still entitled to.
For some, there's a bit of public shame from press publicity.
Among the more colourful ones I've seen over the years was a guy who had a limo business and was filmed jogging along the seafront while waiting to pick up a party, and numerous 'disabled' non-league football players, referees and linesmen.
Edited by ifithelps on 13/10/2009 at 10:33
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b308,
From a position of some degree of ignorance, as well as some knowledge, i've long assumed there's widespread fraud with Motability (mainly due to the noticeable incidences of oiks driving around in them, who seem to be able to climb drain pipes and leap people's garden fences at 4 in the morning).
Without me asking you to give too much of your pesonal life away, is that not the case? How do some get through the system and others have a hard time? Does an oik get grandma to fill in the forms, so he can drive around in it?
I know they're registered to Motability, not an individual, trouble is we're reluctant to have them off people for no insurance, because it leaves, presumably, someone vulnerable without their wheels.
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Paying it back at £10 a week is a bit of a joke too. Especially as he probably now earns money doing this dancing and should not get any benefit at all. He'll probably never pay back all the £3000.
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I'm impressed they have that much off him, I work in the energy industry and we have to give customers who are in receipt of Income Support a repayment rate of £3 per week for all debts, many of them run up over £1000, in some cases several thousand pounds.
The longest repayment term I've seen is 75 years, the customer was already in their 50's. So, we pay for their benefits through our taxes, and then we pay for their electricity and gas via increases on our own bills to cover the losses that we can't recover, great!
I think they should leave him on the breadline until it's repaid, and I mean the actual breadline, not what many people consider to be poor (e.g. a recent customer of mine claiming hardship but spending a combined total of £48 per week on Sky tv and fags), but then again if I had my way they'd reopen the workhouses. ;-)
It's worth noting that the Motability cars are not free to the claimant, they lose about £180 per month of their Higher Rate DLA to contribute towards the cost of the car, if they choose not to take the car then they get the extra cash in their pocket as they are entitled to it. So, if oiks are driving who don't get DLA then I would suspect that somewhere granny is a lot worse off to pay for it!
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If its Grandmas Motab car she can have her oik grandson as an insured driver,or anyone else that meets the licence standards.
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From a position of some degree of ignorance as well as some knowledge i've long assumed there's widespread fraud with Motability (mainly due to the noticeable incidences of oiks driving around in them who seem to be able to climb drain pipes and leap people's garden fences at 4 in the morning).
We only got DLA and Motoablity on the second atempt, and only then after taking a lot of advice before sending it in. TBH you have to be pretty disabled to get the higher levels (and its only at the higher levels that you can get the car)... but I would entirely agree that there are those who, like him, lie about their "disability". I'm not so sure that there are as many fake ones as there are for "incapacity" benefit which is totally seperate... but I, and all the people I know who get it would have no objection at all if the Gov came down and did some thorough checks on us... the presence of a stair lif, ramps, grab handles, a wheelchair, electric buggy and a walked upstairs and down are a bit of a give-away!
Regards the use of the car, yes you can have other drivers, in my case SWMBO can't drive (she gets a spasm in her leg, so not reccomended!) so the named drivers are me and our eldest (who is over 21 - min age)... it can, and is, used by me without her in the car, the whole point is to allow the user and their family to have as normal a life as possible and that means me still being able to work and pay taxes and not just sponge off the state... I don't get Carers allowance, for instance, or any grants...
Re the insurance, I'd have thought that you could check up direct with Motabilty's insurers, RSA, to check who the named drivers are, if the person driving it asn't named then I'd suggest you get the disabled person home, and make the rest walk... and I suspect that Motability could well threaten to take the car off them, they don't like misuse of their cars for obvious reasons!
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But surely some people are so disabled that whilst they qualify for a motor they still need someone to drive hem around.
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As in our case, PU... but there are restrictions on who can drive them... your typical 18 year old chav doesn't qualify!
Edited by b308 on 14/10/2009 at 11:22
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a chav trying to qualify for a blue badge
youtube.com/watch?v=O8o-9GZujL0
Made non-clickable
Edited by Pugugly on 14/10/2009 at 14:29
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