How can I get onto 'Incapacity Benefit'? A friend says he get more from it than I get in wages.

Question

How can I get onto 'Incapacity Benefit'? A friend says he get more from it than I get in wages.

Answer 1

It takes people working to pay benefit.  They say "The working people are their own worst enemies".  You prove it.  Lazy people destroy the welfare system and, as the writer above says, makes it bad for genuine people.

I guess you must be in the UK (like me).  That attitude is our sickness.  I wonder what a US citizen would think of your question.

Answer 2

your friend is a scrounger and you will be too if you go down that avenue.

go to night classes or do something to improve your chances of getting a better job.

we have enough scroungers in this country without you adding to it.

♣

Answer 3

Don't be so feckin lazy, if you want more money work overtime like the rest of us.

You give genuine people claiming benefits a bad name.

Answer 4

I very much doubt he does, if you work full time you'll be on more than double what he is on, so take no notice :)

Answer 5

There are far to many people in this country that are on incapacity benefit that really shouldn't be.

We really don't need any more.

People who cannot work, and are entitled to it, have to be unable to work and be signed off sick by a doctor for 26 weeks before getting incapacity benefit.

Answer 6

get a better paid job then. The rest of us don't work to pay for scroungers like you who abuse the system coz they are too lazy to work

Answer 7

so your mates a sponger and you want to join him something wrong here !

Answer 8

ask your friend

Answer 9

This may be true - when all benefits are taken into account a person on incapacity benefit can have more disposable income than someone with a low-paid job. The thing is, though, if your friend is genuinely incapacitated then he has a severe physical problem that would hardly be fun to have and also he is probably earning as much as he is ever going to earn whereas someone on a c**p wage now has the experience and dignity of work and the possibility to improve their earnings.

Just don't be tempted to go down this route - you can see other people's reaction from most of the answers here.

Answer 10

You need to be sick for at least 26 weeks, and likely to remain sick for the foreseeable future.

I am not sure he gets more than you in cash, but his cash benefits combined with other benefits could be worth a lot. Presumably he can get housing benefit and council tax benefit.

He may also be entitled to income support (which you can't get if you are only on sickness benefit), and DLA (if his illness is debilitating and likely to last 3 or more years)

The combined total of these benefits (counting the cash value of the none-cash housing and council tax benefits) can certainly make it worthwhile for an unskilled person to remain on the benefit. This is called a benefit trap/poverty trap and is a failure of the system, and you can't really blame people for taking advantage.

But in the long run you are better off working. If you live off benefits you will never get credit easily or cheaply, never get a mortgage. You will struggle to do things like buy a house or go on holiday.

Answer 11

Claiming incapacity benefit is not a career choice.

If you are working just now I would guess your not entitled to claim.  The benefit is supposed to be for people who are phisically unable to work not as an opt out of working.

Answer 12

you need to be incapacitated that's the key

Answer 13

if you are not really incapacitated, wouldn't that be fraud?

Answer 14

dont. there are very strict rules to this. if you fall under one of them you can be prosecuted for fraud. if hes getting more from that than you are from wages i would talk to your boss or employer because he may not be paying you the minumum wage.

Answer 15

You have to have a long term or chronic illness to be able to claim this benefit.  There are many forms to fill in and they are very strict about who gets it.