Boat dwellers to be able to claim the £400 energy allowance.

[Paul C]

"The minute you clicked 'off grid' you went through to a box that said 'you are not eligible at this time'."

 

It was fairly early on in the process, they decided CCers were ineligible. 

[MtB]

2 hours ago, Stilllearning said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66124201

Does anyone know him?

 

Its an interesting illustration of how accustomed people are getting to the guvvermint stepping in and handing out benefits at the slightest problem cropping up. Some way down the article this boater "Mark" is quoted as saying (about the fuel grant he didn't get):

 

"It would've made my winter a bit easier, maybe I could have spent a bit more money on the grandkids."

 

Hardly sounds like a boater in dire straights and in desperate need of government support to me. 

 

 

 

[Arthur Marshall]

25 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Its an interesting illustration of how accustomed people are getting to the guvvermint stepping in and handing out benefits at the slightest problem cropping up. Some way down the article this boater "Mark" is quoted as saying (about the fuel grant he didn't get):

 

"It would've made my winter a bit easier, maybe I could have spent a bit more money on the grandkids."

 

Hardly sounds like a boater in dire straights and in desperate need of government support to me. 

 

 

 

I think it's more an individual's feeling of entitlement - that one is entitled to grab anything that's going, whether you need it or not, nor whether the lack of it is the price you agreed to pay for your lifestyle.

The more interesting stat is that the vast majority of the help supposedly given to the people worst off never got claimed or used due the the difficulties deliberately put in the way of claiming. Another you may have missed is that the benefits dept has just been accused (and acepted the judgement) of fraud and huge mismanagementof payments and is going to have to trawl through tens of thousands of records to make payments (at our expense) to those it had deliberately underpaid . What is terribly peculiar, of course, is that it isn't having to do the same for overpayments. Strange how the neediest always get underpaid, while those at the top (see water bosses) collect dividends based on loans which the taxpayer then has to settle. All very odd.

I blame the parents.

[Paul C]

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

. Another you may have missed is that the benefits dept has just been accused (and acepted the judgement) of fraud and huge mismanagementof payments and is going to have to trawl through tens of thousands of records to make payments (at our expense) to those it had deliberately underpaid .

 

You're right, I missed that bit. I just re-read the BBC article and can't find it in there. Where did you find that reported?

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Another you may have missed is that the benefits dept has just been accused (and acepted the judgement) of fraud and huge mismanagementof payments and is going to have to trawl through tens of thousands of records to make payments (at our expense) to those it had deliberately underpaid .

 

I don't think anthropomorphising an administrative body helps your case much. The "benefits dept" is not a sentient being with willpower to do things 'deliberately'.

 

Far more likely it is the opposite and no-one working for it cares a jot, so no-one pro-actively checks payments to see if they are under (or over) paid. "Not my job, see?" probably rules inside benefits offices and applies to absolutely everyone. 

 

Just a guess though.

 

[Tim Lewis]

Energy bill support: More than 700,000 households miss out https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66124201