Should people be forced to go online?

It does make me wonder for people on benefits who are having problems paying bills and keeping warm are going to afford to have Internet it is another bill to pay.

It is a helluva palaver to get online accounts. Many old people could not cope.

Yes. I can see where you are coming from dwpridiots. But I don't think there is any way they can make you accept online banking if you don't to. I'm sure this fear will apply to a lot of older people though.

Replying to j07. Yes, I did get an email address purely to get onto the forum and just to make a point with the Benefits Agency. My point was that no-one should be forced to get online/get an email address just to get benefits. They are abusing their position and trying to use new rules they have for other things in order to get everyone receiving benefits online. Once they have your email address the next thing you'll find is benefits will be paid online whether you want it or not. I do no banking online at all out of choice but also security. I was watching a program 2 nights ago about a few people who lost thousands from their accounts due to online scams. It's easy to tell people don't give out details online but I did once get an online account and the bank themselves stated you had to give about four different pin numbers, words, security details to get access online then further different ones if you phoned them. It got to the point where I went over 12 month without access to my own money because i couldn't get the details right and they wouldn't speak to me by phone because I couldn't remember everything they needed. What will happen when everyone is forced into this position whatever age and whatever computer/internet capabilities they have. I can only see more fraud happening and the banks denying responsibility as usual.

Just to echo J07's comment about you using a computer, dwpridiots - surely you have to have an email address to join Gransnet?

I guess if people start using computers for one thing, it won't be long until they discover other stuff. (Some of which can be very enjoyable of course)

J07 I think I was querying your comment about education because I saw this issue as a technological one, rather than anything to do with literacy or conventional education. Also, we (i.e. Gransnet) are nothing to do with using computers to access the benefits system which is what this thread was about. At least I think that is where I was coming from, but am not absolutely sure now.

Hi Geraldine you obviously feel that this forum needs a bit of an uplift.

I think that the Internet is a very good thing, it has opened many doors in many ways.

Should people be forced onto it, well forced is a strong word and feel that encouraged is probably a better word.

Should peoples benefits be cut if they do not go onto the net to find work, mmm a hard one because if you are seriously looking for a job you would be happy to use any resonable tool to do so and if you refuse to use a very useful tool to find work then it could be deemed negatively.

May I, belatedly, answer the question put to me by absentgrana on 24th November (sorry, did not see this at the time). What I meant was, we shall have to be careful to take on board, and treat with a measure of kindness, views that do not seem to come up to present day, perhaps slightly more enlightened, standards.

And, also, not too much pedantry.

DWpridiots I am sure that I heard something about also being able to use the telephone as a fail-safe for accessing benefits, etc. when the government decided that on-line applications should become the norm. What you seem to have encountered is completely absurd. I think you must be dealing with an uber-jobsworth.

But you are on a computer at the moment dwpridiots. (Bit puzzled)

But I agree you shouldn't have to be online to get your benefits.

I hope you continue to query this ruling which is clearly discriminatory. Are you able to go along to a CAB and tell them what is going on? If I were interviewing you, I would send in a Bureau Evidence Form which is the CAB's system for publicising abuses of this kind. I think DWP find it hard to believe that not everyone has an i-Phone or equivalent on which they can receive emails!

Hi, You may have thought you were just trying to spice things up but your suggestion of people being forced to be online is TRUE. I have had a forced interview re ESA WRAG and they attempted to force me to get an email address, stating the government expects everyone to join the digital age and be online. When I queried what use is an email address as I've no computer and the only access I have is going to a library, which involves problems due to health, they still insisted stating I would need it to get benefits. I said the government may want that but I won't do it. Further queries gave the reply that I'd need it to look for work, despite the fact that they sent me for a medical and their own examiner clearly stated not fit for work in the next 2 years and no signs of improvement even after that. We are now at the point that I have to put in writing my reasons for refusing to get an email address and it will be sent to an adjudicator and my benefit WILL be cut if they don't agree with my reasons.
So pretty clear, get an email address or get your benefit stopped. I will go on fighting until at least the government brings out a law stating benefits can only be paid online.

I am not quite sure what point is being made about education 70 years ago – i.e. BC (before computers).

Yes, standards of education did vary. I think we all got a better grounding in the basics than is the case now. My mother, in a rural primary school, taught 'slow learners' as well as the 'scholarship' (11+) class. Nobody left that school illiterate.

I think we should bear in mind that if a lot of elderly people do go online and, therefore, onto forums such as this one, standards of education 70 odd years ago varied a lot in different parts of the country. We will have to be open minded and accepting.

That's probably right, jeni. For the time being AA is to be untouched but watch this space!

But! They can review at any time rember!

Thanks for the information - my sister was over 65 when she started to get AA.

I think my care is under AA as I applied over 65. I suspect they won't review the over 65s as they'll be too tied up with PIP

Yes, I did know that, jeni. Will you be allowed to transfer to PIP? This area is a pilot for PIP, but don't know if I can face carrying on with CAB through that period which is sure to be full of angst!

I think they will have their work cut out reassessing the DLA transfers to PIP to worry about the over 65s. Actually I'm in that category.
Are you also aware that with PIP the lowest rates for care and mobility are no more?
This will mean a lot of mentally disabled children will no longer get LR Mob component.

We have been told it could mean a doubling of the number of appeals.

Sounds rather nice!

Yes Jingl, 15 km here from the nearest town, with very steep hills. It is popular cycling country for Frenchmen on bikes in tight-fitting Lycra, but not the rest of us. Some of the people I am talking about are frail and struggling to keep on top of house and garden.
Sorry about the thread creep, but in rural isolation, the internet is a lifeline, even without home delivery shopping. Those of us who have internet make sure that we help out those who haven't got it. Community is strong here. Every little town has IT classes for anyone who wants to learn.

Greatnan Attendance Allowance replaces Disability Living Allowance once you turn 65.
Not quite accurate. As things stand at the moment, if you start claiming before the age of 65, you are entitled to DLA and can keep on claiming it beyond 65 as long as your condition doesn't improve. If, however, your disability starts after the age of 65, you have to apply for Attendance Allowance. The really unfair thing about this is that while DLA has both mobility and care elements, AA has only care elements. Why are the over-65s not expected to be mobile? I have asked various politicians to explain this and nobody can, though some have agreed that it is unjust. Personal Independence Payment has both mobility and care elements, but current DLA claimants will have to apply for it and go through an assessment by the infamous Atos. What I am not clear about is: what will happen to existing DLA claimants who are already over 65? I wonder if they will be allowed to go on PIP or if they will have to apply for AA. Must remember to find that out - if anyone knows.