Is this ethical?

Maybe there’s no such services in her area and she’s spotted a situation where she can volunteer to help people? Some of the DWP can be quite overwhelming apparently. Nice thing to do I think.

She's not volunteering, she's charging for a service. How much is her feet?

Feet haha

I am applying for attendance allowance soon and is quite a daunting task whilst caring for my DH so have been advised to ask AgeUK for help with it. This was advised by our occupational therapist and is not at all unusual or unethical.

Often, people offer to complete the application for a percentage of the allowance . It’s not ethical

I think a fee is a bit much though. There are plenty of organisations that will do it for free and imagine people can call for advice if there is nowhere close to them to help.

I don’t think you understand, she is charging for this.
Apparently it is £150 up front and £150 if the claim is successful.

Iam64

Often, people offer to complete the application for a percentage of the allowance . It’s not ethical

Thank you, someone who understands!

Maybe the unethical bit is that the forms are too complicated for the average person claiming to fill in.

CAB will also help and some Carer's organisations.

Our Local AgeUk has produced a guide to filling in AA forms.

But, obviously depending on the fee, I can see that someone helping fill in any firm might be a big help.

No I think that is totally unethical. Also the applicants are giving her a lot of personal information.
I would be very concerned if anyone I knew was sucked in to what sounds like a very dodgy situation and someone vulnerable could be badly affected.

I think the fee is quite reasonable. So long as there are free alternatives for those not willing/not wanting to pay l don't think it's unethical.

Jackiest

Maybe the unethical bit is that the forms are too complicated for the average person claiming to fill in.

I’m not sure they’re necessarily too complicated - certainly for Attendance Allowance you do need to know what specifically to state, IIRC how things are on the worst days/nights, not glossing over anything.
This is where e.g. Age UK knows the ropes, so to speak.

No it isn’t ethical.
Also there’s no guarantee that she really knows how to fill it in, and could just go from one customer to the next scooping up the cash.

300 quid seems a lot especially as it is not certain that the claim will be successful so it could be 150 quid for nothing.

Given that people making DWP claims are, by definition, in need of cash, I feel it is cynical exploitation.

It begs the question; why are DWP forms so complicated that you need expertise to fill them and why is no help or guidance available automatically?

If done at all it should be no win no fee.

If the information is available free online or via organizations then not everyone is aware of that or has access to the internet.

There are also organizations like Benefits and Work where you pay a small yearly fee and it gives you access to a tremendous range of online resources for benefits and filling out the forms.

People can charge what they like for a business service, I have found that the quickest way to be rid of someone who wants a favour is to offer to give them a price! Like the cheeky neighbour who wanted to park her car on my drive.

IS it a business I wonder?

So long as people realise they can get help for free. I am thinking of people taken in by adverts offering to fill in official forms such as for DVLA that replicate the DVLA website so you think it’s the official site and you now have to pay.

I think it would be unethical to charge everyone who claimed, but as this is optional I don’t think it is. I wouldn’t blame any of her clients who alerted HMRC though. If she’s earning enough to pay tax she should be doing so.

Jackiest

Maybe the unethical bit is that the forms are too complicated for the average person claiming to fill in.

They are set up like that to deter people from claiming.
Which is also unethical because those committing fraud will be savvy enough to fill in the forms, so will only be those who are elderly/disabled/vulnerable who will give up.
The attendance allowance form is really bad, with lots of difficult questions aimed at catching a person out.
In my case am caring for my DH full time now, my whole world has turned upside down, and can’t drive, my husband was the driver, so attendance allowance is essential to get him to and from appointments not just in our local hospital but in two London hospitals as well which are a considerable distance from us.
On top of all this I have a Godawful form to fill in, obviously the government would be happy if I gave up too but that’s not going to happen.

I often wonder if the amount of legitimate benefit that is not claimed outweighs the amount of fraudulent benefit paid out.

25Avalon

So long as people realise they can get help for free. I am thinking of people taken in by adverts offering to fill in official forms such as for DVLA that replicate the DVLA website so you think it’s the official site and you now have to pay.

There are websites which seemed to be the official way to obtain a visitor visa for eg Australia when in fact, it is free to do so through the official Australian Government website.

I remember a friend telling me he'd obtained his visitor visa, had done it online and it was only £60. Then he realised he'd been caught! Of course, that firm also had all his details, including passport information.

I had to fill in an attendance allowance form for my dad a couple of years ago. Yes, it was a long winded form but I didn't think it was designed to catch people out. If you're claiming benefits, you need to show why you need it. Once we had all dad's financial information to hand - bank statements etc, it was easier to do than some friends and family had said it would be.

Before I retired, I used to help people to complete benefits forms as part of my job. They are long forms and look daunting but often if you fill in one section, you can skip others. They are time consuming so I always advise people to take their time and go section by section.

As for the woman on Facebook, I think £150 to £300 is quite exploitative.

My goodness £150 plus access to all of your private and financial information!