You know Fly thats the interesting thing, when I was out of wotk 5 years ago I was told the money would stop after 8 weeks. Thats despite the fact that I had paid in for 25+ years. Yet some people seem to have ridden the gravy train for years.
Similarly I was out of work due to a nasty back problem years ago. You go to the job centre and fill in the reams of paperwork honestly and the best you can. This gets you job seekers allowance, or disability living allowance - not much difference between the two initially, if I remember rightly.
To get more you have to lie through your teeth about your physical capabilities, and then act it out in front of their medical examiner.
Needless to say, I didn't get much from them.
Yet I know folks who have never worked, and never will, and if I'm honest, they are probably as fit , or fitter than me.
I'm sure I remember looking on the internet at the time, and there was a woman in Inkersall who would go through the paperwork with you for a fee, and get you what you wanted- in other words an expert at playing the system.
She might still be around for all I know...I'm not suggesting that this is the way forward, but many have obviously found similar help that way, and wrongly I suppose.
You do feel let down, as JR rightly says, that when you have paid in to the system for 25 years or more, and you have a life changing event, you are going to get f**k all back (bit like a pension really), which is wrong, and you are treated like dirt.
Rant over .....for now
