THE crisis over Britain’s mounting incapacity benefit bill is being fuelled by jobcentre staff who routinely encourage dole applicants to make claims for sickness when they have only minor ailments.

An undercover investigation by The Sunday Times has shown how easy it is to claim incapacity benefit, which costs taxpayers £7 billion a year.

Reporters who posed as dole applicants were wrongly told they could be eligible for sickness benefit by claiming they suffered mild stress, had girlfriend problems or found it hard to get up in the morning.

Obtaining a sick note to back up a claim proved easy as doctors were willing to sign certificates saying the reporters were suffering from “stress” or “anxiety”.

By gaining access to the benefit a claimant can stop seeking work and in the longer term there is access to more generous weekly payments. Claimants are taken off the jobseeker’s allowance and therefore do not boost unemployment figures.

The findings come as the government claims it is trying to crack down on false incapacity benefit claims. It is considering a two or three-year limit on sickness payments and may ask benefits officials to visit claimants’ GPs. In addition, Downing Street is drawing up plans to save £2 billion in the benefits budget by scrapping the disability premium, a “top-up” benefit paid to about 1.1m people under 60.

The Sunday Times investigation, however, found that little has been done to stop people switching to incapacity benefit if they are disinclined to work.

Two reporters approached staff at jobcentres in Co Durham, Manchester, Merseyside and southeast England seeking advice on possible benefits. Often, staff were only too willing to steer them towards incapacity benefit.

One reporter entered a jobcentre in Sheerness, Kent, to ask about her eligibility for the dole. She said she had left her last job because she had felt “tired and a bit down”, but was now “okay to work”.

The jobcentre’s adviser, however, did not think this was advisable and took it upon herself to suggest another benefit.

“We could process the (jobseeker’s allowance) claim for you. But I think you might be better going on sickness benefits,” the adviser told her. “Why don’t you go to your doctor and get a sickness certificate?” Claimants on long-term incapacity benefit receive a basic £74 a week, while jobseekers get £55.

The second reporter toured jobcentres in the north of England, saying he had been unemployed for seven months and had just moved to the area. He told a jobcentre in Salford, Greater Manchester, that he needed advice, saying: “I am having a few problems with my girlfriend and a mate of mine said I should look into other types of benefits.”

The adviser immediately suggested he could avoid work “due to personal circumstances” if he obtained a “sick note” from his doctor and claimed incapacity benefit. When the reporter said he was not “really ill”, the adviser said this did not matter.

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