The benefits sickfluencers teaching Brits how to play the system and take YOUR tax to splash on flash cars & exotic hols
WHEN Whitney Ainscough took delivery of a brand-new SUV with a panoramic sunroof, she went online to brag that she had paid for the £80,000 motor using sickness benefits.
Using the hashtag for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) – meant for people with long-term physical or mental health conditions - the mum-of-three gloated: “I just want to say a big thank you to all the people that go to work and pay tax to pay for my car for me.
“It’s a panoramic roof, not a soft top, by the way, so don’t get it mixed up. Panoramic is much better. Thank you so much, I appreciate my car, lots.”
Whitney’s April 2023 TikTok post sent those who viewed it into a rage.
One viewer replied: “I worked all my life and now I’m disabled but I’d still never disrespect the people that go work 'cause I was one. Shameful post, I’d love to be able to work.”
Another posted: “No dignity, pride, or self respect. You think you are winning but you're actually losing. No life experience.”
A third claimed he would report Whitney to the Government, saying: “This is getting shown to HMRC.”
But Whitney regularly blogged about her income from benefits that year – sometimes offering tips on how others could make claims.
Her videos emerged as The Sun probes the rise of so-called ‘sickfluencers,’ men and women who rack up tens of thousands of followers by blogging about claiming benefits intended for people with long-term, serious conditions.
Between her regular posts on claiming 'free' cash from the state, Whitney flaunts her exotic breaks abroad - including one to Zante, which she previously said cost £8,000.
Personal Independence Payments (PIP) offer financial support for people with a range of conditions including depression, anxiety and ADHD.
They offer help with extra living costs and can be claimed by people who are out of work and those with jobs but who need help getting around or with everyday tasks.
And while the majority of those claiming PIP will be genuinely in need of support, there is concern that others are learning how to game the system.
Experts warn that our spiralling sick note culture has fuelled a surge in claims, with £48billion paid out to people for a wide range of disabilities and mental health issues in 2023.
This is a £12billion rise on the £36billion handed out in sickness benefits before the pandemic.
And the bill is expected to sap £100billion a year from the public purse by the end of the decade if current trends continue.
Contacted by The Sun, Whitney, 31, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, insisted she never received PIP, despite countless posts about claiming benefits on social media.
She says she now makes £60,000 a month selling legitimate commercial products through her various social media accounts and there is nothing to suggest she has done anything illegal.
Keyword tips
Our investigation found that a number of influencers have gained huge online followings by offering advice on how to make sickness benefits claims.
The tips given out include using keywords such as “psychological distress” to ramp up the scoring criteria and prove you need financial support.
Sickfluencers also show how to avoid “trick” questions as the claimant navigates the various tests. One of those to have offered advice is Chantelle Knight, who previously provided PIP “hacks” to her 100,000 followers.
Her TikTok video tutorials, posted on her neurodiverselife2 account, offer guidance on how to apply for PIP if a person has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or autism.
And while many of her followers will genuinely need support, Chantelle says she stopped offering the advice when too many others jumped on the bandwagon.
She told The Sun: “About a year and half ago, I used to give out information to people with ADHD and autism and at the time, no one was really doing that.
“But after a while so many accounts emerged that I stopped because it just became a saturated industry and it was completely out-of-control.
“I have seen some really bad accounts over time - and in the last year in particular - that really shouldn’t be up.
I would say, ‘I’m getting this much sick money,’ and it winds people up and brings more traction
Whitney Ainscough
“They are pushing the idea that you can receive benefits if you have a disability.
“The one thing we need to remember is that having a disability is not a right of passage to a benefit. It’s evidence based.
“I only gave advice on PIP so people could get support if they are entitled to it. I’ve spoken to people who say, ‘I’ve just been diagnosed with this, can I get some money?’
“Well, not necessarily, because it’s how the disability impacts you. You are only entitled to benefits if you need support.”
Depression 'template'
Liz Jones uses the name “Pip angel” on her social media accounts as she offers advice that includes PDF guides on how to apply for the benefit.
She gives her 67,000 followers tips including “example answers for depression,” which applicants can copy.
In one video she pledges to “provide a template that will increase your chances to win PIP the first time every time.”
She does warn that “all the information you include needs to be supported with your medical and quality evidence.”
However, a social media user wrote in response: “This is disgusting. [You are] educating folk as to how to rip off the taxpayer. It’s down to people like you [that] benefit clampdowns occur for genuine folk who need sickness benefit.”
Charity worker Liz, 45, told us: “I’ve had a lot of abuse online from people saying I am making the system worse.
“I’ve been called all the names you can think of and I’m told I’m lazy and workshy and on benefits street, but nothing could be further from the truth.
“Knowing the system and how it works, I don’t believe someone could put in a fake claim based on my content and that’s because you are required to provide genuine medical evidence from the people involved in your care.
“My content is aimed at people that are isolated without family support and don’t have a clue what they are doing. They receive the form through the post and have no idea how to apply for PIP."
Millions off sick
Our report comes as the latest stats show a record 2.8 million Brits are already off work through long-term sickness.
Spending on sickness benefits is projected to hit £100billion by 2028 if current trends continue – double the expenditure pre-Covid.
More than 15,000 people a week are approved for long-term sickness and disability payments.
Critics argue that sickfluencers are helping people game the system and are normalising worklessness.
A whistleblower at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) told a Dispatches TV crew that she often suspected that claimants were lying on their applications.
Speaking on Channel 4’s Britain’s Benefits Scandal documentary last year, the former nurse assessor said: “If at any point someone said that they were suicidal every day, it’s straight away in that high [category]. It’s down to the integrity of that person.”
Sicknote Britain
The Office of National Statistics recently revealed 2.8million Brits between 16 and 64 are economically inactive long term sickness.
In April 2024, 4.2million working-age people in Great Britain were claiming health-related benefits, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies. This is about 10.2 per cent of the working-age population.
That number could rise to 5.4 million (12.4 per cent) by 2028–29, a rise of more than 2million since 2019–20.
The 4.8million figure compares to 3.2 million (7.9 per cent) in 2019.
Before the pandemic, both incapacity benefits and disability benefits saw about 20,000 new claims per month. By November 2022, that had risen to 51,000 and 43,000 respectively.
Spending on health related benefits for working-age people rose by £12.8billion to £48.3billion between 2020 and 2024.
The Government estimates that the bill for disability related benefits is set to rise to over £100billion by 2030.
She added that fraudulent claims “almost discredit those that are actually really in need. So it’s hard.”
Former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith is calling on the Government to crack down on those making fraudulent claims.
He said: “If you leave a weakness in a system and you don’t tighten it up, then people will exploit it. And disability and sickness benefits are two of the most defrauded benefits, particularly sickness benefits.
“The reality is that, in the internet age, any weaknesses in the system are immediately exposed and then committed by those that want to commit the same falsehood.
“It’s become more of an issue as a result, which is why the crackdown needs to be really clear.
“If you get on to the internet, you will see people explaining how you can make claims and get round the checks and even now they want to cut what checks there are.
“But the answer is to get those people into work.
“You need to open the door to work much more so they come off benefits progressively - and particularly sickness benefit as the key long-term solution is getting them into work - which is good for them as much as it saves money for the exchequer.”
Joanna Marchong, investigations campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance said: "Taxpayers will feel sick at the sight of bad actors abusing a system designed to help the most vulnerable in society.
"Sickfluencers are enabling the growth of an already extensive sick note culture which is causing millions of people to be left rotting away in their beds.
"The government needs to make sure that they only protect those that truly need help rather than those looking for a pretty penny."
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