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Original poster

Teen and PIP

129 replies

Sunshineandpool · 05/08/2024 17:08

Just looking for opinions on this and what you would do.

So teen is 17. Recently been diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. They have been awarded around £600 in PIP. All fully in their name - no one acting on their behalf.

Their mother is worried about them suddenly having a lot of money that they may not spend sensibly.

Options she is considering:
Teen has half but has to save £50 of it. The other half the mother will have and will make sure it is spent on things to support the teen with their autism/ADHD

Teen has all the money

Mother has all the money and gives teen an allowance of £100 per month. The rest of the money she spends on things to help with teen's disabilities. She will also save some for the teen to give her a small financial buffer in future.

Just to clarify the money legally belongs to the teen but she is open to her mother helping to manage it.

So wwyd? One of the options or something completely different.

OP posts:
Sirzy · 05/08/2024 17:28

Presumably they have been assessed as having capacity to deal with it themselves - and the mother will have been part of that? In which case ultimately she needs to be supported to make her own decisions on how best to spend it to support herself. As with any income this should include some going towards living cost.

nothingcomestonothing · 05/08/2024 17:26

PIP is meant for the extra expenses which come with having a disability. Is teen likely to spend it on that? Maybe an unpopular opinion but I disagree with under 18s having PIP paid to themselves - the government's choice not the family's. It's the family who bear the extra expenses when they're under 18, not the young person who is quite likely to just see it as fun money. It's a bad system.

Mrsttcno1 · 05/08/2024 17:25

Well it’s teen’s money, not mum’s money. There’s a huge difference between mum helping to “manage” money and mum taking control of the money. All of the other options you’ve suggested make mum the ultimate decision maker/controlled, so none of them. Teen has the money with parental guidance on spending.

If the teen had a weekend job earning £600 a month then their wages wouldn’t be paid to mum, they’d be paid to them, I’d treat PIP no differently.

Malahide · 05/08/2024 17:22

Who are you exactly in relation this situation OP?

Teen’s PIP money, not the mother’s. They can do what they like with it but some parental financial guidance is a good place to start.

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