Teen and PIP

[Sunshineandpool]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

My ds gets this at the same rate for the same conditions. I get it paid to me as his appointee . He’s in his 20s now been getting dla and then PIP since age 8. He is not capable of making any financial decisions so I have the money and use it for all his needs. If he had it he would spend it within 24 hours or give it away.

I am planning to manage ds's. One of the questions is about managing money, it seems to go against the points I made about him not managing money if I just give him free reign of the PIP money.

This teen has obviously been assessed though as being capable to handle her own money.

Capacity is assumed at 16, you have to submit evidence that YP doesn't have it and it's quite hard to get authority to act for them, even if the YP wants the parents to be in charge of it the DWP want the YP to be in charge from 16th birthday (recently done this for my DD). It's a bad system, what 16 year old with challenges which meet the criteria for PIP is capable and/or wants to manage their own PIP and use it for it's intended purposes?

No it's not assessed it's assumed. It's a stupid system.

You need to apply to be his appointee to be able to manage it for him. Otherwise it will be assumed he has capacity to do it himself.

What do they need support with? How can the pip money fund that support?

Is mum able to work full time due to their needs? If not there is an argument that some of the pip should contribute to the household to make up for the time mum has to spent supporting the child.

My DS gets PIP at 16 and I’m his appointee as there is no way he’d manage it. The whole lot would be spent in a day

I'm aunty.

I am my 18 year old's appointee for PIP so I control it all. Any money he controls himself goes on strawberry ice cream and CD's

I completely agree - it should stay as DLA until they are 18.

I have a child with adhd and will shortly be helping her apply for PIP.

A lot depends on context here.

At 17, is the child in college, doing an apprenticeship, or nothing?

If there are obvious costs relating to the disability (taxis, standing desk, visual timer, adhd coach) then agreement could be made to spend on the which mum arranges.

If the child has plans to go to uni some could be saved for uni (although this depends on funding etc).

Well, no, they don't get assessed to have capacity to deal with it themselves.

You've reminded me of the other thing I wanted to ask. If she gets all/half the money should her mum expect her to pay for all her own things (beyond the basics?)

Should some go towards living costs? PIP isn't meant to be for normal living costs. It's for the extra cost of having a disability.

I wouldn't (and don't) expect my DD to pay for all her own things.

We'd be using the PIP to pay for things that help her get launched into the world of work.

Mum just taking it all off her for food when it could pay for adhd coaching, meds, visual timers, etc etc isn't really on (unless mum is literally on the bones of her arse)

But if the parents think that she doesn’t have capacity they should have applied for appointeeship in order to ensure they can control things.

Are you going to be his appointee?

The teen didn't want her mother to be her appointee - she feels she can manage it herself.

Unless they have independent expenses, I would have mum save it for them bar a sensible allowance.

By who??

The PIP assessor.

I had PIP when I was a teenager and my mum and dad put it into savings every month, never touched it unless there was something I really wanted/to treat myself to.
It was 100% the best thing for me for my parents to keep it and save it for me otherwise I'd have just spent it on silly things.
If she's happy for her mum to keep it and save it for her this is what I'd do

what are the extra costs associated with the teens disability? I am my DCs appointee (so a bit different). Our main costs is my inability to earn a full time wage as DC needs 24/7 care and there is no wrap around or school holiday childcare. Pip is therefore spend on general living costs as I could not afford the mortgage or food otherwise. I would look where the extra expenses arise and make a decision based on that with the child. £600 is a lot esp for a teen may not have living costs and struggles with money/impulsivity.