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.

I actually found it pretty easy to become my DS's appointee but he was in agreement. The teen in question would not be in agreement so I think it would be very difficult for the mother to become the appointee. But I agree that expecting a disabled 16 yo to deal with PIP on their own is very unfair.

Even if it remained as DLA it wouldn’t change who it was paid to. Teens in Scotland can choose to remain on DLA until 18 but if they have capacity the payments are made directly to them from 16.

If the teen has capacity to manage the claim, including any monies, then it is up to them how to spend the money regardless of how wise or not people think that is. If they want their DM’s support that could happen without the mother controlling the money. Although if they want DM to be more involved and have some control over the money that is also a choice they could make.

If the teen doesn’t have capacity to manage the claim, including managing the payments, the mother needs to request to become appointee. If the teen doesn’t have capacity they don’t have to agree to it.

The teen and mother should be careful about saving in the teen’s name if the teen may need to claim means tested benefits or will need social care support.

In Scotland it is Child Disability payment until 18 and I think that's a much better system.

For lots of families, DLA helps cover extra heating, laundry, OT or other therapies, or even help cover the reality that parents have had to give up work to care full time. It suddenly becoming PIP and being paid to the young person directly doesn't change those costs. How many 16 year old are going to understand their disability increases the energy bills or that their parents maintain a slush fund from their DLA to cover the tvs they break regularly?

They need quite varied support. One thing is emotional regulation. I've suggested using some of the money to come to the gym we go to.

No, mum can't work quite work full time.

Teen is at college. Won't be going to Uni.

Yes, that sounds like a good way to sort it to make sure certain things are covered from the money.

No, that doesn't happen even if they are seen. But this teen wasn't seen by an assessor and neither was my DS.

She's happy for her mum to control half of it. But wants half for herself.

I think it's a case of working out what the money covers eg phone bill, gym membership, bus pass, meals at college, then an allowance to take into consideration that I doubt they can take on a typical part time job

Totally agree. Otherwise it makes a total mockery of the system.

Controlling half makes a lot of sense as it teaches money management, along with responsibility to pay those bills!

Agree

That sounds sensible then as it means she can learn to control her own income. Making sure it’s clear what needs to be covered from that

The bar to be an appointee is quite high (and so it should be). That still leaves a massive gap to being able to manage money, especially when points are given based on not managing money.

He won't be denied access, but he will be supported.

I may be well off the mark here but I'm about to apply for my child aged 16 with ASD, likely ADHD and mental illness. The conditions they have means that if they can access the pip money herself they will spend it on vapes, fags and booze. I will apply to be the recipient of the money (if awarded that is!) I will help them to use it for counselling, enriching activities and things to help their recovery. The whole point of needing the PIP is that they are far from being independent and need the extra help which I provide.

I think it should remain as the parent applying for and recieving the money until 18.

I think the point is no one assesses their capability at 16 - it is just assumed.

Parents are written to just before 16 to ask if an appointee is required. If a young person cannot manage a claim, the DP can request to become appointee.

If the teen has capacity to manage the claim (including the money), CDP is paid directly to them from 16.

I agree it’s a ridiculous system. Dd1 would be sensible, she’s rarely buys anything. Dd2 is too impulsive she’d spend it all in a week! When the time comes, I’ll opt to manage the PIP whilst paying them an allowance.

This is my opinion too. Initially the teen wanted all the money and her mum suggested this as a compromise. She was second guessing herself as a friend was horrified at her allowing her DD to have £300 a month.

Yes, her mother is concerned about spending it unwisely. She did not apply to be an appointee, though. Whether she would have been accepted I don't know. But it was a very straightforward process with my DS.

My DD is ASD and 18, got PIP earlier in the year .. half is being put away to (eventually) buy a car. She’s not always great with planning & organising, but she’s great with money for some reason .. always has been.

Sometimes you just have to trust them.

I think the difficulty with assessing their capacity to manage the claim is it has to be linked to their disability. It can't be just because of their young age. But then the DP is trying to pick it apart. Ultimately the majority of 16yos live at home with parents or carers who bear the brunt of the extra costs. That's why I think it should remain being paid to the parent until the child is an adult.

£600 a month indicates likely enhanced rate of daily living and mobility. Such a high rate I would have thought means that their needs are such that managing and budgeting money would be best not left to them.

Obviously assessing capacity is about disability. That doesn’t change the fact if a 16y/o does not have the capacity to manage the claim the parent can request to become appointee either when they are written to prior to 16 or at a later date if necessary.

At 18 it's a very different thing to at 16 (for many teens.) If your DD is great with money I'd imagine it's easier to trust them! But I do agree to an extent that to learn to manage money (if that's an appropriate goal for them) they have to have some money to manage.

My teen has recently been awarded enhanced rate PIP for both mobility and daily living allowance. She is blind and diagnosed with autism, ADHD, neonatal abstinence syndrome, probably FASD, binge eating disorder and a rare autoimmune disease. My DD is adopted and I have not been able to work for many years due to her extreme needs (shoot me now!). I am my DD’s appointee and I will control her PIP. If my DD had her way, the whole lot would be pissed up the wall at our local sweet shop. There is no way I will permit this to happen while DD2 and I are scraping by on the bones of our arses. My DD1 is highly unlikely to ever learn how to control finances. It is highly likely that she will remain massively dependent on me for a very long time. Her PIP will be pooled as part of the limited household income and will be used to alleviate the pressure on all of us from living alongside such extreme diagnoses, associated behaviours, plus multiple health conditions.