dla post 16

[hannahsmummsy]

dd is 16 in march , her dla ends following nov , will they transfer paments to her automatical ( she would be deemed capable of managing her own affairs but would prefer me to do it till she left school )or will they go to her when she applys again , will she have to do next form her self , her physical probs slowly getting well , but mentaly shes deteriorated , so not sure how it will work.

you are allowed to fill out on dcs behalf im sure it has a box to tick if you fill it in for someone, the payments I think is a different matter , just ring and ask or look on their website, at the moment who knows who of us will still be getting DLA as its changing and we will all have to re-apply eventually atm adults will be first I dont know if they have decided about dcs yet but your DD will be an adult by then anyway so I assume made to re-apply again .

I got a new DLA claim pack for my DS ( ASD now 18 ) sent to me around 6 months before my DS 16th birthday, i filled it in myself with the help of someone from the carers centre, the rates stayed the same ( MRC, LRM ) but instead of getting payed into my bank account it got payed straight into my DS account, i had to apply to be my DS DWP appointee so i could speak and act his behalf when dealing with benefits as once he was 16 without me being his DWP appointee he would have had to speak on the phone to them himself if there were any problems, he has now left ecucation and claims ESA in the support group and does 2 days a week in a placement in an internet cafe in our town, without being his DWP appointee he would have had to apply for ESA and deal with all the phone calls, medicals, etc, himself, when i have to phone up ESA ( which ive had to quite a few times ) they have it down in their computer that i am his DWP appointee and they deal with me direct as do DLA, without it they would insist on speaking to DS personally, i am happy enough for DS to have his own bank account but if you still want DLA or any other benefits paid directly to you then you have to apply for power of attorney.

dds benefit award goes past her 16th bday so she will get it till the nov afterward

Not sure when you will get the renewal forms as my DD's DLA expired the day before her 16th birthday, so forms came 6 mths before that. You might not get her renewal forms until May. From 16 she is considered an adult as far as DWP are concerned.
There is a question on the forms which asks about the person's ability to manage their own affairs. If they are capable of managing their own money then you have to tick that box. If you tick the one that says they can't manage then the DWP send someone around to assess/confirm that they think that is the case and then arrange for you to be appointed to receive payments on behalf of your DC. The ability of your DD to receive her own DLA payments herself does not mean that she has to be able to fill in the forms herself - you can still do that for her and she either signs them or you sign on her behalf & tick the box explaining why she hasn't signed herself IYSWIM.

if payments for dd dla is paid into parents bank account payments will be suspended at 16th birthday until you give them dd bank details, this happened to me last year, and it took ages to sort it out as dla suspended payment as they hadn't received dd's bank details, (they hadn't sent us the form) contact dla about 2 months before 16th b/d, and get form sent out, it's not a renewal form it's just asking if dd is able to manage own affairs, if not you have to get social worker to fill it in

THe DWP may send out a visiting officer to talk with the customer and the proposed appointee. I think its fairly informal; just to check that the disabled person is in agreement. Ive been present when it has been done for the elderly, and assume its the same type of thing.

We had a visiting officer who spoke to ds and asked whether he would rather we took care of his affairs. She was very sensitive to ds and other than him having to say yes or no that was all she wanted.I had previously ticked the box saying he wasn't ready to manage his own money. Ds now has a indefinite award (although that most likely means nothing now) so I don't know whether the situation will be reviewed in time.