DLA/PIP/Appointee advice please

[Gymbob]

I am re-posting here hoping to get some replies......

DD turns 16 later in the year and I've been sent the form that will decide the PIP she will get instead of DLA. At present we get lower and middle rate, which amounts to about £320 per month.

My question is, has anyone been through this process yet, and has anyone applied to be an appointee? It all looks quite scary. My DD is not good at managing money. The DLA has always gone towards paying for her expensive hobbies and transporting her around etc, but now as she will be 16 the payments will go direct to her, unless I have a good reason as to why they can't. I will have to attend an interview to explain the reasons why she shouldn't have the money. I know it will be reduced using the new PIP, but don't know by how much.

I have had to broach the subject with her and she says she wants the money! She says I can put it into a special account if I want for her to have when she turns 18. I've told her we can't afford her hobbies without the money, but she is adamant.

I feel in a vulnerable position. I may have to end the hobbies if she insists we pay rather than her PIP. Of course she doesn't fully understand - she has special needs - but I'm told that she would need to have further special needs to not be awarded the money directly.

HELP!

[tempe48]

I am an appointee for DD. At 16, someone came from a local office for an interview. DD does not have mental capacity. - everybody who meets her in an official capacity accepts that. I had to set up a separate bank account in just my name.

I am looking at deputy ship for health and welfare, but not financial affairs as it's not worth it just for benefits. There are annual charges to pay, which come out of the young person's money.

[tempe48]

I am an appointee for DD. At 16, someone came from a local office for an interview. DD does not have mental capacity. - everybody who meets her in an official capacity accepts that. I had to set up a separate bank account in just my name.

I am looking at deputy ship for health and welfare, but not financial affairs as it's not worth it just for benefits. There are annual charges to pay, which come out of the young person's money.

[Gymbob]

thanks all!

Tempe, please can you explain in a bit more detail?

streaky, I'm getting nervous now! please can you give me an example of a question your ds was asked?

[Gymbob]

let us know how your meeting goes Salzale x

[streakybacon]

To be fair, I think it's less of a problem to get appointeeship approved if your teen has more obvious needs. For a lot of them receiving DLA it will be very clear to the interviewer when they aren't able to manage their own finances and DLA admin on their own, so that should be straightforward. The harder cases will be those young people who have (eg) HFA and other 'invisible' disabilities where it can appear that they have the necessary skills but in practice they may not.

Gymbob I had to give ds some prompts because he was acting daft, making jokes and giving the overall impression that he is far more capable than he really is. At one point he claimed to be able to do 'paperwork', but by this he meant he'd filled in the odd form for his drama class and Duke of Edinburgh. We've talked through the PIP form a few weeks ago and he knows he couldn't do any of it but still said he can fill forms . THIS is the problem we have with kids like ours - they say what they think people want them to say, whether it's a true reflection of their capabilities or not - and a poorly trained DWP interviewer could easily take them at face value.

She asked him why he didn't think he could manage his money and he said "Because my mam does it". I had to guide him at this point and explain that this wasn't sufficient - it's not enough to rely on me by habit, at 16 he needs to have a better reason for not doing it himself and I had to prompt him through the problems he has with similar tasks.

The interviewer was lovely though, and was clearly not in agreement with 'adulthood' beginning at 16 for DLA purposes. Our answers were obviously enough to satisfy her and she wasn't troubled by my having to guide ds to give appropriate answers.

It's worth noting that she hadn't seen the written application for appointeeship that I'd sent to DWP a few weeks earlier, so she came to the interview cold. Same with bank account details - she had none of that information either and asked for it afresh.

[Gymbob]

Thanks again streaky.

I am hoping for a properly trained interviewer. My DD can't articulate well, and it will be apparent to a professional straight away. Her disability is invisible as you mention. It's a slight relief to read that your DS was asked about filling in forms, as she wouldn't know where to start and would find even looking at it stressful.

Thank you, you have been soooo helpful

[Gymbob]

Well lovely lady has just left. She said I knew my daughter best and if I don't think that she's able to manage her own dla, then that's good enough for her, although I did explain why in the absence of DD. She met her briefly asked her date of birth and asked a bit about school, and that was it!

No change for us with the money, it will continue to be paid direct to me.

Phew

[streakybacon]

Excellent! What a relief .
Glad it was another easy interview. I reckon the DWP folk aren't really the monsters they're made out to be, tbh.

[starfishmummy]

My apppointee interview was easy too - It really isnt much to worry about!! I wasnt even asked to she the ID that the letter said we would need to after I had turned the house upside down tryong to find a second item for ds

I now just have to do the pip form......

[Gymbob]

Ah yes, the pip form. I'm not looking forward to that either!

yes streaky I think you're right, their assessors are definitely human after all

[starfishmummy]

I have an extension aready on ds's form! It took a while to get to us and arrived the day before we went on holiday, with a due date of a week after we got back, so I just ased for an extension straight away. from what the original person said we can probably get another one!!

I rang to start the claim the day after ds was 16 (his birthday was a sunday) but was told I couldn't do so until he had been sent the letter inviting him to claim!

they have extended his DLA to january, and am guessing that may get extended again as pip claims are taking so long to process.

[Gymbob]

that's good info starfish. thank you. my worry is the pip will be substantially less than dla

[sazale]

Glad it went well Gymbob.

I'm wondering whether to post along with the form a copy of DD's statement of SEN as well as a copy of her care plan from school (mon to fri residential) as they mention DD's vulnerability and how she easily gives away items of value/money.

[streakybacon]

I'm going to included ds's statement and EHC plans, and letters from his consultant about exam access arrangements, as they highlight his organisational and memory deficits. It all adds up as evidence.

[streakybacon]

But don't forget to cross reference them from the relevant topic on the PIP form so that DWP know which point you're making, rather than just sending random documents.

[Gymbob]

sazale I would definitely include copies of whatever I could, it won't do any harm x x

[Gymbob]

great tips again streaky

[sazale]

I don't have to do the PIP form yet fortunately as DD's award doesn't expire until she's 16 1/2 so a few months reprieve for me!

[streakybacon]

Bear in mind that if you are refused first time and want to have the claim reconsidered, DWP won't do so unless you are submitting new evidence. It's worth holding something back to begin with then you can send it at reconsideration if necessary, and they'll have to look again.

[LarrytheCucumber]

I was appointee for DS. A lovely lady came. She spoke to him and he said he didn't feel confident about handling that amount of money himself (articulate AS) and then he said 'Can I go upstairs now?' She seemed quite happy with that.

[Fuzzymum1]

We had a similar experience with the appointee interview. A very lovely lady came to the house and asked DS if he felt able to deal with it - he said no and that he would struggle to make any necessary phonecalls etc. He has aspergers/ high functioning autism. That was almost a year ago and his DLA award ran out in december. We applied for PIP in january, were invited to a capita assessment a couple of weeks ago (30 miles from home at 8.10am!) where a very nice lady talked to us for about an hour. We're now waiting for the outcome. I made sure I looked up the point scoring system first to ensure I worded my answers so as to the tick the boxes needed. We're now just waiting for them to make a decision - We've continued to receive DLA for eight months so far after the initial award ended.

[streakybacon]

Thanks for that helpful post Fuzzymum. Would you mind posting back when you get your PIP result?

Good luck!

[500smiles]

Fuzzymum that is useful to hear. DS award runs out soon when he turns 16 but beyond being made appointee I haven't heard anything. I rang them last week and they said he might still get the money through for a while but they couldn't say for definite

[LarrytheCucumber]

I think you do get DLA until they make a PIPS decision so you carry on getting it however long it takes.

[streakybacon]

That's what I was told too Larry.