Could DWP be forcing power of attorney?

epskie

Hello,

Can anybody shed any light on this? My MIL is in a residential home, she has severe Alzheimers. Her care home fees are paid for my Pension Credit or equivalent (I'm not quite sure of the correct name)

We have received a letter from the DWP advising they want to come and see us about 'an application to be appointed to act on behalf of someone else' i.e MIL.

We haven't applied for this ourselves and when I called them the lady said that after a visit to MIL they need to see us and discuss this as they have assessed her.

Does anybody know what this means or why it might be happening?

Many Thanks.

epskie

Sorry that should say - 'paid for by Pension Credit'

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

When I tried to ring the DWP had phone messages about Power of Attorney very disturbing, perhaps another change to the descriptors by default?

cockaleekee

Does she still have the capacity to deal with her financial affairs?

epskie

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver wrote: »

When I tried to ring the DWP had phone messages about Power of Attorney very disturbing, perhaps another change to the descriptors by default?

I'm not sure what you mean?

epskie

cockaleekee wrote: »

Does she still have the capacity to deal with her financial affairs?

No. But she hasn't for some time now. She has no assets or any real financial worth, the Pension Credit goes into her bank and the home fees come out of her bank.

cockaleekee

epskie wrote: »

No. But she hasn't for some time now. She has no assets or any real financial worth, the Pension Credit goes into her bank and the home fees come out of her bank.

PoA is not just about assets, it is making sure her day to day finances are looked after and not abused. It should not be a big job, but would give you peace of mind that her affairs were being kept in order.

anmarj

DWP cannot force power of attorney that is a legal document, somebody or organinsation may of applied to become appointee - it could either be a family member/care home or social work department. When a request has been put through and the person has not got an existing appointee then a visit has to be done to establish that an appointee is needed. Has a review of Pension Credit been done recently? Did somebody sign the form on her behalf? If so, then that can trigger the visit request as the form would not be accepted signed by a third party unless they were registered either as power of attorney or appointee on the system.

pmlindyloo

Presumably your MIL has a DD set up to be able to pay her share of the care home fees?

Lasting Power of Attorney cannot be applied for now as your MIL cannot give her consent.


Who is organising her personal spending allowance? Who withdraws money from her bank to pay for her personal needs?


I suspect that they wish to speak to the next of kin to find out these things.


Will try and find some more info for you about what you can do when a LPA is no longer possible.

pmlindyloo

If you google 'Adviceguide managing the affairs of someone else' you will find the information you need (sorry can't post a link at the moment)

Basically you can apply to the Court of protection to be appointed a Deputy.


I am sure you will be supported in the way forward.

fira

Much the same happened to me about a year ago. Father also has Alzheimer’s and in the later stages needed 24 hour nursing care. We were fortunate in finding a care home locally that has been marvellous.

About 2 weeks after he went into the nursing home I found a letter at his address from the Pension Service about a review of his Pension Credit. I called them up and explained his illness and that he no longer lived there. They took the information and said someone would be in touch.

Then I got a call from DWP Visitors (I think that’s what they called themselves) saying they’d been asked to meet with both me and my father at the nursing home to allow them to look at giving me appointeeship. I didn’t really understand at that time what it was. They explained it was only for use when dealing with DWP and its departments and had no standing with banks etc.

I met with a very helpful young lady at the home you was very kindly with my dad and then she spoke with me later advising that she considered he was indeed unable to manage his own affairs. I signed the form she’d just completed and that was it.

They now contact me for anything to do with my dad and his benefits or reviews and so far there have been no problems. They did also stress again that this appointeeship was for DWP only and I could not use it for any outside agency such as his bank.