DLA Payments - Change of Payee

LooLa1966

This may sound like a daft question but how easy is it to change the person to whom DLA payments are made?

My stepdaughter ('sd'), aged 20, is registered disabled and her mother has always had her DLA payments made direct to her. My sd has now decided she would like the payments to be made to her but her mother is refusing and says that a new assessment will need to be made if the payee is changed.

Firstly, I would have thought that if it is my sd that is entitled to the payment, all it would take is a call to the DWP to get the payee changed?

Secondly, I understand that new assessments will need to be done anyway when the DLA changes to PIP in April, or have these already been done?

We are rather ignorant on this subject as my partner and his ex-wife do not have what you could call an amicable relationship and she has always been reluctant to give any details about the DLA and its payment, so any advice as to how it actually works would be much appreciated.

richard9991

AFAIK there should not have to be a new assessment made for a change of payee ie just get her to ring up with her bank details

[Deleted User]

firstly most transfers from dla to pip wont be done until after oct 2015
as for payments if there was no reason other than convenience for the payments being made to the mothers account i see no reason why a simple request to change should cause any problems at all

Horseunderwater

I assume that your SD is in charge of her own affairs and that her mother was not her appointee/advocate in any way. If that is so then it should simply be a matter for your SD to write and ask for it to be changed to her bank account as she should be more than able age wise to handle her finances now.

LooLa1966

Thank you - this has confirmed what I thought already - its just a question of her getting her mother to accept that the DLA payments are for her benefit, not the mother!!

Ziggazee

If the stepdaughter is able to deal with her own affairs then she can simply phone the DWP herself and arrange for the payments to go into a bank account of her choice.

If however the mother is her Appointee then it is not quite so simple. A new Appointee would need to be set up and this would involve a visiting officer coming out to see the proposed new Appointee to ensure that they are an appropriate person to take care of the Customer's affairs.

Who are the stepdaughter's letters regarding her DLA addressed to?? This would assist in ascertaining whether the mother is the Appointee or not

Blackpool_Saver

What are your motives for doing this, being completely honest,.............

Ziggazee

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

What are your motives for doing this, being completely honest,.............

Not really relevant is it? There are some genuine people in the world. Maybe you should give the OP the benefit of the doubt.....they may be genuinely concerned

Blackpool_Saver

Maybe, but it's the step mum thing that concerns me, the wanting to get one over on the mother thing. I have been a step mum twice, and am a step child so I can see this from all angles myself. If I am wrong I am sorry but why isn't the Dad dealing with it you know ??
The DLA payments are the young persons BUT are they capable of managing their own affairs, many disabled 20 year olds are not, it depends on the disability.
Also I see no reply from the OP either, hmmmmm

justontime

Children move to adult dla at age 16 and at that point the decision has to be made about the need for an appointee. My son has ASD and at 16 it was doubtful that he could have managed his financial affairs on his own, partly because of his condition but partly because at 16 many young people would struggle to cope at 16. In the end he wrote to dla and said that he would like the payments in his name, but would still require a lot of help from me so he asked for the payment to be paid into my account and he asked for a note to be put on his file to say that I would need to help him with telephone communication with dla. My point is that the mother may be an appointee, but even without being an appointee the mother could still have a lot of involvement and the money may be going into her bank account. What may have been appropriate at age 16 may not be appropriate at age 20 and even if your step daughter has an appointee she may no longer need one. If she is unhappy with the situation she should ring dla or write to them asking for the present arrangement to be changed.

The mother may have genuine concerns about reassessment, depending on her disability if the daughter can now manage her financial affairs it may indicate that her condition has improved and it may trigger a reassessment.

The dla is paid because the daughter has care and/or mobility needs, the mother may be using the money to meet some or all of those needs, or she may be spending it in some other way which benefits the daughter, so don't be too quick to assume that the mother is doing something wrong. Please don't take that last comment as criticism of you, I am a parent and a step parent so I understand that you are just trying to do your best for your step daughter, but it may not seem like that to the mother.

LooLa1966

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

Maybe, but it's the step mum thing that concerns me, the wanting to get one over on the mother thing. I have been a step mum twice, and am a step child so I can see this from all angles myself. If I am wrong I am sorry but why isn't the Dad dealing with it you know ??
The DLA payments are the young persons BUT are they capable of managing their own affairs, many disabled 20 year olds are not, it depends on the disability.
Also I see no reply from the OP either, hmmmmm

I am not wanting to "get one over" on anyone - I just want my stepdaughter to be able to get the benefit she is entitled to - don't make assumptions about situations you know nothing about.