Child on DLA when reaches 16 - any experiences of transfer to adult benefits.

WillyWonga

Hi all, after a bit of advice/experiences?

My son reaches 16 next year. On high rate care and low rate mobility. DLA will cease next year along with tax credits and carers allowance.

The specialist childrens centre he goes to has said that officially at 16 they have to refer him onto adult mental health which is a minefield and not as thorough as the childrens side. However they have said that as long as he stops in some form of education they will bend the rules and try and see him till he is 18 and wont dump us at 16.

Things at the mo are tricky as with exams coming up next year he is getting more anxious/stressed and self harming himself. We are awaiting an urgent pysch/counsellor appointment as upgraded at the end of last week to red status from green. The next few months are going to be tough and I need to get an insight into any experiences of transferring a child from DLA to the new adult version. Getting DLA was an absolute nightmare and am going to prepare now for what I might face.

Many thanks in advance.

Richie-from-the-Boro

DLA to the new adult version - Adulthood

The renewal for DLA on behalf of your son is a standard requirement for any child reaching the age [ technical age ] of adulthood. I think you will find that any child receiving benefit, will when reaching the age of adulthood at 16 years will need to be him / herself themselves responsible for the receipt and spending of that benefit income.

A few months before child's 16th birthday parents / guardian are usually sent a form asking if the child can manage their own money. It can be useful to do renewals at this age because its a good time to do a benefit check. It is however unusual to be sent a DLA renewal without the accompanying appointeeship needs being taken care of.

If they say that the child is capable, the benefit will then be in the child's name, it could still go into a parents / guardian's bank account, but all letters will be addressed to the child and they will be responsible for reporting any changes in their situation/condition as well as the money itself.

If parents / guardian's say that the child isn't capable they will get a visit, this is mainly a safeguarding procedure. Someone will visit, meets the child and makes a judgement. Generally there is nothing to be afraid of .. .. they are nice people with the child's best interests at heart and have the discretion to make their own judgements.

DLA renewal usually happens at 16, but not always, and is separate to the appointee-ship issue.

Put simply your son is moving from children's health services to adult health services. From being a child to being an adult. From being children's DLA to the new adult version. Its just a legal thing !.You have nothing whatsoever to be afraid of. This is one of only two areas where the system is even remotely kind to people. The DLA renewal and the adulthood checks are done at the same time and on the same visit you and your child have nothing whatsoever to fear.

- 'is capable', or otherwise is determined by your unemotional and objective 'visitor'
- what you call capable or otherwise, they call 'transition', and that's what it is .. .. adulthood
- there is almost no scenario where you don't get a home visit, it covers home and social life
- that one~2~one visit must be in person to determine an objective outcome

The fact of the matter is your visitor will decide, what in terms of letters, or whose bank account will be determined by appointee-ship, at the visit stage. You have nothing to fear the focus is on the needs and capability of the young persons transition into adulthood. From their point of view they will consider your child's independence in terms of, social life, education or training, housing and living, family, lifestyle and finances.

There are thousands of posters on this very board who harboured the same misgivings as you initially and who now post supportive and positive comments, you too will find nothing other than a very nice helping hand being offered by the 'visitor' to both you and your boy-child." This is one of only two areas where the system is even remotely kind to people"" ,you too will find it to be just that way. Try not to worry, tell them your fears, ask any questions you need to. A couple of months from now you, like others before you, and many other yet to follow will wonder why you got your knickers in a twist over this !

Hold tight, you'll have nothing to worry about, I know you wont believe a word I say and that's understandable. You've spent your young lifetime single-mindedly devoting yourself to this task, but your boy is about to be an adult in the eyes of the law, and the legal transition has to be made in the child's - soon to be an adult's interest.

Best of luck & best wishes !

WillyWonga

Many thanks for putting my mind at rest. The initial DLA process was a nightmare but sounds like nothing to worry about.

Gratefully appreciated.

Indie_Kid

It would be PIP now for a new adult claim. Someone on here (I think it was Kingfisherblue) said that they were told that their sons' DLA would continue at least until October 2015 due to the current backlog.

kingfisherblue

Yes, it was me! My son has an indefinite award and is on high rate for both care and mobility.

I had a visit from the DWP about appointeeship, as I said my son is not capable of managing money on the form that was sent in December (son's birthday was April). I included examples of his inability to cope with his own finances - for example, if he has 5p, he thinks he has enough for a Subway sandwich, and will hold his hand out for change. I received a visit sometime in January or February, and it lasted about twenty minutes. The lady from the DWP agreed that my son needs an appointee, and gave an explanation about the responsibility of managing my son's money on his behalf - not in a patronising way, altohugh now I have typed that, it sounds it.

For PIP, I received a letter to say that my son would continue to receive DLA at his current rates until a decision has been made about PIP. At the time, there was no indication as to when this would be. In the meantime, his car was due to be returned and a new one ordered, but I couldn't do this, thinking that he was due to be assessed for PIP. To cut a long story short (because I am very good at waffling ), I was told that my son would not be assessed for PIP until October 2015 at the earliest, and was able to order a new car for him. I was informed that there is a backlog, and that this is the earliest date because he has an indefinite award. I was also told that anybody with a dated award (due to finish on their 16th birthday), was being assessed approximately six months after their birthday at the moment, again due to the backlog.

This information wasn't offered to me - I had to ring up to ask. I had received a couple of standard letters that sounded as though my son was going to be assessed fairly soon, but this isn't the case.

Also, all children now have to stay on at school or in training until they are 18, so your tax credits should continue (if no other changes in circumstances). Assuming you are continuing to fulfil the requirements of Carer's Allowance, then you are likely to continue to receive that as well.

PIP has different descriptors than DLA, so it is worth reading them to see if your son is likely to qualify. I think it is 8 points for standard rates, and twelve points for enhanced rates (someone will correct me if I have remembered incorrectly). Although I know that my son is likely to have to attend a medical, I have added up his points to over 40 for care, and 18 for mobility, based on his current condition, care needs, and level of ability. I know that the DWP might not agree, though, but I will face that if it happens.

SingleSue

My youngest son's DLA was due to end at the end of March as he turned 16, we are in one of the pilot areas for PIP, so a claim has had to be made for PIP. We had to ring and claim for PIP within a certain timescale (worked out to be less than 30 days to make the phone call and return the form - letter came the beginning of April, form arrived shortly after and had to be back by the 28th April...giving me just shy of 3 weeks to get in filled in and returned! ) for his DLA to continue until a decision is made regarding his PIP claim and there was no interuption in payments.

We had done the appointee meeting earlier in about Feb I think, absolutely nothing to worry about although I did stress myself out about it beforehand and the person doing the appointment was brilliant and very thoughtful of youngest's difficulties....he only asked youngest one question and just about got an answer from him (more of a grunt to be honest - he doesn't like strangers).

We now just have the long wait until a decision has been made regarding his claim for PIP.

kingfisherblue

Sue, did you get a letter telling you to ring for the claim form? I assumed that it would come out automatically, as the DLA forms did.

SingleSue

Yes, a letter came out first instructing me to ring PIP to make a claim by a certain date for the DLA payments to continue.

The letter came around a week and a half to 2 weeks after his 16th birthday and the phone call, receipt of the forms here and the receipt of the forms back at the DWP all had to be done in less than a month...it was a bit tight on time to say the least!

suz1970

Yes it was the same for my son, he was 16 in april, i recieved a letter just after his birthday as his appointee to ring up if we wanted to apply for pip, we had four weeks to decide and had to ring by the 28th april if we wanted to claim, phoned up and answered a few questions then a claim form detailing how you are effected was sent to us, got the form about two weeks after phoning up and the form had to be back by the 28th may so only had a few weeks to fill it in, only sent it back last week recorded and signed for they recieved it today 27th so i just hope we are in time as the bank holiday held it up but it said to send back by 28th. Have to wait now for the face to face interview i dont know how long that takes, but i believe the dla is still paid untill a descion is made, ( my son was on dla indefinatly ) but still has to claim pip as he is 16.

System

My experience is the same as Kingfisherblue's I am my dd's appointee the only difference is my dd has not been in education since last October when she was 16 1/2 .
She did try a residential college and then a local one but she struggled, the SEN manager at the LEA admitted there wasn't anywhere else that could cater for her needs .
She has since last July [at college's suggestion ] been claiming ESA she was put into the support group.

[Deleted User]

My 18 year old receives mid rate care and low rate mobility DLA When he turned 16 I was sent the legal responsibility forms and after some discussion with him, said that he was unable to be responsible for money. A lady came round, asked a few questions and that was it.

He is now 18 as I said, and there is still no news on him being changed to PIP. From my reading, this is going to take some time with teens who turn 16 in unpiloted areas of the country (as in a couple of years). He is in full time education and is very likely to be when he is 20 which is when child benefit stops (what I di then I don't know because I don't see how he's going to cope with any adult benefit assessments).