Fuming at how the Jobcentre have just treated me

elsien

Out of interest, does anyone know what the process is for objecting to having an appointee if you have one but feel you have the capacity to manage your own affairs (particularly if the appointee disagrees and wants to stay put?)

Pollycat

elsien wrote: »

Out of interest, does anyone know what the process is for objecting to having an appointee if you have one but feel you have the capacity to manage your own affairs (particularly if the appointee disagrees and wants to stay put?)

I assume the DWP assessed the hypothetical person as being unable to manage his/her own affairs before agreeing to the appointment of the appointee so I'd guess that would be the first place to start.

https://www.gov.uk/become-appointee-for-someone-claiming-benefits

elsien

Yes but people can regain capacity. I've tried looking online before, and there's lots of information about becoming/getting an appointee but I couldn't find anything about how to get shut of one. Or even how to change the one you've got if you don't like how things are being managed on your behalf.

Pollycat

Well, although this is from the appointee side, if I'd had an appointee appointed and had since recovered capacity, I'd start with this advice:

Stop being an appointee

Contact DWP immediately if you want to stop being an appointee. Phone the benefit office that deals with the claim - the number will be on any letters they’ve sent you.

poppy12345

On the subject of becoming an appointee i rang DWP 2 weeks ago to start a PIP claim off for her (she's 16) and also at the same time asked about becoming her appointee because she doesn't have the capacity to manage her money or make calls to anyone. I was told that someone will visit our home (daughter lives with me) in the meantime i haven't yet recieved her PIP2 form, my question is will this be sent out after i become her appointee or should it have already been sent. Worried about that time limit to return that form. Thanks in advance.

System

marliepanda wrote: »

You're overreacting. To be honest if you ave an appointee it may be that they shouldn't discuss anything with you, and you have deemed yourself incapable of handling it so appointed someone else.

By all means, yes, but all I was doing is asking a fairly simple and straight forward question of when my first payment will be after making a rapid claim for JSA.

However, like you say even though it might be my claim I'll think about asking m appointee by doing anything like this again in the future.

Pollycat

himynameisaaron wrote: »

By all means, yes, but all I was doing is asking a fairly simple and straight forward question of when my first payment will be after making a rapid claim for JSA.

However, like you say even though it might be my claim I'll think about asking m appointee by doing anything like this again in the future.

I agree with marliepanda.
If you are in receipt of benefits and have gone through the 'appointee' process, I'd expect everything to be done through the appointee.

It says on gov.uk:

Appointee’s responsibilities

As an appointee you’re responsible for making and maintaining any benefit claims.

Personally, I wouldn't be happy being an appointee if the person in receipt of benefits could ring up and change anything they wanted to.
Especially as the benefit is paid directly to the appointee.

https://www.gov.uk/become-appointee-for-someone-claiming-benefits

And also according to gov.uk:

Become an appointee for someone claiming benefits


You can apply for the right to deal with the benefits of someone who can’t manage their own affairs because they’re mentally incapable or severely disabled.

So if I were working at one of the benefit contact points, I wouldn't expect the person in receipt of benefits to be ringing up asking questions when they have an appointee.
I think you may have misunderstood the issue raised by the person you spoke to.

poppy12345 wrote: »

On the subject of becoming an appointee i rang DWP 2 weeks ago to start a PIP claim off for her (she's 16) and also at the same time asked about becoming her appointee because she doesn't have the capacity to manage her money or make calls to anyone. I was told that someone will visit our home (daughter lives with me) in the meantime i haven't yet recieved her PIP2 form, my question is will this be sent out after i become her appointee or should it have already been sent. Worried about that time limit to return that form. Thanks in advance.

poppy
your question is in danger of being missed on this thread.
I'd start a new thread if I were you.

TELLIT01

elsien wrote: »

Out of interest, does anyone know what the process is for objecting to having an appointee if you have one but feel you have the capacity to manage your own affairs (particularly if the appointee disagrees and wants to stay put?)

Basically, if somebody called saying they no longer needed an appointee, the process would be much the same as setting up an appointee in the first place. First step would be to contact the appointee and, if they agreed that they were no longer required, the appointeeship would be ended.
If they didn't want to relinquish then both parties would be visited and the visiting officer would then make a decision.
When I worked at DWP we had all sorts of variants, from a situation where the appointee lived hundreds of miles from the person they were supposedly looking after, through situations where there had been an appointee on a previous claim and that person hadn't realised they were still listed as such, to one where it was very clear even from the initial call that it was highly doubtful that the person could operate effectively without an appointee.
To show just how seriously checks on appointee requirement are taken, I had one situation where the claimant was in a coma following an accident and letters had been provided by the hospital confirming the status. The visiting officer still went to the hospital to get final confirmation. That certainly doesn't match the assertion made earlier in the thread that 'anyone can become an appointee'.

Pollycat

I meant to post this earlier but only posted an extract:

Appointee’s responsibilities

As an appointee you’re responsible for making and maintaining any benefit claims. You must:

• sign the benefit claim form
• tell the benefit office about any changes which affect how much the claimant gets
• spend the benefit (which is paid directly to you) in the claimant’s best interests
• tell the benefit office if you stop being the appointee eg, the claimant can now manage their own affairs

If the benefit is overpaid, depending on the circumstances, you could be held responsible.

I remember now that when I applied to be Dad's appointee, the woman from DWP told me that the benefits would be paid to me, not him.

I set up a separate bank account (obviously in my name) for Dad's payments - I'm not sure if I had to or if I just thought it was a good idea.

Given that - and the other bit in bold about being responsible for benefit over-payments - I'm really surprised that the Jobcentre agreed to even speak to the OP about anything at all - unless it was about cancelling the appointee agreement..

IAmWales

himynameisaaron wrote: »

By all means, yes, but all I was doing is asking a fairly simple and straight forward question of when my first payment will be after making a rapid claim for JSA.

However, like you say even though it might be my claim I'll think about asking m appointee by doing anything like this again in the future.

Or you could think about whether you really need one.

You work, you can use the phone, you can complete paperwork and understand letters. I'm not clear why it is that you need one?