Should I give up my financial independence?

williewonder

I already have an appointee that manages my disability benefits.

Basically if I don't give up my 4 credit cards and £1000 overdraft which I've had for 5+ years with minimum debts (Apart from asking appointee for money to pay off credit cards 'sometimes' which I can afford) Social services are going to seek a Deputyship on me. They as appointees don't like me having credit lines.

Now I have two choices, get conformation that I do have capacity to manage my finances (which I failed the last capacity assessment last December) and mange my own money but possible lose my benefits as they'll think I'm too able and shown improvement.

Let them go through with the Deputyship, lose all my rights and independence, have to ask for permission for money to do things. maintain benefits.

I have a housemate in the group home who has less disabilities than me and he manages his own money and he's on the highest rates of benefits.

I'm just scared that if I lose the appointee that manages my money I'm going to lose my benefits

What would you do?

tacpot12

I think I would not fight the Deputyship too hard. You will not lose all your rights. A good deputy should help you make the decisions that you can make, even if some of those decisions don't seem that sensible to them. A professional deputy should be better at help you to make the decisions you can than someone who is not a professional. 

However, it will depend on the quality of the deputies who are appointed to be help you, and how you can get on with them. If the relationship becomes difficult, then you may find it difficult to remain as independent as you are now, so learning to work with your deputies will be important, so that the relationship does not become difficult.

If you can build some trust with them, they will help you be as independent as you can be. If they build trust with you, you will be happier to let them deal with the more complex or difficult decisions that may need to be taken. Sometimes it is a relief to have someone else deal with difficult problems, and dealing with benefits can be difficult at times.

theoretica

Is there the third option of voluntarily giving up your lines of credit, but keeping only the appointee and not the deputyship?  Perhaps you could negotiate that instead you have a debit card and your appointee transferring money to you monthly to spend (or an increase, if this already happens), rather than spending on cards and then asking for repayment. 

williewonder

@theoretica

I think that could be an option but I do think they want to go ahead with deputyship. I have to them them 3 months worth of bank statements and get ridd of credit lines. I don't see why I have too. I have worked hard to get a decent credit rating.

What would happen if its deemed I already lack capacity from an assessment back in Dec 2020 and refuse to attend another assessment for the deputyship? Can they go ahead with it regardless?  

theoretica

I am sorry, I don't know the answer to most of your questions.  However, a credit record is only useful if you actually have a need to borrow money. It might be something you think worth giving up.

tacpot12

A deputyship can be imposed, but it should not be imposed without an assessment of your capacity that is reasoably recent/relevant to when this is imposed. If I was a judge in the Court of Protection I would want to know whether the nature of your disability means that your capacity might change over a matter of days or months. If it can change fairly quickly, then any assessment in Dec 2020 might be out of date. If your capacity only changes slowly, I guess there is a risk that an assessment of your capacity in Dec 2020 might be seen as valid, but only providing it fully assessed your capacity to make financial decisions. 

TBagpuss

Dec 2020 is over a year ago, so I think one question i would be asking if I were the Judge is why, if they felt it was appropriate, they didn't apply for deputyship then - what has changed in the last 15 months? so that they are now saying it is needed?
If in that time you have increased the mount of debt you have then that might be a cause for concern, or if they believe that there have been other changes.

Would it be possible for you to discuss what their specific concerns are.

Do you typically pay off your credit cards in full every month? Why do you need 4 cards and an overdraft? 

It might be worth looking at going down to a single card and ensuring it is cleared in full every month, and that you don't dip into your overdraft. 

I don't know what your health issues are but is it possible that they are concerned that you could end up in severe debt if your health  condition deteriorated, or that you could be taken advantage of by others?  If you understand why they want you to cancel the cards then you may be in a stronger position to discuss with them whether or not it is necessary.

as theoretica says, having good credit is mostly only relevant if you ant more credit - for instance if you need to apply for a mortgage or car loan. Having no / less debt doesn't mean that you have bad credit, it just means that you have limited records.

born_again

Hi.
I'm going to look at this in a different way. Which may help you understand a bit more of the thinking that goes on in the background..

How much do you have outstanding on the Credit Cards & do you use your Overdraft at all?

If you have no outstanding debt on the CC's. Do you need 4? Cutting down to 1 shows a level of financial responsibility. Same with the overdraft. If you never use it, then get rid of it. Aside from being one of the most expensive forms of credit, again shows a level of financial responsibility.

Any savings?

If you have debt on the cards, then again look to pay them off, rather than carry the debt. Paying off a CC by using your overdraft is more than likely going to mean a higher interest rate. So does not look good from a financial responsibility view point.

"decent credit rating" Lenders do not see your credit rating the CRA's invent. It is a meaning less number. Lenders look at your credit history (so any missed payments etc) Your income to debt ratio & their own internal assessment if you meet their credit risk at that time.

williewonder

I think @TBagpuss has a point. People do that advantage of me financially, I am vulnerable to that. I'm diagnosed with a mild Intellectual disability and Chronic schizoaffective disorder which has been pretty bad in the past and when Manic I can spend and spend and I have got myself into severe debt but not for past 5 years.

My credit cards are paid off in full 'mostly'. I'm in no debt. Have 3k savings. I think they are concerned about the amount off credit cards I have plus the fact they've had to paid them off and they don't like doing that. Also I'm vulnerable to financial exploration.

I already have an appointee. If they promise that everything will remain the same ie. I get my £600 a month personal allowance. I can spend my money for holidays. I can keep one credit card but keep it in the office with strict instructions that I only use it with permission I don't mind the duptyship as an appointee does work well for me. I don't want to be like my housemate in the group home who gets trickles of money per week and has to ring is dupty for everything. But they put is in place to stop him drinking and taking drugs which doesn't apply to me.

TBagpuss

williewonder said:

I think @TBagpuss has a point. People do that advantage of me financially, I am vulnerable to that. I'm diagnosed with a mild Intellectual disability and Chronic schizoaffective disorder which has been pretty bad in the past and when Manic I can spend and spend and I have got myself into severe debt but not for past 5 years.

My credit cards are paid off in full 'mostly'. I'm in no debt. Have 3k savings. I think they are concerned about the amount off credit cards I have plus the fact they've had to paid them off and they don't like doing that. Also I'm vulnerable to financial exploration.

I already have an appointee. If they promise that everything will remain the same ie. I get my £600 a month personal allowance. I can spend my money for holidays. I can keep one credit card but keep it in the office with strict instructions that I only use it with permission I don't mind the deputyship as an appointee does work well for me. I don't want to be like my housemate in the group home who gets trickles of money per week and has to ring is deputy for everything. But they put is in place to stop him drinking and taking drugs which doesn't apply to me.

In that case, maybe sit down to talk to them and propose that - and ask about how the deputyship would work and how much independence you could have if it were in place. My only experience of deputyship has been in cases where the person was elderly and had permanently lost capacity and was in a nursing home, so I am not sure how much flexibility there is, but I would have thought that it should be possible for you get your money monthly