PIP Appointee

Hi Pro,

This is standard DWP procedure conducted by a Visiting Officer. He/she will first talk to the disabled claimant to assess mental capacity. This could be as brief as a couple of minutes and then your daughter can leave the room. The Visiting Officer will then ask the prospective appointee questions as per their eligibility for the role. The Visiting Officer will then go through the information gather for form BF56 with the prospective appointee.
Here is the relevant information about becoming an appointee....
To be eligible to be an appointee the following must be considered:

· the claimant must be incapable of managing their benefit affairs because of mental incapacity (or severe physical disability)

· an appointee is not appropriate if the claimant is simply unable to collect their benefits or no longer wishes to manage their own affairs

· claimants who can manage their own affairs but are unable to go to the bank, building society or post office may be able to arrange for a person they know and trust to collect their benefits on their behalf

Responsibilities

The appointee becomes fully responsible for acting on the claimant’s behalf in all the claimant’s dealings with the Department. This includes:

· claiming benefit/s, including completing and signing any claim forms

· collecting / receiving benefit payments and reporting changes in circumstances

· the appointee is also responsible for reporting any changes in their own circumstances that the Department may require. The following are examples:

o a change of name or address

o change of bank account

Hope this helps,
David

Hi Pro

There need to be safeguards in place to protect vulnerable adults from inaccurate statements regarding their mental capacity. The Visiting Officer judged from the replies from your daughter that she had the mental capacity to contact PIP.
You said previously " My Daughter has ASD and is not very good with strangers". This in itself would not be sufficient evidence to take away someone's rights to look after their own Benefits.
You say that she now refuses to talk to PIP. I suggest that you get some written evidence from a medical professional to support you in this matter. You will need to request a Mandatory Reconsideration of the Visiting Officer's decision which must reach the DWP within 30 days of the date of the end of appointeeship letter. If you live near a Jobcentre you can write out your Mandatory Reconsideration on plain paper and hand it in there making sure you get a receipt.

David