Hi, my name is gcun23! Has anyone had any experience of acting as an appointee on behalf of family?

gloriacun23

My daughter has claimed DLA since the age of 8 and when she turned 16 in August was given the choice to apply for PIP. She has adhd, autism, ODD, anxiety disorder, asthma, multiple allergies (anaphylaxis), scoliosis and hyper mobility. Her conditions have not improved over the years, she is actively seen in clinics, including at CAMHS regular, has an EHCP and she still requires the same level of support for most everyday activities. We completed the forms with support from an advocate and requested a paper based assessment as my daughter would not mentally cope with a telephone or f2f assessment. We received a text a few days ago with a telephone assessment date and time. I was concerned and called the independent assessment service asking why, I was then asked why she wouldn’t be able to take part and I was honest and briefly explained the reasons. I advised that my daughter’s MH practitioner has written a supporting letter explaining the effects a telephone/f2f assessment would have on her.  Their response was that as in the appointee I can complete the assessment, but my daughter would need to be there when they call. They have more or less indicated that she would not need to take part, but just be present. 

I did ask whether I should send the letter in and they said I could try and send it to DWP but didn’t seem to see the point, as they would be carrying out the assessment with me as the appointee which wouldn’t caused stress to my daughter. I’m just confused whether I should cancel the appointment and re request a paper based assessment, send in the MH supporting letter and wait for an official rejection for a paper based assessment before accepting the telephone assessment.  My worry is that I accept the telephone assessment and on the day the HCP tries to pursue assessing my daughter over the phone instead of going through the assessment with me as the appointee, as the advisor on the phone said. Has anyone had any experience of acting as an appointee on behalf of a son/daughter, family member. Would really appreciate any advice or experiences. The assessment is booked for the 14th February 2024.

poppy123456

They have given you the correct advice. As you are her appointee, then it's your responsibility to manage her claim, this includes the forms, assessments and receiving any money from any possible award. Then use the money in her best interests. 

They will not need to speak to her during the assessment. They will need to speak to you. I'm my daughter's appointee and during her assessment, I spoke on her behalf and this was a face to face, telephone assessments weren't possible at that time. This was PIP.

For her Work capability assessment (Universal Credit) it was a telephone assessment and again, I spoke on her behalf. 

Most people have assessments, paper based assessments are rare but possible. 

Jimm_Scope

Hey @gloriacun23, I've just moved this to our Benefits section incase you would like to continue this discussion

gloriacun23

Thank you Poppy for your advice,that’s really reassuring. I think I was worried that once we are on the phone they may insist to speak to her. Can I ask, in your experience of Pip assessments, the questions that are generally asked, do they mimic the form or will they usually ask for further information? Thank you 

poppy123456

You're welcome. They will have a set of standard questions to ask, going from tick boxes as well as any other additional questions related to how his conditions affect him. They may ask some questions related to the form. They may also ask some questions that seem to be irrelevant but they aren't. 

I only did one PIP assessment for my daughter and the rest have been paper based. Done 2 for myself and 1 paper based. 

gloriacun23

My daughter’s telephone pip assessment happened today. I completed this as an appointee on her behalf. 

Before the appointment went ahead, I had a phone call from the assessment office yesterday to advise that there will be someone supervising the call for training purposes. 

Today when the assessor called, she did not mention that there was another person there so I assumed that maybe this did not happened. At the end of the call the assessor did say that she will be writing the report, however, it may be likely that a colleague over looks the report first due to the complexity of the case. She also mentioned that if there is any more information needed she would call me within the next week. 

I’ve never heard of this before and wondering if this has been heard of. 

poppy123456

If there was someone with them during the call then she should have told you, so perhaps there was no one else there. 

Not sure about the colleague looking over the report, sorry. Yes, they can ring back if they have further questions to ask. 

Once the report is written and returned a decision can take up to 12 weeks. You will be contacted once a decision is made.