Being forced to bring appointee

markttdd44

hello so my work couch is forcing me to bring my appointee with me when I go job centre. I had 3 work couch’s before who never had an issue with going by myself. I’ve told her I want to go by myself but she says I got to remove appointee and have an assessment. I’m pretty sure I don’t need to do that as no one else had an issue with me. I’ve asked her why I can’t go by myself and she says I have an appointee and sometimes she doesn’t even answer my questions. She says I’m not attending certain appointments even though they been cancelled and now gave me an appointment with thrive who i already talked to and referred me somewhere else. She just asked me if I want to close my claim. She said if I don’t bring aponitee I will be sanctioned, my question is do I have to bring appointee with to the job centre.

Kimi87

An apointee is supposed to manage your claim so I think it would be good for them to attend the appointment, they can talk to your Work Coach about the issues you've been having.

Albus_Scope

Hey there @markttdd44 and welcome to teh community.

As Kimi has said, appointees are there to deal with your claims, so having them go along with you would be a good idea in my opinion. As for the legalities of them saying your appointee has to be there, I'm afraid I'm unsure.

markttdd44

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1020190#Comment_1020190

legally can they sanction me or something if I come by myself

markttdd44

Do you know how I can find out

Kimi87

You could talk to a trained benefits advisor

https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

Charlie_Scope

Hello @markttdd44. What meetings are you having to attend at the job centre? It was my understanding that claimants with an appointee could not be mandated to attend work search meetings.

What 'commitments' do you have with UC on your claim? You should be able to find these on your online account under commitments.

Charlie_Scope

Also, did they tell you in person or via your journal that you would be sanctioned if your appointee does not attend?

anisty

You will need to bring your appointee as they are your representative, appointed by DWP to manage your claim. You have been deemed unable to manage your claim. All letters, phone calls and fines are the responsibility of your appointee, legally.

Although overpayments are recoverable from your own funds, civic penalties are paid by the appointee.

Therefore, your work coach is correct. You must remove your appointee or attend with your appointee. At this current time, you cannot deal with your claim by yourself until the appointee is removed.

markttdd44

The appointments are every 2 weeks to see what I’m doing with searching for a job, the commitments say I will attend my appointments and she said in person I will be sanctioned if it if I come by myself

Charlie_Scope

@markttdd44 A UC claimant can't force someone to attend a work coach appointment with them, and appointees cannot be mandated to attend. Therefore a UC claimant cannot be sanctioned for their appointee not attending meetings with them.

However, as your appointee, they are expected to manage your claim on your behalf. Is there a reason they're unable to attend the appointments?

I would say your commitments sound quite intensive for someone with an appointee. It is a little long-winded but scroll down to page 11 of the ADM and have a look at the section under 'Lacking capacity' and 'Appointee in place'.

Have you begun the work capability assessment process under UC?

anisty

If you feel you can deal with your own claim going forward, you can apply to remove the appointee. This could suit you better as you could do things alone but still have someone there with you when you needed it.

If you did that, though, remember that all DWP mail and phone calls would come direct to you. Of course you could ask someone to open the mail and help you deal with it - and you can hand a phone to someone else once you have verified ID initially on the phone but what would not work is if you leave mail unopened in a pile and never answer your phone. And it would be your responsibility to keep on top of payments, manage your money and keep DWP up to speed with any changes.

Obviously, if an appointee is in place, they have to be there to take on the responsibility for your decisions. If they aren't there, they are not in full possession of the facts of what has been said at the Job Centre.

They need to be there to act for you.

markttdd44

The reason I don’t want to bring my apointee is because I don’t think I need them with me. wouldn’t my work capability assessment have been done already while claiming?I’ve been on uc for 3 years.

anisty

Yes, that will have been done. That's neither here nor there.

The reason you have an appointee is because, at some stage, you were not considered capable of managing your own claim.

If that has now changed, you need to remove your appointee. What is your appointee saying about it all?

If it's more a case of your current appointee being too busy to commit to these appointments, then you can change your appointee.

chiarieds

So pleased @Charlie_Scope found something - I sort of thought from what I'd read elsewhere that an appointee could, very often appropriately, attend in a 'supportive' role in such a situation, but wondered if they definitely had to be there.

Hopefully @markttdd44 your question has been answered. You've shown that you have managed in the past & other work coaches were fine with that. This one's being 'awkward,' but, altho you know you can manage this, perhaps it would be easier to see if your appointee could come with you 'just in case,' tho allowing you to speak as you normally do. Would that work for you? Hoping this is a compromise you'd be willing to try.