ESA. Capability to work telephone assessment

Lisa82

Hi everyone 

I had a ESA work assessment done over the telephone on 10th January with the support of my mother on a 2-way phone system as I am unable to talk on the phone and they sent my brother a letter (dated 8th February) saying that he's my power of attorney and therefore is responsible for anything to do with my benefits, to inform him that they have moved me from the support group to the work-related age group. 

I need some advice please on 2 different issues here: 

1) I have never been able to work; I am always the same and all of a sudden they are saying this.

2) I haven't agreed to my brother being my power of attorney but during the lockdown my brother spoke to them on the phone and he mentioned if there was anything he could do to be able to make & take phone calls on my behalf from all depts without me being there and they said about an appointee which I felt under pressure to agree to and I didn't sign or anything; I just had to say "yes" to them on the phone. Ever since they have sent him all my letters. However on the letter they sent him, they put about him being my power of attorney. 

I am worried about this as he may decide not to give me any money and maybe able to access my bank account (he chose to have my money paid in to), and he was my dad's power of attorney and I saw things happen that shouldn't have, and my dad wouldn't get even a penny of his money through the time we were together 

I don't even need a power of attorney or an appointee and they just ignore my letter to them, and my brother at the time thought I would still receive my own letters; that he was only going to be dealing with phone calls on my behalf, although I don't even need this if there are other ways I can contact them myself instead (ie writing or email).

Could you advise me please? Thank you 

Alex_Alumni

Hello @Lisa82 thanks for reaching out with your queries today. To help our members advise you I've marked the post as unanswered.

I'm afraid I don't have the particular knowledge to advise you directly, it may be worth contacting citizens advice for your second issue, but I don't know if they'd be able to help directly.

Hopefully our members can also share their thoughts soon.

Alex 

calcotti

Being an appointee for benefits is a DWP decision but they are supposed to assess your capability first. 

Being a Power of Attorney is something completely different and only exists if you have applied to the Office of the Public Guardian to grant Power of Attorney.

If you disagree with the decision to place you in the WARAG you need to request a Mandatory Reconsideration of the decision (which means that DWP will look at it again). If that fails you can appeal to the tribunal service.

Lisa82

Thank you @Alex_Scope for your support and enabling the members to advise me on this, and @calcotti for your very useful information and advice 

This would confirm that DWP have basically done something they shouldn't have by not assessing me or going through the procedure they should have 

Have a lovely day ahead 😊

poppy123456

calcotti said:

Being an appointee for benefits is a DWP decision but they are supposed to assess your capability first. 

Indeed, although this mostly doesn't happen. When i became my daughters appiontee in 2017 we had a visit to the house from a DWP representative. They asked a few very simple questions, asked my daughter if she agreed and this was all there was to it. My daughter then went into her bedroom once she agreed and the rest was left to me. She didn't have to sign anything.

During the pandemic the procedure has been even worse,  the process has been completed over the phone, not something i agree with but what else could they do.

Lisa82

poppy123456 said:

calcotti said:

Being an appointee for benefits is a DWP decision but they are supposed to assess your capability first. 

Indeed, although this mostly doesn't happen. When i became my daughters appiontee in 2017 we had a visit to the house from a DWP representative. They asked a few very simple questions, asked my daughter if she agreed and this was all there was to it. My daughter then went into her bedroom once she agreed and the rest was left to me. She didn't have to sign anything.

During the pandemic the procedure has been even worse,  the process has been completed over the phone, not something i agree with but what else could they do.

Thank you @poppy123456 for sharing your experience with this too. Yes, mine happened during the pandemic and they did it over the phone 

It's bad though because when I have wrote to them about this they have just dismissed my letter regarding it. 

calcotti

Lisa82 said:

It's bad though because when I have wrote to them about this they have just dismissed my letter regarding it. 

That does seem wrong. Unfortunately I know very little about appointees and whilst it is easy to find information about becoming an appointee it seems hard to find information about cancelling an appointee.

I found this (but it’s not dated so I don’t know if it is current).
https://www.moneycarer.org.uk/media/files/DWP%20Appointee%20Role%20and%20Guidance(1).pdf
See paragraph 5402.

poppy123456

Thanks for that calcotti. I admit, i didn't know the procedure either for cancelling an appointee so that link is useful, even though it's not dated.

calcotti

Now found it on gov.uk
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procedures-for-dealing-with-agents-appointees-attorneys-deputies-and-third-parties/part-5-appointee

poppy123456

Thanks calcotti, i've saved that link for future reference.

Lisa82

Thank you @calcotti for these useful links 🙂