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DWP refusing to speak to a claimant, will only speak to the Appointee
Why would DWP call handler (PIP helpline) refuse to speak to the claimant, if there is an appointee in place? Are there any safeguarding protocols or other rules? I checked https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procedures-for-dealing-with-agents-appointees-attorneys-deputies-and-third-parties/part-5-appointee but my scenario does not apply here very well.
My client’s appointee is a family member. The appointeeship was set up not because mental capacity but simply because client was seriously ill at the time and unable to deal with calls, form filling etc.
Client is better now and wanted to recall the appointee and manage their own claim.
PIP helpline refused this request. What am I missing?
Where there is an appointee, they functionally take over for the claimant until the appointment is revoked. It’s a condition precedent for the appointment to be made that the claimant is ‘unable to act’ (see reg 57 C&P Regs 2013) and it would be inconsistent with this to allow the claimant to continue managing the claim themselves. Once the claimant is able to act again, the procedure to revoke the appointment as at para 5402 of the guidance linked should be followed.
OK, thank you Elliot, that clears my enquiry.
..the procedure to revoke the appointment as at para 5402 of the guidance linked should be followed.
And that guidance sets out how DWP are supposed to respond if the claimant themselves asks to revoke the appointee. Simply refusing to speak to them isn’t what it says! You would surely expect them to speak to claimant and inform them of the process DWP need to follow in order to end the appointeeship.
..the procedure to revoke the appointment as at para 5402 of the guidance linked should be followed.
And that guidance sets out how DWP are supposed to respond if the claimant themselves asks to revoke the appointee. Simply refusing to speak to them isn’t what it says! You would surely expect them to speak to claimant and inform them of the process DWP need to follow in order to end the appointeeship.
Perhaps a little optimistic to expect them to follow the guidance at first asking!
It is generally going to be easier if the appointee is the one saying that they no longer need to fill that role. There are plenty of horror stories of claimants having a great deal of difficulty trying to free themselves of an unneeded or even actively damaging appointee, some of which I’m sure can be found in the archives here.