a Foundation acting as DWP appointee

[Turner87]

Hi

I am wondering if anyone has had any dealings with a foundation acting as DWP appointee? My dad was referred to them by social services and they have been put in charge of his benefits- attendance allowance and pension at a cost to him of £65 a month. We have POA for my dad so I am not sure how this has been allowed to happen and I can not get rid of these people has they refuse to stop taking his money (big surprise there). So far they have claimed 4 months of his benefits and his state pension so have quite a sizeable amount they are 'managing'. I have had no contact from them and they havent paid a single bill for him.

Does anyone have any experience with them?

Thank you

 

[Shedrech]

hi @Turner87
as your dad has LPAs in place, I too wonder why and how an institution has been appointed DWP appointee for his benefits
I'd go back to Social Services and ask questions
as I see it, if your dad is considered to have capacity then he ought to have agreed to this and can also decide to alter the situation ... so he can contact the DWP and explain that this arrangement is not needed
if your dad no longer has capacity to manage his financial affairs, then his Attorneys take over the management and I would have thought are first port of call re DWP appointeeship - have you made it clear that you are your dad's Attorney and can show them and the DWP a certified copy of the LPA document

you might be wise to call the National Dementia Helpline to talk this over with one of the advisors as they have a lot of knowledge of financial matters
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/national-dementia-helpline

 

[Beate]

I've never heard of them, but if you have LPA then you should be able to go to the bank and revoke their access.

 

[nitram]

My dad was referred to them by social services and they have been put in charge of his benefits- attendance

It would be interesting to find out who signed Form BF 56 applying for DWP Appointeeship.
They should have checked with family members that no finance LPA, COP deputyship, or DWP appointeeship was in place and that nobody objected.

Part 5 - Declaration
...
...
To the best of my knowledge no other person or organisation has been
legally appointed to administer the affairs of the person named in Part 1
I declare that I have discussed my appointment with other family members or next of kin and that they do not object to my application. This applies to corporate appointees as well.
...
...
https://assets.publishing.service.g...26776/Appendix-01_An_example_of_form_BF56.pdf

 

[Turner87]

Thank you so much for that. We were not informed by the social worker. I have a complaint in about her too which is another matter. I contacted them to tell them that we have the POA in place but they said that it didn’t matter and they will continue to be in charge of his benefit money. Iv just drafted a very snotty email to them, enclosed our Poa document and copied that section you posted about informing us. Thank you for your help. I can’t believe this ‘foundation’ even exists they take £65 a month to manage his benefits but haven’t paid one bill. £150 just to open an account with them and they’re recommended by the dwp. It’s disgraceful

 

[canary]

I think I would also contact the DWP enclosing a copy of your POA and stating that you did not consent to this, are not happy with the way the company is managing his money and wish to be his appointee yourself.
the Foundation are unlikely to want to relinquish being appointee as they are making money out of it.

 

[nitram]

and wish to be his appointee yourself.

No. state that you you will be using the power granted to you by the pre-existing financial LPA.
The two cannot co-exist hence the declaration by the applicant for appointeeship, in your view this was filled in incorrectly by the applicant and you consider the appointeeship to be invalid.
Ask the DWP to pay any future pension and benefit into his personal bank a/c and not the specially set up BF57 one.
Also, if you have not done so, register the LPA with his bank, maybe consider a new a/c and splitting any joint funds.

 

[canary]

The two cannot co-exist

I was both mums DWP appointee and had CoP deputyship. Is is different in this case?
Just curious.

 

[nitram]

There's a statement somewhere that they should not co-exist, I'll have a look for it later.
As a matter of interest did the BF57 a/c charge an annual fee?
Some do as they consider there is not enough cash flow to warrant free current a/c banking.

 

[Turner87]

They charge £150 to open an account, £65 a month to manage the account. £35 a year account fees and if you are unlucky enough to have a cash card it’s 99p per cash card withdrawal. I’m honestly astounded that such an organisation exists.

 

[Jaded'n'faded]

They charge £150 to open an account, £65 a month to manage the account. £35 a year account fees and if you are unlucky enough to have a cash card it’s 99p per cash card withdrawal. I’m honestly astounded that such an organisation exists.

I'm angry on your behalf! This is disgusting, especially the cavalier way it has been set up.

I really hope you are able to resolve this - please let us know.

 

[nitram]

The £35pa a/c fee will be levied by the bank.
If they were proactive they might be able to find a bank with zero fee, the limited cash deposit/mth could be a problem, having the facility to have a debit card won't help.

They are registered as a not for profit charity.
Presumably the fees pay the running costs including a fair wage for workers.

So far they have claimed 4 months of his benefits and his state pension so have quite a sizeable amount they are 'managing'. I have had no contact from them and they havent paid a single bill for him.

Are you saying that the 4 months of pension and benefits have left his BF57 account and (to use a Fr Ted 'Lourdes fund' phrase) are 'resting' in their's?

Not paying any bills means the creditors have provided 4 months care FOC, not a good cash flow situation.

 

[nitram]

@canary

Sorry can't find reference,, think it was in one of the DWP staff practise documents.
Problem with these, and many government documents, is that if you save a link and then go to it some time later you get 'moved go to <generic site>' which is useless.

Thinking about it:

• If appointeeship for person lacking capacity is applied for, the fact that they already have LPA etc is trapped.
• If deputyship is applied for I don't think any question is asked about appointship.

@Turner87
In my opinion the best course for the OP is to establish the LPA as the sole method of controlling her dad's finances and try to recoup any charges that may have been incorrectly levied.

 

[nitram]

I'm concerned that, when an LA decides that a person cannot fully handle their finances, they don't say to the family:

• Does anybody have legal power to handle these finances?
• If answer is 'yes', no problem.
• If answer is 'no', further question.

• Would you like us to help? We can do this in two ways.

• We can apply for DWP deputyship which only covers state pensions and benefits. If we apply through a third party there will be set up and ongoing admin fees. You can make a simple application yourself for free.
• We can apply for COP deputyship which covers all finance. You can apply yourself, it is not free, if we do it there will not only be the set up cost but ongoing fees to the deputy.

Anybody seen any flying pigs?