Appointeeship And Court Appointees Deputyship

Appointeeship covers the end-to-end management of a person’s personal finances, from claiming the correct benefits to ensuring that spend is appropriate and a person’s bank balance remains healthy.

  • Capacity to Manage Finances
  • Appointee’s responsibilities
  • Appointee Options

Capacity to Manage Finances

The Mental capacity act 2005 provides a statutory framework to protect the rights of those who lack the mental capacity to make their own decisions. The MCA is underpinned by five key principles:

  • A presumption of capacity,
  • the right to be supported to make own decisions,
  • the right to make what might be seen as eccentric or unwise decisions,
  • the principal of “best-interest” is that anything done for or on behalf of people without capacity must be in their best interest.
  • The least restrictive intervention principle anything done for or on behalf of people without capacity should be the least restrictive of their basic rights and freedoms.

When it has been determined through a formal Capacity Assessment that the individual lacks capacity to manage their own finances, this creates the requirement for the role of an appointee. This role can be performed by a member of the family, some local authorities have a team who can act in this role, a charity, not for profit or private company, and where required, we will also take on this role, through our partner company Professional Appointees.

Appointee’s responsibilities

As an appointee the person is responsible for making and maintaining any benefit claims. These are detailed on the BF56 application to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to become the appointee. Specifically, the person must:

  • sign the benefit claim forms
  • tell the benefit office about any changes which affect how much the claimant gets
  • spend the benefit (which is paid directly to you) in the claimant’s best interests
  • tell the benefit office if you stop being the appointee eg, the claimant can now manage their own affairs or the Appointeeship is moved to another person/organisation.

If the benefit is overpaid, depending on the circumstances, the appointee can be held responsible, but usually overpayments are recovered from the person, reducing their benefits for a period where the overpayment is not paid back as a lump sum.

It’s a role recognised in law and must be taken seriously.

Appointee Options

Some families prefer to manage the benefits of their loved ones themselves and may already be the appointee whilst the person was a child or young person.

Many families do not want the responsibility of handling their loves one’s finances, which for many is difficult and stressful.

Where there is no family member who is willing or able to be the appointee, or where they simply prefer not to, there are other options available.

Professional Appointees Ltd is a trusted partner who act as the corporate financial appointee for many of the people supported by ZENO Ltd. They have many years of experience dealing with the Department for Work & Pensions. Their experts will ensure all benefits and premiums are maximised, deal with all paperwork and forms as and when required, and work with us to set a budget and monitor spend against it.

As well as providing Appointeeship themselves, Professional Appointees Ltd can assist families where they are uncertain of what should be in claim or with managing a person’s budget.

There are other providers of appointee services who are charities, not for profit organisations and private enterprises, and some Local Authorities also provide the service. We can speak to you about the merits and short comings of the various options.

For further details please visit www.professionalappointees.co.uk, email contactus@professionalappointees.co.uk or call 0161 706 0654 for an informal chat.