Published on 12, July, 2020
My daughter is 25 years old Diagnosed with Autism Just before she reached 18.
She gets PIP with mobility (as she can't travel without guidance)
She is on Work related ESA and has to go to meetings with a work coach.
As yet she has never worked - long story but she has many issues going back to early childhood.
She finds the meetings at the Job Centre very distressing (too many People, Too much noise ETC) and put simply cannot always manage to do this.
I have a LPA for Finance & Property as she's dreadful with finances.
What I'd like to know is would the DWP accept this and allow me to act on her behalf in regards to her work coach meetings.
I've tried contacting the DWP ESA but I either get cut of or I am on hold for what seems like forever.
Thanks in Advance.
What is an LPA?
Yes you can become her nominee and act on her behalf. I act on my daughter's behalf for both DWP and Jobcentre. All the letters come to me and money is paid into our account. We then pay her a weekly sum. Her problems with money have also resulted in her being put in the support group for ESA so she no longer has to attend Jobcentre meetings. She is still keen to get a job though.
So let me preface this by saying this is not legal advice. However the duty to make reasonable adjustments does apply to the DWP and the way they handle you and make you do your job searching (if in fact you have to do job searching).
reasonable adjustments that you could consider asking for might include meetings scheduled at special quiet times. Remote meetings via video call, meetings where you attend with her, and less frequent meetings.
if you were going to make such a request probably the best way to do it would be in writing rather than over the phone. civil servants tend to get much more diligent about checking their facts and making sure they’re operating within the rules when they know a paper trail is being left behind.
If your her appointee she doesn't have to go to the meetings at all. Also my two autistic sons are on limited capability. So one of them have literally never set foot in a job centre. Go to the drs. Get a fit note. Tell them the situation and after two months the amount will go from £290 to £690 after a phone interview (with you) Its very easy to become an appointee. Call the dwp and someone comes to your house and asks a few questions. It's really easy and supportive because they deal with this all the time. There's no reason she should ever have to go in.
I’m not an expert but I would have thought unlikely. At best you could probably attend with her.
Have you tried asking if you can conduct the meetings by video call?
Another possibility is to challenge which group they have put your daughter in and try to get her put in a group where she doesn’t have to attend meetings.