You can appoint someone else to receive your benefits, so that they can use the money to pay expenses such as household bills, food, personal items and residential accommodation charges.
You can find out more about becoming an appointee on the GOV.UK website.
You can also choose to ask a friend or family member to manage your affairs for you; this is called a power of attorney.
Financial services for adult social care clients
Our appointee/deputyship service can act on behalf of social care clients who lack the capacity to look after their own affairs. Our team also provides other services, including protection of property and arranging funerals, for people in the London Borough of Bromley for who there is no one else able or willing to do so.
What is an appointee?
Some benefit claimants are unable to manage their benefit affairs, usually because of mental incapacity or severe physical disability. Where no one else is able or suitable to do so, such as a relative, friend or solicitor, Bromley Council can apply to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to be appointed to act on behalf of the benefit claimant in order to deal with their benefits.
What is a deputy?
A service user may have an ongoing need for decisions to be made on their behalf as they lack the capacity to make such decisions on their own, and have no-one else who is able or suitable to do so, such as a relative, friend or solicitor. In these cases Bromley Council can apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed as a deputy to manage the person’s financial affairs.
Whereas appointees manage benefit income on behalf of service users, deputyship covers all financial assets and savings. Deputies can only make decisions that they are authorised by the Court of Protection to make. The role typically involves managing bank accounts, pensions and other financial assets on behalf of people.
Protection of property and community funerals
The council will take reasonable steps to prevent or reduce the risk of loss or damage to a person’s property where the person is admitted as a patient to any hospital, is admitted to accommodation provided under Part III of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, or is taken to any other place.
The council also has a duty to arrange a funeral where there is no one who is available or willing to do so.
Referrals
The team cannot accept referrals directly from individuals, friends or family members. All referrals are through adult social care.
Charges
We will charge for these services, you can find the costs in our charging policy.