If you're acting on behalf of someone else

There are different ways to act on behalf of someone, including as:

• an appointee
• a third party representative

Appointees

An appointee is someone who has legal powers to act on behalf of someone who cannot manage their own affairs. This could be as a:

• power of attorney
• Legal Guardian
• Deputy

Find out more about being an appointee.

If you're already an appointee

If the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) appointed you to act for someone who cannot manage their Attendance Allowance, you can continue to act for them for their Pension Age Disability Payment.

DWP will tell Social Security Scotland when the person’s benefit has moved from DWP to Social Security Scotland.

Social Security Scotland may contact you to review your role as an appointee after the person’s benefit has moved. Social Security Scotland may need to review your role because Scotland’s laws are different from the rest of the UK. They will not need to do this if you’re already the person’s appointee for a different Social Security Scotland benefit.

Your responsibilities as an appointee

Managing money

Keep any money you receive from Social Security Scotland separate from your own money. Make sure nobody else can access it.

You may want to keep records to keep track of payments and spending.

You should always spend the money in ways that benefit the person you’re acting for.

Making decisions

When you make decisions for them, think about their:

• needs
• past and present wishes
• feelings

Communicating

If you have difficulty communicating with the person you’re acting for because of their disability, contact Social Security Scotland to get extra support from an advocate.

Third party representatives

A third party representative could be:

• an interpreter
• a healthcare professional
• a family member or friend
• an organisation

They can help out with things like:

• filling in forms
• making phone calls
• checking progress of an application
• telling Social Security Scotland about a change

 Third party representatives do not have legal powers to make decisions for someone else.

If you're already a third party representative

If you’ve helped a person with their Attendance Allowance in the past, Social Security Scotland will not find out about this from DWP.

Instead, the person you’re helping will need to contact Social Security Scotland to tell them that:

• you have been helping them
• they want you to carry on helping them

Your responsibilities as a third party representative

Social Security Scotland are not allowed to share some kinds of information with a third party representative, such as:

• bank account details
• details about the person’s condition

You can only act in this role for up to 3 months, unless the person gives permission for you to carry on for longer.