Appointeeship and Financial Advocacy

advocacy and appointeeship

Dosh can support you to manage and use your money in the way you want. This is called financial advocacy. We can also support you to manage your benefits as your appointee. Together , this is person-centred appointeeship.

Financial advocacy means you will have a named financial advocate who will meet you and support you with your benefits, budgeting, banking, bills and many more things.

Appointeeship is for people who cannot understand how to manage their own benefits (this means they lack capacity) and needs someone to do this on their behalf.

 

What does this include?

advocacyFinancial advocacy

  • Regular meetings with your named financial advocate
  • Being part of your circle of support and involving them in financial decisions (if you want us to)
  • Help with fairer charging financial assessments for contribution to care charges
  • Best interest decision process and form
  • Our Money Plan and game, which give you an accessible weekly budget
  • Learning new money skills

 

Appointeeshipbenefits

  • Applying to be appointees with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
  • Opening a Dosh managed bank account for your benefits
  • Applying for, receiving and managing your benefits
  • Completing benefits assessments and applying for new benefits, such as moving from DLA to PIP, or ESA to Universal Credit
  • Setting up direct debits and standing orders for bills and other spending from your Dosh managed account
  • Payments for holidays, bills, invoices and other purchases from the Dosh account
  • Supporting with your Motability vehicle application (a scheme that lets you use your DLA/PIP mobility allowance to lease a vehicle)

 

We can also give guidance and information (although we cannot manage these directly as appointees) on:
  • Banking and opening a personal bank account or prepaid card 
  • Support to access different grants and schemes

 

Who is this for?

We can act as appointee if you lack capacity to manage your benefits. Financial advocacy and appointeeship are good for people who want regular support to help them pay bills, manage their benefits and budget. It is ideal for people whose family members or support teams do not have the time or benefits expertise to manage their money. We work with over 200 care and support providers and always involve families and other people in the circle of support when we can.

 

How much does it cost?

Dosh is a non-profit company, but we do have to cover our costs. Person-centred appointeeship costs £18.44 + VAT (£22.13 total) per week. You may be able to get funding for this support through your personal budget or it may be funded by your support provider or someone else. If not, some people pay for this from their own benefit money and we make sure this is affordable for them. Where possible, we will apply to offset this cost through a disability-related expense as part of your contribution to your Local Authority care costs. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact us.

 

How can I find out more?

Contact us to ask questions and to see how people we support have used financial advocacy to do the things they enjoy. If you want to read about appointeeship, have a look at the gov.uk website.

 

 

This is what I want! How do I make a referral?

If you would like us to be your financial advocate and appointee, or you have any questions about these, please contact us to discuss and make a referral. You can refer yourself to us, or we can accept referrals from your family, support team, Local Authority and others.

 

I am not sure. What other support do you offer?

If there is something you want support with that is not on this list then please get in touch. We can work together to provide a package of support that suits you. If you do not think advocacy and appointeeship are right for you, have a look at our money check instead. We would also be happy to speak to you about your individual needs; please get in touch.