A son finds that his mother’s Attendance Allowance goes to a cousin who became her appointee years ago, the person the DWP authorised to claim and receive the benefit for her, and who now says the money is spent. Nothing on the DWP’s website tells a family what to do next. The law does, and it gives the DWP the power and the family two routes, one of which the DWP’s own regulations make decisive.
The DWP’s power to end it
The Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 say the Secretary of State may at any time revoke an appointment (regulation 33, checked 1 November 2026), and the 2013 regulations that govern Universal Credit and PIP say the same (regulation 57, checked 1 November 2026).
No court is involved. The appointment exists at the DWP’s discretion and ends the same way.
GOV.UK sets out the grounds in plain words: an appointment can be stopped if the appointee does not act properly under the terms of the appointment, if the claimant is clearly able to manage their own benefits, or if the appointee becomes incapable themselves (GOV.UK, Become an appointee for someone claiming benefits, checked 1 November 2026). It adds that once an appointee is authorised, the DWP will monitor the situation to make sure it is still suitable.
How to raise it
There is no published form or process for a claimant or relative to ask for an appointee to be removed. GOV.UK’s page is written to the appointee, and tells an appointee who wants to stop to phone the benefit office that deals with the claim (GOV.UK, Become an appointee for someone claiming benefits, checked 1 November 2026).
That office is the only door there is for a relative too, and its number is on any letter about the benefit. Our Attendance Allowance contact page and Carer’s Allowance contact page have the main ones.
Write as well as ring. Say that the appointee is not acting properly under the terms of the appointment, which is GOV.UK’s own ground, and set out dates, amounts and what the money was not spent on. Our suggestion is to ask for the appointment to be reviewed and for a visit. GOV.UK says the DWP arranges a visit to the claimant to assess whether an appointee is needed (GOV.UK, Become an appointee for someone claiming benefits, checked 1 November 2026), and a fresh visit is the obvious way for it to look again at the current one.
What an appointee must do with the money
GOV.UK’s list of the appointee’s responsibilities is short. Sign the claim form, tell the benefit office about changes, and spend the benefit, which is paid directly to the appointee, in the claimant’s best interests (GOV.UK, Become an appointee for someone claiming benefits, checked 1 November 2026). The money is the claimant’s.
An appointee who keeps it, or spends it on themselves, has not done the one thing the role exists for.
GOV.UK also says that if the benefit is overpaid, the appointee could be held responsible depending on the circumstances. That is the DWP’s own interest in the money. Money taken from the claimant is a separate matter, and the DWP does not pursue it on the claimant’s behalf.
Theft, and safeguarding
Taking a claimant’s benefit is a crime whoever the taker is. Report it to the police on 101, or through the national fraud reporting service, Report Fraud, which says fraud is a serious criminal offence under the Fraud Act 2006 (Report Fraud, checked 1 November 2026).
Where the claimant has care and support needs and cannot protect themselves, the Care Act 2014 requires the council to make enquiries into financial abuse, and our power of attorney misuse page sets out that route with its source.
The Office of the Public Guardian has no role. Its concern route is for an attorney, deputy or guardian, people chosen to manage someone else’s money, property or decisions (GOV.UK, Report a concern about an attorney, deputy or guardian, checked 1 November 2026). An appointee is none of those. An appointee is a creature of the benefit regulations, and the DWP is its only supervisor.
The lever families overlook
An appointee is only appointed where nobody else has the authority, and the two sets of regulations treat an attorney differently. The 2013 regulations say an appointment can be made only where no attorney with a general power, or a power to claim or receive benefit, has been appointed.
They add that it ends when the Secretary of State is notified that condition is no longer met. That is regulation 57 (Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment etc. (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013, regulation 57, checked 1 November 2026). The 1987 regulations, which cover Attendance Allowance, Carer’s Allowance and the State Pension, say an appointment terminates when the DWP is notified that a deputy has been appointed. They say nothing about an attorney; ending the appointment for one is the DWP’s discretion under regulation 33.
So for Universal Credit or PIP, a claimant who still has the capacity to make a lasting power of attorney for property and financial affairs can replace the appointee by making one, registering it, and telling the DWP. For Attendance Allowance the LPA is the strongest reason to give the DWP for revoking, since its own staff guidance treats an attorney as legally empowered to act on the customer’s behalf (Working with representatives: guidance for DWP staff, checked 1 November 2026), but the decision stays with the DWP. Capacity to make an LPA is judged for that decision alone, not for managing a benefit claim day to day. Our forms page covers the LPA and the deputyship page covers the court route where capacity has gone.
If the appointee wants out
The regulations say the person appointed may resign after giving one month’s notice in writing, and GOV.UK says to contact the DWP immediately if you want to stop being an appointee. Until the appointment ends the appointee is responsible for the claim.
That is regulation 33 (Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987, regulation 33, checked 1 November 2026). GOV.UK says the benefit office must be told if they stop, for example because the claimant can now manage their own affairs.
A replacement is not automatic. GOV.UK says only one appointee can act for a claimant, so a family member who wants to take over applies in the usual way, with the DWP’s visit and interview, and our appointee page covers what that involves.
Scotland
Scottish benefits have their own appointee system. Social Security Scotland says a DWP appointee cannot normally act for someone’s Social Security Scotland applications and awards, because Scotland’s laws are different (mygov.scot, https: //www.mygov.scot/acting-on-behalf-of-someone-applying-for-benefits, checked 1 November 2026). A problem with a Scottish appointee is raised with Social Security Scotland, which arranges its own visit.