Get help to apply for Pension Age Disability Payment
Get help from another person
If you cannot apply yourself, you can get someone to apply for Pension Age Disability Payment for you.
This might be:
- a family member
- a friend
- someone else who helps you, such as a carer or support worker
They might be:
- an appointee or have power of attorney which means they're legally allowed to act for you
- a third party representative, which means they can help you apply but they do not have the legal power to act on your behalf
Help someone else with their application
Apply as a third party representative
If someone cannot apply on their own but can still make their own decisions, you can help them as a third party representative.
They must give you permission to apply on their behalf. When they’ve done this, you can:
- support them in making an application
- ask Social Security Scotland how the application is going
- make phone calls to Social Security Scotland
- receive copies of notifications
- ask for an explanation of a person’s entitlement and how it was decided
- help with a determination or appeal
The person you’re helping should use their own email address and details to:
- apply online using myaccount
- verify their identity
If they do not have an email address, you should apply by phone or complete a paper form for them. Social Security Scotland will use the information in their application to verify their identity.
Find out more about applying for Pension Age Disability Payment.
Apply to become an appointee
If the person you’re helping cannot make their own decisions, you can apply to become an appointee. This means you’ll take on full responsibility for their Pension Age Disability Payment and become the point of contact for Social Security Scotland.
You can do this as either:
- a personal appointee
- a corporate appointee, if supporting the person is part of your job
Find out more about acting on behalf of someone applying for benefits.
You can apply to become a personal appointee when you fill in an application for Pension Age Disability Payment either:
- online
- over the phone
- using a paper form
Find out more about applying for Pension Age Disability Payment.
If you’re applying to become a corporate appointee, you’ll need to phone Social Security Scotland. They’ll send you a paper application to complete along with a prepaid envelope.
Client Representative Guidelines
Social Security Scotland have published their Client Representative Guidelines. These go into more detail about the rights and responsibilities of:
- third party representatives
- appointees
- those with power of attorney
If you’d like to, you can read the Client Representative Guidelines on the Social Security Scotland website.
Get help from Social Security Scotland
Social Security Scotland can also help you to apply for Pension Age Disability Payment.
Find out more about how Social Security Scotland can help.
Apply in a language that’s not English
Contact Social Security Scotland to apply over the phone. You can do this in over 100 languages with an interpreter they’ll give you on the phone. You can also book a call in advance.
Find out more about applying for a benefit in a language that's not English.