Agents

You can be appointed as someone’s agent for many reasons. This may be because:

• the person you’re representing is overseas,
• they have mobility issues that makes it physically hard to go to our offices,
• they’re sick or unwell,
• they’re living in residential care or an institution,
• they want help or advice with a decision we've made,
• they’ve been served a trespass notice which says they cannot enter our offices.

If they have difficulty communicating in English you don’t necessarily need to be an agent for them, they can also talk to us in another language using our free translation services.

We speak other languages

An agent can be a person or an organisation. Usually, you need to be 18 or older. You might be able to be an agent if you’re under 18, e.g. if they're your partner.

As an agent, it’s important to understand your responsibilities and always act in the person's best interests and handle their information with care. Being an agent is a position of trust and responsibility.

As an agent you could be:

• a family member
• a person or an organisation that cares for them (but not a Youth Service provider if they have one)
• a lawyer, or
• an advocate.

When an agent is appointed

There may be cases where you’ll be appointed as an agent, for example:

• a court may appoint you as someone’s agent. The court will state what rights and responsibilities you have
• if you have their power of attorney or an enduring power of attorney.

If the court has appointed you as an agent, usually you can’t change or cancel your authorisation. Only the court can do that.

The person you represent can change or cancel your power of attorney but not someone's enduring power of attorney.

Agent appointed without agreement

In rare cases, we may allow you to act as an agent without providing any legal documents. For example, this might be if the person you’re representing is mentally or physically incapacitated in a way that prevents them from giving their consent in a timely manner. We’d need proof that they can’t act for themselves temporarily, e.g. a medical certificate.

If the person you’re representing has appointed you as their agent, they can decide what you can and cannot do. When acting on behalf of someone, you can do things like:

• get personal information we hold about them
• tell us information on their behalf, e.g. change of address or income
• get their mail from us
• complete and sign application forms on their behalf
•  have authority over their affairs, as granted by a current Power of Attorney
• be paid part or all their benefit on their behalf, if there's a good reason, e.g.
  • they’re sick or unwell and can’t physically withdraw money or manage their finances
  • they're living in residential care or an institution
  • they're misusing their benefit payment, and the wellbeing of their family is put at risk.

They can have more than one agent, and you can do different things. For example, you may be:

• a family member who fills in forms for them, and
• an advocate who represents them in a dispute with us.

Advocates

Agents cannot access or use another person’s MyMSD account.

The person you represent can still talk to us and act for themselves. They can choose to remove you as their agent or change what you’re allowed to do at any time.

Court Order or Power of Attorney

If you've been appointed by a court order, the court will decide what you can and can’t do on their behalf. If you hold an Enduring Power of Attorney, you’ll have authority over their affairs.

The person you represent can verbally assign you as their agent when they meet with us or call us, this will only last for that meeting.

If they want you to be their agent for longer, they’ll need to fill out an 'Appointment of Agent' form. They can use the form below or they can have one sent to them by calling 0800 559 009. This will:

• name you and whoever has appointed you as their agent
• show exactly what rights and responsibilities they want you to have
• be signed by both you and whoever you’re representing.

If someone wants you to act as their agent, they need to complete this form.

You or the person you’re representing can bring the completed form into a service centre. You can just drop it off, you don't need an appointment. You need to bring your original government-issued identity document (ID) with you. If you or the person you’re representing can’t bring the form into a service centre, call us to find out how to get it to us.

Find a service centre

Contact us

If this is their first time applying for a benefit or ongoing payment, you or the person you represent needs to bring an original government-issued ID into a service centre. Checking ID in person helps us make sure we give support to the right person and protect their identity. 

Types of documents we accept

Paying benefits to an agent

If they want their payments to go to you as an agent, they’ll also need to fill in a 'Redirection of benefit payment' form that states:

• why they need their payments to go to you
• what other ways they've tried to organise their payments
• how much of their payments they want to go to you.

You’ll need to show us proof of your bank account details, e.g. a bank statement or a deposit slip. 

Complete this form if they want part or all of their payments to be paid to you or organisation, or you can ask for a form to be sent to you by calling 0800 559 009.

Requests for a redirection will only be approved in special circumstances and for good reason.

You can decide to stop representing them, but you need to let us know.

The person you represent can also decide to change or remove you as their agent, they can let us know.

Contact us

We can refuse to deal with an agent if we have a good reason, for example, if we don’t think the agent will act in our client's best interests.