Disengagement

You must use discretion and judgment where an individual:

• is uncooperative about providing supporting information
• has not responded to us

If the individual has disengaged, you should use discretion to make a person-centred decision based on the individual’s situation, and consider:

• good cause
• the balance of probabilities
• a case discussion
• a consultation

Every effort must be made to:

• contact the individual to explain that a lack of information may cause delays and impact their determination
• understand or explain gaps or inconsistencies using decision-making tools

The individual might fail to supply requested supporting information as part of their review. You must use judgement and discretion to consider whether their assistance should be suspended.

You should ensure you have consulted and follow the guidance in relation to suspensions before suspending assistance.

The role of local delivery teams

Local Delivery staff can offer support to individuals making an initial application who:

• need support to gather supporting information
• have no support networks

You should only refer an individual to Local Delivery:

• before part 2 of an application is started
• after part 2 of an application is received (but only if Local Delivery have already been involved in the case)

Before making a referral, you should consider if:

• an application is not detailed enough
• local delivery have not been involved
• other decisions-making tools have been used first

Deadlines

You should set a deadline for the individual to respond to a request for information only if:

• you’ve made every effort to contact the individual by other means
• more additional supporting information is strictly necessary to determine an individual’s eligibility to ADP

Suspensions

You may need to consider suspending an individual’s entitlement to Adult Disability Payment.

Suspensions can happen as part of any determination where:

• the individual has ongoing entitlement (the individual is a client and you are carrying out a review)
• a decision must be made without an application or review form (known as an ‘unscheduled review')

the individual has failed to provide the information requested by the end of the period set and the information is required for you to make the determination. You should refer to the guidance on gaps and inconsistencies when considering whether the information you have requested is required to make a determination. Before suspending an individual’s award, you should always

• ensure that they’re given the opportunity to attend a consultation
• consult and follow the guidance on suspensions carefully. Failure to follow the guidance may otherwise result in an individual’s award ending when that is not the correct outcome

The information on suspensions in this guidance is not a substitute for the Adult Disability Payment suspensions guidance. That guidance should always be what you consult in the first instance when considering suspending payment.

In suspending payment of Adult Disability Payment, you should make a further request for the information. The request should note that, if the individual fails to supply the information by the new deadline, you may then determine that the individual is no longer entitled to Adult Disability Payment.

Where an individual has an existing entitlement to Adult Disability Payment, you may need to end the individual's award if the individual fails to supply the necessary supporting information. However you must carefully follow the guidance in the suspensions chapter (Ending entitlement after a further request for information section) if you are going to do that.

Related reading

• local delivery
• principles of decision-making
• suspension of assistance