Appoint someone to act on your behalf

If you are unable to collect a payment or manage your financial affairs you can ask that another person (known as an agent) acts on your behalf. They can collect payments on a temporary or long-term basis.

A person authorised to collect your payments on a temporary basis is known as a Temporary Agent.

A person authorised to collect your payments on a more permanent basis is known as Type 1 Agent.

Where a persons medical circumstances warrant, an agent can be appointed to act on behalf of a person in relation to all aspects of their social welfare affairs, including the management of their financial affairs. This Agent is known as a Type 2 Agent.

The following schemes are eligible for the appointment of an agent:

• Blind Pension
• Carer's Allowance
• Death Benefit Scheme (under the Occupational Injuries Scheme)
• Deserted Wife's Allowance
• Deserted Wife's Benefit
• Disability Allowance
• Invalidity Pension
• State Pension (Contributory)
• State Pension (Non-contributory)
• Bereaved Partner’s (Contributory) Pension
• Bereaved Partner’s (Non-Contributory) Pension

You can see who can act as an agent and what their responsibilities are here.

An Post facilitate a Temporary Agent arrangement which may be suitable where you need another person to collect your payment for a short period (a maximum of 5 payments in 6 months).

You must fill out a TA1 form to nominate an agent.

The TA1 form is available at Post Offices or on An Post’s website here. You must complete and sign the form and give it to the person you have nominated.

The person you nominate to pick up your payment should bring the TA1 form along with their own photo ID and your Public Services Card or Social Services (Swipe Card) to the Post Office to receive a payment on your behalf. A TA1 form must be completed for every collection.

If any difficulties arise you or your agent should contact your local post office or the relevant section of the department.

If you are unable to collect your payment at the post office for the foreseeable future, you can nominate a trusted person to collect your social welfare payment. The person you nominate will be known as a Type 1 Agent.

To do this, you must complete the form ‘Application form for the Nomination of a Type 1 Agent for payment collection (other than HSE)’ at the bottom of this page and send it to the address of the benefit you are claiming.

Once we receive this form, we will send you a notification and make arrangements with the post office. The post office will then allow your Type 1 Agent to pick up your payment.

If you are resident in a nursing home you may nominate the person in charge of the nursing home to collect the payment on your behalf.

You may cancel or revoke a Type 1 Agent arrangement at any time and appoint another Type 1 Agent.

A Type 2 Agent may be suited to a person who is unable to manage their own financial affairs and who does not have another person legally appointed to represent them.

To make a Type 2 Agent application, the ‘Nomination of a Type 2 to act on behalf of the person (other than HSE)’ form located at the bottom of this page must be completed and sent to the relevant section of the department.

In all cases a doctor must certify that the person is unable for the time being to manage their own financial affairs.

A Type 2 Agent may not be appointed where an active decision-support arrangement is in place under the provisions of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. You can learn more about decision-making arrangements and the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 on the Decision Support Service website www.decisionsupportservice.ie

Ward of Court or Power of Attorney

In the case of a ward of court or a person appointed under an enduring power of attorney, the department will make payments directly to the Committee of the Ward or to the Attorney. These payments will be made to a nominated bank account.

Health Service Executive

Where the person is resident in a care centre under the management of the HSE for a continuous period of 4 weeks or more and wishes to have a representative of the care centre appointed to act as their agent, the person or their representative should contact the manager of the care centre to put the arrangement in place.

Operational guidelines describe the processes and procedures that staff in the department follow when carrying out their work.

• Operational Guidelines: Appoint someone to act on your behalf