Is your NDIS Plan Management option still working for you?

December 22, 2020

It’s safe to say that 2020 has been an unpredictable year with many curveballs. For many people this year has brought with it lots of changes, leading to what you need from your disability supports to also change.

When going through changes, it’s normal to ask for help or maybe even require additional disability supports. If you’re finding your current plan management option is no longer working for you, it’s important to know there are other options!

The options for managing your plan funds are:

• Self-managed – You can choose to take care of all the administration yourself, including managing your funding, paying for supports and service providers, keeping records for auditing purposing and budgeting to ensure your funds lasts until your next plan.
• Agency-managed (also known as NDIA-managed) – The NDIA manages your NDIS funding and bookkeeping for you. Your providers will be able make a claim for their fee directly from the NDIA, so you won’t need to pay for anything or keep records yourself.
• Plan-managed – You have complete choice and control over the registered plan management agency NDIS that you decide to work with! Their job is to handle all of the difficult administration of your plan funds including paying suppliers, budgeting to ensure you maximise your funding and providing recommendations based on your funds and goals. A plan manager is independent from the NDIS and therefore will always have your best interests at heart.
• Mixed (a combination) – You can also choose to combine any two of the above methods – for example, you may choose to have one component of the budget managed by a Plan Manager, but self-manage the rest until you feel confident enough to do it on your own (if that is your preference).

Depending on what about your current plan management option is no longer working for you, choosing the ideal NDIS plan management option for you could seem difficult. 

In this blog, we’ll cover some of the most common reasons we hear at Disability Plan Services for why you might want to change NDIS plan management options.

If you’re self-managing 

We often meet clients who have been self-managing their NDIS plan but are now finding this option to be too time consuming, overwhelming, confusing or stressful – especially after the stressful and uncertain year everyone has experienced.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to switch to another option such as NDIA-managed, plan managed or a combination of two options – there’s no shame in asking to switch. 

If you’ve always self-managed your plan but now you’re wondering whether it is still working for your lifestyle, consider plan managed.

Everyone with an NDIS plan is eligible for plan management – all you need to do for funding is request it at your planning meeting or plan review. This is because there is no eligibility criteria for plan management. The NDIS Act states the “NDIA must give effect to a participant’s plan management request”.

If you’re NDIA-managed

After spending some time with your plan managed by the NDIA (also referred to as agency-managed), you may be finding certain limitations frustrating such as not being able to work with service providers that aren’t NDIS registered.

Although this is a great option for those who are seeking more assistance with managing their plan funds, it’s normal to be looking for a more personalised solution.

NDIS plan management is a very similar way to manage your plan funds with the key differences being that is offers a more customised approach where your preferences, likes and dislikes are all taken into consideration. It also opens you up to being able to access disability support services from any provider you like!

If you’re plan-managed

Because of the nature of NDIS plan management, it’s normal for you to develop capacity over time and become more confident in looking after your plan funds with less support.

If you’re considering plan managed vs self managed ndis for your plan, a great option is to combine the two. Some aspects of your plan can be managed by your Plan Manager, such as paying invoices, whereas other aspects you can choose to manage yourself like liaising with providers and negotiating your preferred rates. It’s totally up to you and NDIS plan management gives you the freedom to be flexible. 

If you want to make the switch to being plan-managed before your regular scheduled plan review, you will need to make contact with the NDIS on 1800 800 110 and request to switch to being plan-managed. We recommend stating that you need to switch because of COVID-19 to ensure the change can be processed quickly.

To get in touch with the Disability Plan Services team about your plan management option, complete the form here.