Power of Attorney

sleepless_saver

After a frustrating morning on the phone, I've come to the conclusion that banks customer services haven't a clue which savings accounts can be opened with a PoA.

So, can anyone suggest a savings account, preferably online and with a decent rate of interest, which I can open with a power of attorney?

Kohoutek

What kind of power of attorney is it?

Biggles

The answer is that most accounts can be operated with a PoA but that most bank staff are clueless on how it works. Or even what one is...

A great deal of perseverance is needed but I did find that, in almost all cases, I was successful in opening the accounts I needed. Keep asking to be put through to 'someone who can knows about PoAs'.

sleepless_saver

Kohoutek wrote: »

What kind of power of attorney is it?

A Scottish one! It covers both welfare and money matters and has been registered.

Kohoutek

sleepless_saver wrote: »

A Scottish one! It covers both welfare and money matters and has been registered.

I've opened accounts with an English registered lasting power of attorney before (which is virtually identical to the Scottish equivalent for what I can gather).

Basically, my advice would be don't ring the bank or building society before opening the account.

What you should do is fill out the application form using the details of the person you are acting as an attorney for, e.g. name, date of birth, apart from address, where you should put your address. Sign the application form as "your name", then write below "attorney for mr/mrs x"

Then write a covering letter explaining that you're an attorney under a registered power of attorney and have opened an account on behalf the person that lacks capacity. Enclose two forms of ID for both you and the person that lacks capacity (the bank will often specific what type of ID is suitable) and a certified copy of the power of attorney (i.e. get a lawyer to sign the photocopy). If the person that lacks capacity lives in a carehome, you might want to get a letter from the manager confirming this and stating how long they have lived there.

I've used this technique to open new accounts with about ten separate institutions and it's worked without a hitch every time. They will always have at least one person that understands how powers of attorney work, but if you phone them you probably won't get through to this person!

sleepless_saver

Kouhoutek, this is a really useful guide. Thanks.

Kohoutek

You're welcome. Good luck!