Free Power of Attorney? - Is 'Local Money Advisors' a scam? Advice needed.

bob69

Hi all. My elderly mother still has all her faculties, & is happy to appoint both me & my sister as joint & separate P.O.A.'s. I have applied & received forms LP1F & LP1H to begin the application.
My sister has alerted me to an advert she has seen on Facebook, for a company called Local Money Advisors, which is offering a free Power of Attorney application, as opposed to paying £82 each for the separate Finance & Health applications. I have attached a screenshot of the advert she sent me. They have a link on there which lists an L.M.A. (I don't wish to complete their full name).co.uk website.
My initial feeling is one of suspicion, as it seems too good to be true, & if it was genuine I think it would merit an inclusion on the official MSE  P.O.A. page, which still states each legal P.O.A as costing £82 each.
 I was wondering if anyone has any experience of this firm? A Google search for L.M.A. does not bring up a direct link or advert bearing their name, which initially set alarm bells ringing. In order to start an application process, they require personal information: Name, Postcode, email & mobile number, & the final process is a checkbox agreeing to them contacting you to continue the application.
They list a high trust pilot & feefo rating on the advert, but it just doesn't seem genuine to me .
If anyone has any feedback it would be appreciated, particularly if it is negative, as it can then serve as a warning to others not to divulge personal information to both this company, & other unknown sources online. Thanks for any reply. 👍

cardiogirl

It doesn't say its free, it says no upfront costs. I take that to mean that there will be costs further down the line, perhaps when the paperwork has been submitted or approved.  My guess would be that the costs will be considerably greater than the £82 it costs to do it yourself. 

bob69

Thanks. I realised the wording after I posted, but never had the chance to return to the post to edit or comment further. I'm still interested to know if anyone has had dealings with them in the past? Or info on what their pricing structure is?

cymruchris

Solicitors can be POA - it may be that they are offering their services to those that don't have immediate family - or will try and persuade people that appointing a solicitor is a far better idea than your family member. The advert doesn't mention who the attorney might be. If they are then indeed appointed - they'll take their cut as part of their 'service' when the POA has been activated. And for the record - I would prefer not to have a solicitor being my POA - as they would base their decisions on value rather than what I might want.

Someone that knows me well will know what I'd want - a solicitor would just be looking at the numbers. 'He needs a new coat for winter? right - basic high street economy brand polyester £19' - whereas my friends would know I'd much prefer something a bit snazzier than something off the high street, and probably warmer. (I may be beyond caring by that point - but still - I would want to be treated to my own standards - not a solicitors standards).

Realistically they are not going to be doing something for free unless there's something more lucrative in it for them.

Misslayed

We have just registered our POAs, the fees are payable to the Office of the Public Guardian, there is no alternative. I would be very suspicious of any 'service' advertising on Facebook. 

Pollycat

Misslayed said:

We have just registered our POAs, the fees are payable to the Office of the Public Guardian, there is no alternative. I would be very suspicious of any 'service' advertising on Facebook. 

Me too.
There are many threads from people who have been stung by Facebook ads.

This company appears to be Centurion Estate Planning, based in Falkirk and was incorporated on 11/8/2020.

Local Money Advisor (localmoneyadvisors.co.uk)
Local Money Advisors

These ^^^ links advertise 'Get a free Power of Attorney quote now" and 'Book your free will writing appointment now'.

bob69

Thanks to everyone for the replies, just confirmed what I originally thought. But maybe L.M.A. are not quite the scammers I initially suspected. Just a law firm advertising on FB. We'll continue with the application ourselves, as we were intending to do anyway. 👍

Keep_pedalling

It’s an ad on Facebook, so don’t touch it with a very long bargepole.