Power of attorney & safeguarding

Teapot55

I’m acting as Power of Attorney for a family friend with mild learning difficulties with regard to their recent inheritance, selling their house and buying another. 

All proceeding satisfactorily except I have recently been horrified to discover that they’ve recently been persuaded to part with £12,000 (twelve thousand pounds) to pay a pair of builders who knocked the door and told them the chimney was loose and the walls needed a bit of repointing and the ridge tiles were loose. 

The thing is, people like the estate agents and solicitors are scrupulous in checking all the necessary documents are in place and checking identities etc because they’re very mindful of how much trouble they could be in with the Office of the Public Guardian if they failed to follow correct procedure. 

How come then that the bank my friend banks with had no compunction in paying three bank transfers, each for approximately £4K without even a phonecall to myself as Power of Attorney? 

user1977

Because your friend is still deemed competent enough to be running their own bank account, and there's no principle that a bank ought to consult an attorney about any transactions. Or had you been told that you would?

youth_leader

Oh dear that's just too bad, I am very sorry.

hazyjo

How long ago? My old next door neighbour got caught like this (and fiercely defended it), and the bank alerted the police immediately. We had them knocking at ours, and they, along with the council, watched every step like a hawk.

She was still ripped off though - and was even talking about paying them thousands to do her windows after 🤦🏼‍♀️

Hopefully someone else will intervene, but it might be worth alerting the police and council.

Liz1966

I would contact their local Trading Standards department. They may be able to investigate it and see if the work really needed doing and if the price charged was reasonable.

user1977

Liz1966 said:

I would contact their local Trading Standards department. They may be able to investigate it and see if the work really needed doing and if the price charged was reasonable.

I really don't think it's the job of Trading Standards to send somebody out and estimate the pricing for building jobs. At best, they might choose to prosecute a trader if there's a demonstrable pattern of them breaking the law.

If the OP wants a second opinion, they should get some (reputable) builders out to have a look.

badger09

Teapot55 said:

I’m acting as Power of Attorney for a family friend with mild learning difficulties with regard to their recent inheritance, selling their house and buying another. 

All proceeding satisfactorily except I have recently been horrified to discover that they’ve recently been persuaded to part with £12,000 (twelve thousand pounds) to pay a pair of builders who knocked the door and told them the chimney was loose and the walls needed a bit of repointing and the ridge tiles were loose. 

The thing is, people like the estate agents and solicitors are scrupulous in checking all the necessary documents are in place and checking identities etc because they’re very mindful of how much trouble they could be in with the Office of the Public Guardian if they failed to follow correct procedure. 

How come then that the bank my friend banks with had no compunction in paying three bank transfers, each for approximately £4K without even a phonecall to myself as Power of Attorney? 

Really sorry this has happened to your friend. Have you alerted the bank to the fact that said friend is a vulnerable customer? If not, I would do so now. 

They should then take additional steps to ensure any unusual transactions, such as 3 bank xfers of approx £4k are queried. 

Scotbot

It is about mental capacity, if your friend is deemed to have capacity then they can do what they want and the bank is not obliged to tell you. You can still act as POA for the house transactions if your friend gives consent in which case the lawyer/EA are required to check you have their consent.

If your friend is not deemed to have mental capacity the bank have to act on your instructions not your friends.  However somone, usually a doctor, has to declare they don't have capacity and you as POA have to provide that information to the bank . 

As the previous poster mentions you can also notify the bank that your friend is vulnerable but the bank will likely require their consent to add in extra layers of security.