POA who to notify?

November2

Have POA's for both parents and am in the process of registering with the banks but who else do I have to notify?   Is it basically everyone they have dealings with, even in a small way such as Nectar, Clubcard etc?  

Keep_pedalling

November2 said:

Have POA's for both parents and am in the process of registering with the banks but who else do I have to notify?   Is it basically everyone they have dealings with, even in a small way such as Nectar, Clubcard etc?  

Have both parents lost mental capacity?

lr1277

Any sources of income or capital gains? So pension providers be they private or DWP?

Tbh, I didn't do this when dad lost capacity and I had a POA for him.

But dad could still sign letters. So we ended up writing to financial institutions with dad signing the letters after it had been explained to him what they were about. If memory serves, we only wrote letters twice, to close 2 separate bank accounts.

lr1277

No POA required for the following, but it was helpful to us to inform the GP surgery about who could talk to any member of staff at the surgery about dad's issues. This was helpful regarding medication issues or changes in dad's condition.

Otherwise surgery staff will only talk to the patient. Not even their spouse.

So we wrote a letter saying who was authorised to talk to the surgery staff, dad signed it and that worked well.

However if memory serves, a few weeks before dad's death, the surgery wanted us to complete a form giving essentially the same information. We didn't get around to completing this form.

Brie

Banks, credit card companies, utilities, landlord, DWP, water companies, broadband, phones, anyone medical, pension companies.

Most companies are unlikely to need to know in advance but it's good to advise them when the need arises and email them a scanned copy of the POA.  Most companies will accept scanned but some will insist on the original so best to get at least 1 certified copy when you have to send it off just in case.  (post office can certify for you for a small fee - might be £10 for 3 documents now and you have to provide the copy for them to cert)

If they still have capacity then it might be a good idea to get someone trustworthy to have 3rd party authority on their bank accounts.  This would allow you (or whomever) to do any online banking, paying bills, handling queries, using an ATM on their accounts just as you do on your own.  It would take an appointment with the bank(s) with you and account holder(s) present with suitable ID.  And the account holder(s) will be quizzed about do you know what this is about, is it ok, you're not being made to do anything etc.  Net result is that you will have your own debit/credit card for the account(s) and the bank has covered it's backside re fraud.

lr1277

Decision for your family but consider email. What if the person forgets their password and you can no longer access emails whilst they are alive?

Say computer goes down where the email password is stored?

Dad had yahoo mail and used their app so transferring the email account to a new phone was easy. Can't remember if we transferred his gmail as that was password only.

November2

Thank you for replies. They don't even have a clue how to turn a computer on (both over 80), up until now if anything needs sorting I've been doing it for them, ie phoning, making appointments etc, usually I pass the phone to one of them and they give permission for me to talk. Going to work my way through everyone I think, not having much joy though using the Governments POA site, sent link code to admiral today and they refused it and said I've got to email a copy instead!

Grumpysally

I'm currently doing this for my parents. As Brie says, if they still have mental capacity it might be easier to go down the 3rd party mandate route as they still have control over their accounts but you have access and are in a better position to keep an eye on what's going out and more able to deal with emergencies like lost cards or forgotten PIN. Some banks make this easier than others.
Though when I registered dads POA with the co-op bank there is the option for the donor to still be able to use their account if they still have mental capacity.

I started by setting up as many of their accounts online as if I were them. That way I could manage the day to day running of them. Eg. BT, British Gas, Water company. Then I'm gradually informing them of POA based on how soon I think I'm going to have to actually speak to someone there.

Some companies have POA telephone lines but you have to dig around for those. I've found that asking questions by Messenger on the companies Facebook pages most successfully gets me answers to my questions (once you get past the inevitable chatbot) 

So far the only organisation that has accepted the code from OPG has been British Gas. Its very frustrating.

Keep_pedalling

Grumpysally said:

I'm currently doing this for my parents. As Brie says, if they still have mental capacity it might be easier to go down the 3rd party mandate route as they still have control over their accounts but you have access and are in a better position to keep an eye on what's going out and more able to deal with emergencies like lost cards or forgotten PIN. Some banks make this easier than others.

You should not put off making a LPA because you have a 3rd party mandate in place, as it should cease once the account holder looses capacity, and if that happens suddenly it will be too late to sort out an LPA.

Grumpysally

Keep_pedalling said:

Grumpysally said:

I'm currently doing this for my parents. As Brie says, if they still have mental capacity it might be easier to go down the 3rd party mandate route as they still have control over their accounts but you have access and are in a better position to keep an eye on what's going out and more able to deal with emergencies like lost cards or forgotten PIN. Some banks make this easier than others.

You should not put off making a LPA because you have a 3rd party mandate in place, as it should cease once the account holder looses capacity, and if that happens suddenly it will be too late to sort out an LPA.

Quite so. I probably didn't explain myself very well. I was replying specifically to the OP who, like me, already has POA. If the donor still has mental capacity, but need's help managing financial affairs, a third party mandate is still a viable option. It all depends on the terms of the POA. Whether it can be used as soon as its registered or, only once the donor has lost capacity.

propertyrental

Is it any different if the donor has signed an Enduring POA (way back before LPAs)?

I assume we can do the same while the donor has capacity ie register the POA with the various banks, utilities etc.

If /when he (starts to) loses capacity, is there actually any point or advantage in registering with the Office of the Public Guardian, which I understand can in some cases take months (and months...)?