Power of attorney - what can I do to protect my father

Magpie137

Hello,

my parents set up power of attorney for myself and my sister when my mother was in the late stages of cancer.

Never really thought I would need it until my dad passed but…

cutting a long story short my father has just been fleeced out of over £4000 for some garden work by some travellers . He has been to Barclays Bank to get this cash out and pay them for some dreadful / minimal work.

just trying to get some ideas of how I can prevent this happening in the future , would it be possible for the bank to contact me if money is withdraw over a certain amount for example ?

I’m just thinking of what ideas I could put in place (all will be done with his consent) but I want to get some ideas before I approach him a plan to discuss.

thanks

RAS

Do you actually know who the contractor was? Could be any group of people, not just "travellers."

I'm surprised the bank didn't take better action regarding this. It might also be worth checking statements in case he's being fleeced by cold callers on the phone or on line.  I'd put in a complaint to the bank re their handling of this situation, and ask them what can be done to protect him in future.

I'd start by helping your dad to report it to the Trading Standards. Any off chance a neighbour saw their vehicle and recalls the name or vehicle type? Trading Standards and the CPS do prosecute people who fleece vulnerable people. 

Also see if dad will speak to his GP and get an assessment in case this indicates some sort of cognitive decline.

elsien

Maybe you just need to have a conversation with your dad about discussing with you before spending any large amounts of money? He’s probably hugely embarrassed about all this, so a conversation along the lines of “maybe I can help you find quote to compare”
and educating about different scams and how they work might be more helpful to him then leaving it till the trying to get money out of the bank stage.

I have regular discussions with my 85-year-old parent about all the different ways people will try and get money out of her, and it has meant that she has put the phone down on people and contacted her bank when she has been concerned. It is far better if he can protect himself.

We can all be taken for a ride, regardless of capacity, and education is the most effective way of dealing with it if you don’t think this is around your dad’s memory and understanding. 

Because even with an LPA, while he is able to make his own financial decisions he can retract consent to any agreements he makes with you and the bank at any point. 

Danien

If he has full capacity, discussions around not getting work from people passing by and the importance of getting three quotes and references should be enough and for you to help with checking these things out for any work.

If he doesn't have full capacity you may need to put measures in place so that larger payments cannot be made without your consent.

My in laws had a similar situation with some work, but not for so much money. They have full capacity, just got scammed and were really embarrassed. A chat about the issues and it hasn't happened again and that was a few years ago.

Another thing to consider is whether it was travellers. I came across a situation in my village where scammers had marked with chalk houses where the people inside were more vulnerable, generally elderly and a second and third group came round to scam and a few of the houses were robbed in distraction burglaries. It may have just have been a one off thing but thought I'd mention it.

alexsom

My dad was scammed out of almost £150k a few years ago and it was crushing - I've typed up a few things to hopefully help!

My dad promised to run all big expenses past me (he just forgot). Still worth having the conversation like a previous person mentioned here, but it can't be your only port of call. Here's what I would do having experienced this a few years ago. 

Power of Attorney: I have this for my dad, you'll then need to contact the bank and ask them to put certain blocks in place.

Review email/phone with him just to check if the scammers have those contact details. Ideally change these if so, and at least block the scammers contact. 

In-Person Scams: Install a video doorbell, those actively deter scammers

Refund: contact the bank and say that he is vulnerable and they should have protected him better. Request a refund and if/when they refuse escalate it to the Financial Ombudsman (it's not as difficult as you'd think). My dad got £120k refunded. 

Get Additional Help: google victim support. They have a phone number for victims of fraud and will be able to advise further.

Hope that's helpful!

Alex

[Text removed by Forum Team]

bunnygo

I'm so sorry - there are some truly evil people out there.

will he consent to letting you 'help' manage his money? If so you can set up the power of attorney with the bank. This will give you full online access and you can then have all the various alerts. Makes it really easy to manage all the bills.

another option is the very handy Starling account. It comes with a 'connected' card which you can give to someone - a common use is for a carer so they can do shopping with a PIN or contactless. It can't be used online or to withdraw cash, and has a limit of £200 at any one time. You get an alert each time it is used, showing where and how much.