A Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document that appoints one or more trusted people (the ‘attorneys’) to help you (the ‘donor’) make decisions, or to make decisions on your behalf. This gives you more control over what happens to you if you were to have an accident or illness and cannot make your own decisions.
Different types of Power of Attorney for UK residents
- Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) - applies to England and Wales
- Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) - applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Although they cannot be created in England or Wales anymore, EPAs created before 30 September 2007 are still valid
- Continuing Power of Attorney and Combined Power of Attorney - apply to Scotland
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General Power of Attorney (also known as Ordinary Power of Attorney) - applies to England and Wales. With a General Power of Attorney, you authorise someone to manage your financial affairs or do certain things on your behalf. It can only be used while you have the mental capacity to tell them what to doIf you move from one UK nation to another, your Power of Attorney remains valid.
Please click on a link below for more information on the process and types of POA that apply to where you live in the UK.
Court of Protection order
Unfortunately, in some cases life events prevent people from setting up a POA while they still can. In this scenario your loved ones may be able to obtain a Court of Protection order. This is a legal document which would only be made when you lack mental capacity and there is no lasting power of attorney in place. It appoints someone to make decisions on your behalf. The order is issued by the Court of Protection in England and Wales.
You should be aware that obtaining a Court of Protection order can be a lengthy process.
Setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)
You must set up an LPA while you are still able to make decisions and the document will need to be registered with the relevant authorities.
There are two types of LPA:
- Property and financial affairs
- Health and welfare
In order for someone else to make decisions and communicate with us on your behalf regarding your Rothesay policy we would need to see the registered property and financial affairs LPA.
You can get someone else to use the online service or fill in the paper forms for you, for example a family member, friend or solicitor.
You can make a LPA online by clicking the link below: Make an LPA
Alternatively you can use paper forms.
You will need to make sure the LPA is registered as otherwise your attorney will not be able to make decisions for you.
To register an LPA click the link below.
Once you have registered a property and financial affairs LPA and recorded it with us, your attorney can help you to:
- Manage your benefits while you are still able to make financial decisions
- Make updates/changes when you are no longer able to make financial decisions
- Change bank details - please note the account name must always contain your name
Recording your POA with Rothesay
Your registered POA will need to be shared with us so we can correspond with your chosen attorney(s). You can do this by:
a) Sending a copy by post or email
You can post a copy of the POA to us or send a photo by email. Please make sure that all the pages are clear and the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) stamp is visible otherwise we cannot accept and act upon it.
Please click the link below if you do not have our contact details to hand.
OR
b) Sending us an access code
You can send us an access code that allows us to view the details of your POA online.
For LPAs registered after 17 July 2020, OPG’s online service allows donors and attorneys to give organisations access to view details of your LPA online.
If you do not already have an LPA account and wish to send us an access code you will need to create an account first. To do this please click on the link below.
Please note that the access code is valid for 30 days from the day you create it so please send it to us as soon as possible.
For more help and information regarding POAs, please click on the following links:
You can also watch the YouTube videos from the Office of the Public Guardian by clicking on the boxes below.
YouTube videos from the Office of the Public Guardian
Click the boxes below to watch the videos.
