Creaking power of attorney system means almost three in 10 struggle with banks or building societies, Which? finds
Despite the importance of having power of attorney for loved ones, frustrated relatives and friends told the consumer champion about their struggles with delays, with one describing the experience of registering as ‘an absolute nightmare of obstruction and bureaucracy’.
Obtaining power of attorney can be a lengthy process, and can take up to 20 weeks even on applications without mistakes. Once it has been approved by the Office of the Public Guardian, the document needs to be registered with every financial firm the donor has an account with in order to use it, which can lead to more frustrations as each bank has a different process for registering, such as online applications, via post or in branch.
The consumer champion’s survey of 1,530 attorneys found that three in 10 (29%) respondents described dealing with banks to manage the financial affairs of their donors as somewhat or very difficult. The figure for building societies was 23 per cent.
Which? asked banks how long it typically takes for registration to be completed once documents have been received. The timeframe ranged from a couple of minutes to up to 15 working days with some major high street banks. In one in four (25%) experiences, it was reported that registration took longer than expected.
Coventry Building Society, Nationwide and Yorkshire Building Society finished top of the survey for ease of registering, all of them were praised by survey respondents for both their ease and speed of registering.
Seven in 10 (70%) Coventry Building Society customers said the registration process was easy and the same percentage of customers positively rated the level of communication during the registration process. Two thirds (67%) of Nationwide customers and around six in 10 (63%) of Yorkshire Building Society customers said the registration process was easy.
However, several high street banks fared much worse in the survey. Waiting for in-branch appointments can add delays to the process, which has likely not been helped by the rapid rate of bank branch closures in recent years. Initiatives set up by the banking industry to replace shuttered branches, such as shared banking hubs, do not always offer power of attorney services.
Lloyds, which has closed 721 branches since 2015 and is set to close another 53 by the end of 2025, was criticised by one customer who said their experience with the bank was a “nightmare” - “It repeatedly requested I go in with ID during the pandemic, at one point asking my dying end of life mother to go into the branch”.
Another respondent noted: ‘I have found it almost impossible to deal with the banks and this is despite me having a 40-year career in finance. My parents are on the other side of the country, my father is in a care home, and the local bank branch has closed. The bank wants me to make a 200-mile round trip to the nearest branch to sign the relevant papers.’
Only around half (53%) of customers of Barclays, which has closed the most branches since 2015 (1,144, with another 92 scheduled to close by the end of 2025), said the registration process was easy and less than half (49%) rated the level of communication during the process as good.
These firms do offer the option to register the document online, but are among the majority of banks and building societies rating poorly for ease of registering.
Bottom of the pile was the Co-operative Bank with just 43 per cent of customers rating the registration process as easy.
The survey found that in one in seven (15%) experiences, there was a reported lack of knowledge among staff across all banks. In one in 10 cases, the bank did not keep them informed during the registration process.
The consumer champion’s survey also found that even once registration is complete, attorneys can find everyday bank account management a challenge due to restricted access.
One woman Which? spoke to, Anne Bell, 67 from Shipley, West Yorkshire, was awarded compensation after her request to make a complaint against the Co-operative Bank was not acted upon.
Mrs Bell, who acted with her sister as joint attorney for her mother, found the bank ill-equipped to deal with two attorneys acting jointly and severally stating: “All the correspondence including my cheque book, debit card and Pin were sent to my sister. She had to post them to me, which struck me as a security risk.”
While Mrs Bell was allowed access to online banking, she could not do anything through the post and her sister could not do anything online. After a payment to her mother’s care home was flagged as potentially fraudulent, Anne was asked to ring and confirm, but the Co-operative Bank would not speak to her as it only held her sister’s telephone password.
If attorneys are appointed jointly with another attorney, they can only act together. If attorneys are appointed ‘jointly and severally’, they can make decisions together, or on their own.
The Post Office also fared poorly in the consumer champion’s analysis, with just 46 per cent of customers stating that the registration process was easy and concerningly just 29 per cent rated the level of communication during the registration process as good.
Tim Read, who has acted as an attorney for his 91-year-old mother-in-law since 2014, said trying to open new accounts on her behalf was “an absolute nightmare of obstruction and bureaucracy”.
Mr Read said the issue was exacerbated by his mother-in-law not possessing a passport or driving licence and not having utility bills in her name as she has moved in with family - all of which made passing ID checks difficult. He said: “I now try to open accounts at a local branch where I can talk to people. However, living in north Wales means I often have to travel.”
One consequence of having in-branch appointments is that Mr Read is unable to access market-leading savings accounts, which are typically opened and managed online.
The problems consumers are encountering with registering and then using power of attorney reflect a general drop in customer service standards across the board.
Which? wants consumers to be able to easily contact companies, without unnecessary barriers and in the way that suits them best - whether that is speaking to a person or a chatbot. Everyone should be able to get the answers they need without long waits or endless loops, be kept informed and treated fairly, with empathy and as an individual.
Sam Richardson, Deputy Editor of Which? Money, said:
“Taking on power of attorney for a loved one is a big and often stressful responsibility - but our research has found that it’s been made needlessly more difficult when it comes to registering and using that power with banks.
“While some firms fared well in our survey, others leave a lot to be desired - and the raft of bank branch closures in recent years may well be adding to delays people are facing.
“Firms need to up their game to ensure those registering power of attorney can do so in a timely and efficient manner.”
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors
Research: Which? surveyed 1,530 members of the general public and its Connect panel members between 6-21 December 2023 who have held power of attorney to manage the financial affairs of another person and dealt with organisations on behalf of the donor in the past three years. Banks without a high enough sample size (30) were not included in the table.
Advice for donors and attorneys
As a donor:
DO Get certified copies. This can avoid delays waiting for one organisation to return documents before registering with others.
DO think carefully before appointing attorneys jointly (as opposed to ‘jointly and severally’). This will restrict their access to accounts and if they live far apart, visiting the same branch at the same time could be impractical.
DO write a list of all your savings, current and investment accounts. Gathering all the relevant paperwork and other important records in one place will help speed things up.
DO get organised early. You can only register a power of attorney while you still have mental capacity.
DON’T avoid difficult conversations with your family. Ideally you should explain to your chosen attorneys what the role involves, and check they have the time to do it.
As an attorney:
DO keep detailed records of significant decisions and receipts.
DON’T Put up with bad customer service. Some staff may not be experienced or fully trained, so you may need to politely challenge them.
DON’T be afraid to complain. Attorneys can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service if the donor has lost capacity. In some cases, it may give the donor compensation.
Right of replies
A Co-operative Bank spokesperson said:
“It’s extremely important to us that our customers feel supported when times are difficult, so we’re disappointed to see the results of this survey.
“We have worked hard to make positive changes to the process of registering Power of Attorney since 2020, including enabling customers to upload certain documents online. We are pleased to confirm that throughout 2024 we will be making a number of improvements to further simplify the process for our customers.
“If any of our customers are facing difficulty registering Power of Attorney, we’d invite them to get in touch with us on 03457 212 212, we would be more than happy to assist them.”
A Post Office spokesperson said:
“We know the Power of Attorney process can be incredibly confusing and difficult for families, we have a responsibility to make this as easy as possible for them.
“We acknowledge that our Power of Attorney processes can be clearer on how to make, register or end a power of attorney.
“We will be working hard in 2024 to better help and support our customers, looking across all our processes and journeys to help identify improvements to better support them in the future.”
About Which?
Which? is the UK’s consumer champion, here to make life simpler, fairer and safer for everyone. Our research gets to the heart of consumer issues, our advice is impartial, and our rigorous product tests lead to expert recommendations. We’re the independent consumer voice that influences politicians and lawmakers, investigates, holds businesses to account and makes change happen. As an organisation we’re not for profit and all for making consumers more powerful.
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