Email us
Call us
24th August 2021
In case you weren’t aware, the Office of Public Guardian (OPG), mostly notedly used for registering lasting powers of attorneys (LPA), has developed a digital tool that allows anyone acting as an attorney to get in touch with banks and healthcare providers a lot more easily. This tool allows LPA details to be granted to institutions via the attorney, providing the institutions to view an online summary.
This replaces the paper-based format they used in the past, which could take weeks to be requested and confirmed between organisations before the physical copy can be sent out in the post. This new method provides the attorney with a secure code, and when used on the portal will authenticate the individual as the designated attorney and certify the power they hold, giving them the authorisation to carry out actions on their loved ones’ behalf.
This digital tool will allow attorneys to make important decisions a lot more quickly and put their minds at ease as the interest of their loved ones’ care or property is arranged much sooner. The tool will ensure existing checks, and the confirmation for all legal rights of someone to act as an attorney, are maintained, in turn protecting the vulnerable or elderly from any abuse of power by an LPA.
The tool will be available for any newly registered LPAs from now on. For LPAs registered on or after 17 July 2020, the required activation key will be included in the letter telling you the LPA had been registered.
If the LPA was registered between 1 September 2019 and 16 July 2020, you can use the service but will need to request the activation key separately. You’ll need the LPA reference number to do this.
It appears that the digital tool will not be available if the LPA was registered before 1 September 2019. You’ll still need to show the paper LPA to people or organisations instead.
Reference – BL132 – Aug – 2021
