Almost 3 in 10 struggle to use power of attorney at banks and building societies

‘You're told how important it is to have power of attorney, but you don’t realise that enacting it can be a very long, drawn-out, frustrating process in practice.’  This is how Kate Birkett sums up her experience of trying to exercise her right to manage her husband Tony’s financial affairs before he died.

She’s not alone. Our survey of more than 1,500 attorneys has found many have had to jump through hoops to register these crucial documents at financial institutions.  Even once registration is complete, attorneys can find everyday bank account management a challenge due to restricted access. 

Here Which? explains the most common struggles attorneys have experienced within the past three years and reveals which banks were rated best and worst at handling power of attorney registrations.

How to register a power of attorney

Power of attorney (PoA) is a legal document that gives someone (the attorney) authority to make financial, health or welfare decisions for another (the donor). 

However, many people face an uphill battle to register and assert their authority as the document needs to be registered with every financial firm the donor has an account with to use it.  

This will involve providing them with an original or certified copy and some providers may only allow you to do this via a branch and it can take up to 15 days once documents are received.

Below we've listed how you can register with 21 firms and how long it takes. The table is arranged alphabetically. 

The best and worst firms to deal with

We asked attorneys to rate banks they’ve used across several categories including ease of registration, speed of registering, communication, speed of returning official documents and opening new accounts.

You can see how 16 providers were rated in the table, which is ordered by ease of registration. Providers without a high-enough sample size (30 minimum) are not included in this table. 

Coventry Building Society, Nationwide and Yorkshire Building Society finished top of the survey for registering a PoA, all of them were praised by survey respondents for their ease and speed of registering.  

Bottom of the pile was Post Office Money and Co-operative Bank, with just 46% and 43% of respondents rating the registration process as easy. 

• Find out more: how to set up a power of attorney

Problems faced by attorneys using a PoA

Our survey found almost three in 10 attorneys have faced difficulties trying to use their power of attorney with banks or building societies.

Here are some of the most common problems reported by attorneys in our survey: 

Here, we delve into some of the main issues attorneys face registering and using the PoA. 

No consistency between firms 

A common frustration is that each firm has its own process for registering documents. 

For example, both NS&I and Sainsbury’s Bank insist registration must be done by post, while Metro Bank only allows attorneys to register in branch. 

Online registration is only an option with nine banks out of the 21 banks we contacted. 

Lloyds 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 mother to go into the branch.'

• Find out more: 7 things you need to know about power of attorney

Delays made worse by branch closures

Waiting for an in-branch appointment can add lengthy delays to registration. 

Many of those we surveyed said mass branch closures in recent years meant they had lost their local bank, making it harder to get a face-to-face meeting. 

One respondent said: ‘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.'

• Find out more: is your local bank branch closing?

Online code is not accepted everywhere 

In 2020 the Office of the Public Guardian launched a digital service allowing attorneys and donors in England and Wales to share details of their LPAs with banks and other organisations online via a secure access code, to cut the need for in-person visits during the pandemic. 

More than half of the attorneys we surveyed were not aware of the online tool and only one in six of those who were aware of it had successfully used it. 

This is understandable as the service can only be used by those who registered an LPA since January 2016. 

• Find out more: power of attorney system to move online

Different access levels

Once registration is complete, it should mean attorneys can access and manage their donor’s accounts with ease. However, not every bank will give attorneys the same level of access as the donor. 

One attorney told us: ‘The bank would not allow internet access and would only deal with written correspondence sent by post, which made it impossible to deal with day-to-day financial affairs, which included a rental property.’

Another said: ‘As I live about three hours drive away from the person for whom I hold power of attorney, it’s obviously extremely annoying to have to visit a branch to carry something out.'

Almost all give attorneys access to online banking, although Nationwide only does so if the attorney is an existing customer, while HSBC attorneys only have access to online banking if the donor doesn't. 

• Find out more: best bank and bank accounts 2024

Opening and closing accounts

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.’

He said the issue is made worse by his mother-in-law having no passport or driving licence and no utility bills in her name as she has moved in with family, making it hard to pass ID checks. 

‘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.’

This means Tim has been unable to access market-leading savings accounts, as these typically have to be opened and managed online.

Closing accounts can be just as challenging. John Chappell told us he had to get his solicitor to intervene when Post Office Money refused to close his father’s savings account. 

He was told his certified copy of the LPA hadn’t been authorised properly as it was not signed by a solicitor registered with the Law Society, even though it had been.

After getting nowhere with Post Office Money, John handed over the case to his solicitor: ‘It took from summer 2020 to autumn 2022 to get the funds released, and more than half of the money in the account was spent on legal fees.’

• Find out more: best savings rates 2024

Lack of knowledge

We also found multiple examples where organisations insisted on speaking to the donor in person, despite the original legal document being sufficient evidence of the attorney’s authority. 

One attorney told us: ‘One bank I dealt with asked to speak directly with my mother. At the time she was very ill with multiple forms of dementia, had lost capacity, could not speak and no longer knew who I was. The person to whom I was speaking at the bank was insensitive and had no idea what power of attorney involved even after the document had been registered.'

Another source of confusion among staff was where attorneys had been appointed ‘jointly and severally’. 

If you’re appointed jointly with another attorney, you can only act together. If you are appointed ‘jointly and severally’, you can make decisions together, or on your own. 

It’s worth noting that being appointed an attorney jointly can cause major restrictions when accessing accounts. 

NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Halifax, Lloyds, Bank of Scotland and HSBC said that this would stop attorneys from being able to access online and mobile banking and, in some cases, a debit card.

• Find out more: 5 tips for registering a PoA document

Case study

‘Ill-equipped to deal with us’ 

Anne Bell, who acted with her sister as joint attorney for her mother, found the Co-operative Bank ill-equipped to manage two attorneys.

‘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.’

Anne was allowed access to online banking, but she couldn’t do anything through the post, while her sister couldn’t 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 wouldn’t speak to her as it only held her sister’s telephone password. She was advised to call her sister and tell her to ring.

‘It baffles me because solicitors advise you to have more than one attorney in case something happens to one of you – we can’t be that unusual.’

Anne was awarded £50 compensation from the Co-operative Bank after her initial complaint was not acted upon.

What needs to improve

There is still no consistency in how the registration process works across different firms – and not enough information about this upfront.  

The online code introduced by the OPG has made registration much easier for those who can use it and most of the providers we surveyed accept it. But in most cases, the attorney will still need to include the code on a form and then post it or take it to a branch.

Attorneys who choose to visit a branch, or are required to do so, shouldn’t have to wait weeks for an appointment, and this is something banks must consider when closing branches.

At the very least, banks should ensure staff have a proper understanding of their own processes and the legal rights of attorneys.

How the banks responded

In response to our findings, a Post Office Money spokesperson said: ‘We know the power of attorney process can be incredibly confusing and difficult for families, and we have a responsibility to make this as easy as possible for them.’ 

The spokesperson acknowledged that the bank’s processes ‘can be clearer on how to make, register or end a power of attorney’ and said that the bank ‘will be working hard in 2024 to better help and support our customers.’

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.'

The spokesperson added: ‘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’ll be making a number of improvements to further simplify the process for our customers.’

First in Which? Money magazine

This story first appeared in Which? Money magazine. Join for reviews, features and investigations, plus 1-to-1 guidance from our experts.

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