Almost two million people in England and Wales could be entitled to a partial refund of their Power of Attorney fees, after the Office of the Public Guardian overcharged them for applications.
The Ministry of Justice has revealed that individuals who applied to register lasting or enduring powers of attorney between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2017 were charged too much in fees by The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) who processes the applications and as such, they could be owed up to £108 each (£54 per power of attorney registered).
You can make a claim if you’re either:
- the donor (the person who set up the power of attorney), or
- an attorney (someone appointed by the donor to make decisions on their behalf in their lasting power of attorney {LPA} or enduring power of attorney {EPA}).
Refund claims can be made online by EITHER completing a 10-minute form (in order to make an online claim, you must have the donor’s UK bank account number and sort code) or by calling the Refunds Helpline on 0300 456 0300 (claims can only be made via phone if: the donor doesn’t have a UK bank account; the donor has died or you’re the court-appointed deputy).
The refund will be paid to the donor, although Gov.uk has more information on what to do if the donor has died.
If you have any questions, feel free to call our Wills & Probate Department on 01606 48777 or drop into our FREE weekly Wills & Probate clinic.