Using POA online codes?

It definitely helps if you already a customer, at least I have found that. I can see my parents accounts listed alongside mine in the app for one of the banks without a separate login required.

Thanks, to be honest I'm dreading it, life is very busy already and worried about juggling it all. Lucky we aren't doing it in an emergency situation and that it is already registered. One of the banks I am already a customer of which might help.

Worth getting it going sooner rather than later @ExquisiteDecorations, the banks seem very slow to actually get it fully active if you then want to set up online access. Everywhere I went just took a copy of the original so I didn’t need to get certified copies. Some of them did say that they will now send all correspondence to me rather than DP so that is something to bear in mind if they are used to dealing with all that and like the reassurance of paper copies.

Thank you, I suspect I will be posting on this board more and more in the coming months and years. I will get the ball rolling at the weekend.

Yes it's possible for DPs to still operate their own bank accounts alongside your POA.

Our solicitor advised to always set up as jointly and severally and yes with J&S you can operate without needing your DB. Particularly useful for distance, time etc.

Thank you, I have got the originals filed away, planning to dig them out this weekend and set up the online codes even if they do not prove to be much use. I assume it is possible for just me, or just DB to act with any individual organisation, as well as both of us, that’s what is meant by jointly and severally. I live about half an hour drive from DParents and he lives about an hour in the opposite direction, so we are thinking separate for now until something big like a house sale comes along. Also I assume it is still possible for the DParents to use their own bank accounts etc as well as us. They still have capacity but a combination of physical and mental impairments plus refusal to use online services are making it harder and harder to manage as branches disappear and they are looking for a safety net rather than a total takeover at the moment.

We did our POAs, initially, through a solicitor before we clocked that this wasn't necessary and could be done by us and we received a certified (solicitor stamped) copy which we had to pay for. If you are doing it yourself the copy that comes back from the OPG is certified and has a weird edging to it. The latter is a valid POA and can be shown to banks etc.

Per my previous post, nobody accepted the online access code, only the DWP and Attendance Allowance Office, so you'll need the hard copy.

Some organisations, such as broadband supplier and a utilities company, accepted an emailed pdf of the certified POA.

The 'jointly and severally' is the best to get as it means you can act on behalf of the donors (your parents) independently of your DB. Helpful if there is a distance between the attorneys. If you hadn't got jointly and severally you would need your brother's signature on everything.

Only the attorney should need to be in attendance to register the POA with a bank. I went to the bank to register my DF's POA and they didn't need him to go there but I had to show the hard copy POA and bring two forms of ID. The bank, I think if I remember correctly, took the POA, scanned it and then gave it back to me.

I recall, a couple of times, I was asked to send the certified POA hard copy to organisations but I refused explaining that it had cost £40 and I didn't want to risk it getting lost in the post and I was able to email a scanned copy. In a couple of instances where organisations have been difficult I have found paperwork and set up an online account and managed things that way, avoiding the POA hassle, which it sometimes can be.

Could I jump on and ask a question? We have got registered POAs for my parents, over the weekend we agreed that we need to start using them but I haven't dug them out yet to see when they were registered (3 or 4 years ago IIRC). What is meant by certified copies, do you have to get a solicitor to sign them or similar? If they are needed does each bank etc keep them or just need to see them, how many copies to get. Also DB and I are named jointly and severally IIRC (again need to check). Should just one of us register for now? It's not house sales or similar for the foreseeable, just everyday banking etc.

@RememberDecember incase I need to call about her state pension, when I called to confirm it was done with HMRC they said the DWP system was separate and to make sure I registered it with them as well.

@HumerousHumous you might be right, she may not have needed to be there but I didn’t want to take the chance!

@Defender90 why did you need to register with DWP, I hadn’t thought of them…

Don’t see why Mum needed to be there. I’ve been added as attorney to at least a dozen institutions and never needed Dad there.

The online access may be because there’s often two or more attorneys,sometimes only acting jointly so approval from all is needed, and that’s harder online than having only one person able to approve. Not all banks will give online access to small community groups for the same reason.

DWP have been the only people who suggested a code to me, everyone else has wanted a scan or original of the document.

You should not have needed to take your DM. You just needed the certified POAs (ideally just access codes but we know that doesn't work) and two forms of ID for yourself so that is awful. I sympathise, it's such an ineffective system.

It really is a mess, isn’t it? Someone does need to come along and apply a dose of common sense to the proceedings.
It’s often the case that people dealing with this bureaucracy are going through some very stressful and emotional times dealing with elderly relatives illnesses/incapacity. We have had a very difficult few months where we have had to facilitate a house move on behalf my elderly in laws followed by dealing with social services/banks getting them both into a care home (the move came too late after several years of dithering and both became too incapacitated to live in their new house during the final months of sale…a salutary warning about not “dithering” too long…a whole other thread there…)
The stress of it all pushed my poor husband to a breakdown and it has been unbelievably difficult. Just being thwarted at every possible juncture due to inconsistencies with PoA has been a total and utter nightmare. I do hope no one else has to go through similar.

I spent the whole day on Friday trawling round the banks and building societies with my mum to get POA added. None of them wanted the online code, just took paper copies of the original but I certainly needed to be there and pretty sure mum did too. I have sent online code to NS&I but even they say they may require a certified paper copy to be sent. The whole thing is infuriating and could really do with streamlining. Even with POA, I can’t necessarily get online access, only branch, even if they offer online access to the donor. Clearly not a priority for them to invest in.

The online POA needs an overhaul as PP have said.

Not a single organisation eg banks, utilities etc has ever accepted the online access codes I generated even though it was created to make things easier. It was infuriating. This was for both my late DM and my DF. They all required either to see the hard copy certified LPOA or an emailed pdf. Including POAs for health & welfare.

The exception was the Attendance Allowance office when I had to call to advise them of changes recently and I generated a code online there and then. And even they messed it up as the code expired as they didn't do it. It's rubbish.

@NCfor24 thank you so much

the OPG actually got back to me today - yay! Thanks all for the help.

I think you can register online if you didn't have a letter with details. This is the link https://www.gov.uk/use-lasting-power-of-attorney and the part where is says pre 2020 you need to ask for an activation key is in the screenshot. Once you have that it is quite straightforward even though it feels like a lot of steps right now.
There is an email address where you can notify of address change as both my siblings (joint attorneys) have moved since we did mum's. I'd probably get it all registered and accessible online then change your address.

Even if the organisation won’t accept the code, your Dad won’t have to visit. Worst case is you (the attorney) have to visit with the form and id for you.

I don't have a letter though

we didn't get this when we made it in 2019

unless it's the long number referenced?

I have emailed but they are taking six weeks to reply it seems

thank you for clarifying how the 30 days thing works. I feel I have made some progress knowing that at least.

im also worried because I have changed address since then and apparently they don't change paperwork so the bank will probably query that too!

You receive the code immediately and although it's valid for 30 days you can generate another at any time.
So I generated a code today for cashing in a savings account and just included it in a letter to ask how to close an account.

Register the POA online as per instructions in letter and then go to gov.uk website to generate an online code for sharing.
https://use-lasting-power-of-attorney.service.gov.uk/home

I think you may be in the weird “middle zone” if you got yours done in 2019 in that Office of Public Guardian don’t supply you with a code automatically but you can get one if you request it from them..those who applied 2020 or later get a code sent automatically with the documentation.
And those of us who set ours up back in 2015 cannot have a code even if we request it and have to do things “the long way round”
like I say..it’s a confusing shambles!!!

@NCfor24 how did you get the code please?