How do I stop my DF who has dementia taking out Equity Release?

[Jjcrackers]

My DF has early-mid stage dementia. He is terrible with money and keeps being scammed - we now have Power of Attorney so have managed to intercept most of them.

Recently he was approached by an Equity Release company and talked into releasing equity from his home - fortunately I spoke to him just before the 'advisor' was coming to visit and managed to cancel the appointment. Despite me explaining why this wasn't a good idea at the moment, he is convinced it is 'for tax reasons' (!).

My question is - what measures can I put in place to stop him taking out an equity release loan?

The house is registered on the Land Registry 'alerts' so we will be informed if there are enquiries on the property (i.e if a scammer has persuaded him to sell it). But, my understanding is that Equity Release is a loan so there is no need to for the company to contact Land Registry?

Does any one have any advice to ensure that he can't be 'persuaded' to take out a loan?

Thank you

Is he

Btw no one (adviser/ER company) needs the deeds - it’s all electronic these days.

You don’t just have capacity or not; it depends on the type of decision and how you are in that moment. This explains it really well:

Alzheimer’s Society info

@Heroicallyfound thank you. I did call Age Partnership to stop the meeting and they have seemed to have stopped contacting him. I will speak to them again.

I can understand how difficult it is for companies to assess if a customer is vulnerable and my DF is very gullible so will believe that the scammer's scheme is a good idea and do anything the scammer tells him to (we've been through this a few times).

@Jjcrackers I know you are signed up to property alerts but I would also recommend adding your email address as one of the permitted addresses on the register.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updating-registered-owners-contact-address

I know you said that “But, my understanding is that Equity Release is a loan so there is no need to for the company to contact Land Registry? “

I have to say I’m surprised that you believe an Equity Release loan is not secured against the property. I would have thought they would do an official search before loaning the money to check for any finance (mortgage) secured against the property.

@Foreversearch Thank you. That is very helpful. I will do that.

I would sign him up to this: www.vulnerabilityregistrationservice.co.uk/

Did you read today's article about this?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/news/fraudsters-coming-after-property-wealth/

Some people on this thread would do well to read it! Op is right to be worried. It's the latest way scammers are accessing large amounts of cash.

The issue is where the money goes. The scammer takes the money. It's a step along from the 'bank loan for building work etc' scams that are being shut down now by careful bank checks.

That article did say there is supposed to be an alert between equity release companies but sadly it still seems very open to abuse.

Get a redirection on his post too.

Age Partnership were the same company highlighted in that article btw

Even without the risk of being scammed, there are very few people who would actually benefit from equity release, so yes, I think you should be careful.

It doesn't matter what a company's policies are or how many registers someone is on. If someone wants to scam somebody they will try. And that includes legit companies that might have a rogue individual making sure they make enough sales to justify their bonus.

That said - do get your dad on to the vulnerable registers as it will eliminate some of the calls. But put all the other things into practice too....Ring doorbell, put him on a phone plan that you can check up on online so you can see how he rings, enlist the neighbours' help if they see anything suspicious they can contact you.

The problem with FiL was that he would believe people from legit companies that rang up and told him he needed things like a special policy in case the boiler broke. After he died I discovered that British Gas had sold him a total of 5 that were all running at the same time because they overlapped on service which meant he couldn't actually claim for anything. I was able to convince them that they had taken advantage and they refunded about 6 years worth of payments.

We were lucky with my MiL for the most part. The worst case for her was when the OH happened by her place to find someone delivering a £4k chair for her to "try out". (the sort to help her stand, recline etc). She got something similar a few years later but because it was from a local company it was a fraction of the price. The only other thing she did was assume that she had a lot of valuable things (books, antiques, coins) and she kept calling dealers to come and evaluate. Fortunately they soon discovered there was in fact nothing of value and she ran though all the local ones who were thank fully all honest enough to treat her with respect.

@ArcticSkewer thank you that is what I came across earlier when searching. It is so scary. Especially as 'investment scams' are his kryptonite

@SmudgeButt thank you. I will look into all of that

@Clymene thank you for this. I will sign him up now.

Well yes, I agree with you, however the OP says that he is terrible with money and has been scammed, which is why she has POA.

My recently deceased mil had a habit of succumbing to kind people offering to come round and give her quotes for things. She too didn't really understand what she was doing, and family members had to step in several times.

That's true, but his doctor has said that he does not have capacity where financial decisions are concerned.

OP you need to get your doctor to help you enact the LPA so that instead of just being able to carry it transactions for him, you do so INSTEAD OF him. It removes him from being able to carry it transactions himself.

Read the thread! Vulnerable male open to scamming-this isn’t about inheritance. Would you be happy if this was your family member?

Equity release is rarely the right thing to do. A relative, sound of mind but prone to extravagance, is about to sell her house and move to assisted living. Basically half the house belongs to the equity company, she’s spent the equity and is paying interest on the loan. She has a huge pension, so if she’d lived within her means this whole process would not have been so stressful.

You could also give them a poor review on Trustpilot if they persist.

Set up a postal redirection so that all of his mail has to come through you? Could that help?

A credit check and setting up alerts would could be helpful!

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report/

Telephone Preference Service is worth doing too.

Equity release is a mortgage so any markers preventing it would stop the loan.

I don’t have anything constructive to add but wanted to send solidarity. My dad went through a phase of being scammed and it was heartbreaking almost impossible to unpick some of them. Fortunately he didn’t own his property and he’s now in a care home but wishing you all the best with dealing with it 💐