It is really important that you put in place Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) so that, if you lose your mental capacity (ability to make decisions for yourself), you have appointed trusted others who can make decisions for you. Loss of mental capacity can happen in many ways, eg through a road traffic accident, a domestic accident or through illness (eg dementia).

And now it is more important than ever that you not only draw up your LPAs but that you register them with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) without delay, so they are ready for immediate use should they be required.

Why do I say this?

For some time now, the OPG has been warning that the registration of LPAs is taking upwards of 20 weeks – nearly five months! Delays of this length, while frustrating, are not necessarily a problem if you still have mental capacity and if you are simply completing the process of getting your LPAs in place ‘for a future rainy day’.

But it is a major headache if your LPA is required for use immediately (because you have lot mental capacity). The significant delay in registration can cause a major headache for your attorney and leave you the donor (ie, the maker of the LPA) exposed and vulnerable.

The headline in an article in the Telegraph this week read: “Thousands wait months for powers of attorney to care for loved ones as civil servants work from home. Huge backlog of third of a million applications are still pending as staff at government agency stay away from the office.”

The article says: “A backlog blamed on civil servants working from home has left hundreds of thousands of elderly and vulnerable people unable to hand over critical financial powers to their loved ones.

A third of a million applications for lasting power of attorney (LPA) are still pending at the government agency responsible for registering them, while the waiting time has risen from 40 days to 140 days during the pandemic.

Lawyers have warned the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is no longer “fit for purpose” over the backlog.

The OPG admits on its recorded message that applicants should “wait at least 20 weeks” before trying to contact officials. The message warns that because of Covid, “many of our staff are working from home” and that “this is impacting response times in our contact centre and processing lasting powers of attorney applications”.

The article goes on to consider the consequences of many OPG staff still working from home post pandemic and the delays that are arising as a result.

Do contact us if you don’t yet have LPAs in place or if you haven’t yet registered your LPAs with the OPG. We will be glad to help you.