‘Let power of attorney be granted online’

consumer affairs Editor

POWER of attorney should be granted online, City watchdogs have suggested, prompting warnings from lawyers that the move could put the elderly at risk of fraud.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said the requirement for a signature when applying for Power of Attorney should be scrapped, making it easier to apply.

It wants the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), the body that processes applications, to allow people to fill in online forms that would not require a “wet” signature.

It is understood the OPG has been privately considering the change, which would require a change of law to be passed by Parliament.

The regulator made the proposal in a paper on improving financial services for the ageing population, published yesterday.

However, solicitors warned last night that the move could put the elderly at an increased risk of financial abuse by making it easier for people to defraud them. Gary Rycroft, a solicitor at Joseph A Jones & Co, described the FCA’S call as “concerning”.

He said: “A wet signature is no bad thing because there is an increased risk of fraud if things can be done purely by digital means. I would be concerned if it was no longer asked for on applications.

“Unfortunately we are seeing more and more cases of criminals abusing power of attorney as a way to take advantage of elderly people, and this would only assist them.” According to

Action on Elder Abuse, a helpline for elderly people, more than 160,000 over-65s become victims of financial abuse every year, and the figure is increasing.

The paper said: “We would like to see the OPG and other authorities in the devolved administrations develop more customer-friendly approaches to setting up, registering, storing and understanding Lasting Power of Attorney.

“While LPAS can be registered online, they require physical rather than digital signatures, and once complete, consumers need to take certified hard copies (or the original copy) to get them registered.”

At present, appointing a power of attorney can be a complicated process, prompting many people to pay to appoint a solicitor to help them negotiate the paperwork.

It is free to appoint the solicitor, but when it comes to registration, which is done at the point of taking over a person’s finances, there is a fee of £82. The FCA’S paper also hinted at support for so-called “carers cards”.

At present, people with power of attorney commonly find their access to money is restricted to accessing money at a branch, or using the older person’s debit or credit card and therefore PIN or password sharing.

‘We would like to see more customer-friendly approaches to setting up Lasting Power of Attorney’

But having a carers card would mean that the carer would legitimately have their own card to access the older person’s account.

The FCA believes that this would benefit both consumers and banks by reducing reliance on informal coping mechanisms, and creating a better audit trail, which would allow banks to be clear about who is accessing and using the account. is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and we subscribe to its Editors’ Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content, please visit

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