A Turn Up For The Books – Refunds Due From The Office of The Public Guardian
It is not often that Governmental agencies announce that money may be owed to people due to overpayments. However, the Office of the Public Guardian (‘The OPG’), which monitors deputies and attorneys has launched a scheme to refund people who paid more than they should have done for applying to register powers of attorney (both Property & Financial Affairs LPAs and Health & Welfare LPAs).
A refund scheme has been set up to allow people who applied to register powers of attorney between April 2013 – March 2017 to claim a partial refund as the registration fees charged during this period have been determined to be too high when compared with the OPG’s processing costs.
The refund can only be claimed by the donor (the person who made the LPA), one of their attorneys or deputies or if the donor has passed away their personal representatives can claim on behalf of their estate.
The refund due depends on when the power of attorney was registered and the fee paid on registration as set out in the table below:-
| WHEN YOU PAID THE FEE | REFUND IF YOU PAID THE FULL FEE | REFUND IF YOU PAID THE HALF PRICE FEE |
| April to September 2013 | £54 | £27 |
| October 2013 to March 2014 | £34 | £17 |
| April 2014 to March 2015 | £37 | £18.50 |
| April 2015 to March 2016 | £38 | £19 |
| April 2016 to March 2017 | £45 | £22.50 |
The process of claiming the refund from the OPG is relatively simple and involves completing an online application at https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney-refund
Claims can also be made over the phone if online applications are not possible: 0300 934 0300 (Select option 6). Visit https://www.gov.uk/call-charges for call charges.
Hopefully, the registration fees introduced in April 2017 (£82.00 per registration) will remain in place for the foreseeable future to avoid such problems arising again though watch this space!
If you have any questions or are thinking of making either a Property & Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney or a Health & Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney, please feel free to contact Matt Kelly on 01283 214231 or at m.kelly@timms-law.com.
Matt Kelly
February 2018