Reclaiming LPA fees
Around £77m LPA fees remain unclaimed
More than one million people are still owed a refund of power of attorney registration fees following a government error. The error resulted in the Office of the Public Guardian claiming £89m more than it was entitled between 2013 and 2017.
£12m has already been paid out to people who have claimed a refund, with around £77m remaining unclaimed.
If you applied to register a power of attorney from 1st April 2013 to 31st March 2017 you can get part of the application fee back. This applies to lasting powers of attorney (LPA) and enduring powers of attorney (EPA).
You must claim your refund by 1st February 2021.
Who can claim a refund?
You can make a claim if you are:
- The ‘donor’ – the person who made the power of attorney
- An ‘attorney’ – appointed by the donor in an LPA or EPA
The refund must be paid to the donor and you only need to make one claim per donor, even if you have more than one power of attorney in place.
How much is the refund?
The amount of the refund depends on when you paid the fees. You will also get 0.5% interest. If you paid a reduced fee, known as a remission, you will get half the refund.
| When you paid the fee | Refund for each power of attorney |
|---|---|
| April to September 2013 | £54 |
| October 2013 to March 2014 | £34 |
| April 2014 to March 2015 | £37 |
| April 2015 to March 2016 | £38 |
| April 2016 to March 2017 | £45 |
How to claim:
It is a very simple process and therefore neither practical nor cost effective for you to return to the professional who prepared your powers of attorney for them to assist.
You can claim online (if the donor has a UK bank account) or by phone. It may be useful to have a copy of the power of attorney to hand when making the claim.
Claim online by following the steps at:
(https://claim-power-of-attorney-refund.service.gov.uk/when-were-fees-paid)
Claim by phone by calling:
0300 456 0300 (choose option 6)
Once you have made the claim it takes approximately 12 weeks for it to be processed.
If the donor has died only the personal representative of their estate can claim a refund. The process is slightly different in that you need to send the power of attorney refunds team photocopies of both the death certificate and the will or grant of representation. Your name and contact details should also be included, together with the donor’s name.
For any further information on how to claim your refund the contact details for the refunds team are:-
Telephone: 0300 456 0300 (choose option 6)
Email: poarefunds@justice.gov.uk or by post:
POA Refunds Team
7th Floor, Office of the Public Guardian
P O Box 16185
Birmingham
B2 2WH
Catherine Bailey, partner