Millions of people are due a refund from the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG).
The OPG have overcharged applicants for registering their Lasting Power of Attorney. The Ministry of Justice have revealed that if you made a Lasting Power of Attorney between April 2013 and March 2017 then you could be due a refund of up to £108.00.
Why was I overcharged?
You have to register your Lasting Power of Attorney with the OPG to be able to use it. The fee was put in place to cover the OPG’s running and administration costs.
However, between 1st April 2013 and 31st March 2017, the Ministry of Justice lowered the OPG’s running costs but the application fee stayed the same.
From these overpayments, the OPG generated a huge £89million.
The registration fee has now been reduced from £110 to £82 per registration.
Who is eligible for a refund?
Anyone who registered their Lasting Power of Attorney between 1st April 2013 and 31st March 2017 is entitled to a refund.
You can claim the refund as the donor (the person appointing the Attorney) or you can claim a refund as an Attorney on behalf of the donor. If you claim a refund on behalf of the donor, the money will be paid to the donor, not the Attorney.
You can also claim for a refund if the donor has died.
How do I claim my refund?
You must claim your refund by filling out a form using the following link:-
https://claim-power-of-attorney-refund.service.gov.uk/when-were-fees-paid
There is a helpline that you can call but you can only make a claim over the phone if the donor does not have a UK Bank Account, the Donor has died or you are the Court-appointed deputy. The number is 0300 456 0300.
Once you have submitted your claim, it can take up to 12 weeks to be processed. Once the claim has been accepted, it will be paid straight into the donor’s bank account.
How much will I be refunded?
The amount of your refund will depend on when you registered your Lasting Power of Attorney. You will be refunded this amount plus 0.5% interest.
April – September 2013: £54.00
October 2013 – March 2014: £34
April 2014 – March 2015: £37
April 2015 – March 2016: £38
April 2016 to March 2017: £45
If you are unsure of when you made the application, you can still make a claim but your refund will not be accepted if it was made outside of the above time frame
