Fee Refunds on LPA Registration Fees

If you applied for a lasting power of attorney (LPA) between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2017, you can claim a partial refund of up to £54 per LPA.

It’s not often that the Government decides to give refunds, but the launch of the LPA refund scheme in February 2018 is one of those rare occasions where many people could benefit. 

The Office of the Public Guardian for England and Wales (OPG), which is the body that records LPAs, has a charging structure which is only intended to recover the cost of its operations. Before April 2017, the charge to register an LPA was £110, but as a result of efficiency savings and an increase on the number of LPAs being registered, the OPG actually ran into surplus approaching £90 million.

The result is that the OPG reduced the registration fee from April 2017 to £82, but also initiated a partial refund scheme. People who registered an LPA between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2017  had paid too much and can claim a refund of part of the registration fee paid, on a sliding scale:

You’ll also get 0.5% interest.

If you registered a POA during this period, and wish to make a claim, you can do so easily using an online claim form on the government website Gov.uk 

You can only claim a refund if you made the power of attorney in England or Wales.

Claims can be made by the donor who set up the lasting power of attorney or any attorney appointed by the donor. The refund must be paid to the donor.

You only need to make one claim per donor, even if you made more than one power of attorney.

It takes about 10 minutes to claim online and you’ll need the donor’s UK bank details and a copy of the LPA (if you have it).

If the donor doesn’t have a bank account, has died or you are a court appointed deputy you will need to call the Refunds Helpline on 0300 456 0300 (choose option 6). Claims will take up to 12 weeks to be paid.