Power of Attorney


Power of Attorney lets you arrange for someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf and manage your finances on your behalf. You may want to do this due to a change in your health or a change in your circumstances, such as moving abroad. You may not need someone to help you now, but you can set up a Power of Attorney for the future, just in case. 

There are different types of Power of Attorney, and you may want to arrange more than one:

Ordinary Power of Attorney is used on a temporary basis while you can still make your own decisions. It can cover a hospital stay or holiday. It can also be used if you find it hard to get to a branch.

Lasting Power of Attorney or Continuing Power of Attorney is typically used to give someone the legal authority over you finances if you lose your mental capacity but can also be used when mental capacity is retained. You can register it now or plan for it to come into force at a future time. 

Court of Protection is used if you lose mental capacity and have not set up Power of Attorney. It allows the court to appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf.  It is known as a Guardianship in Scotland or Controllership in Northern Ireland. The UK government has some useful guidance here

Here’s how you might use the different types of supported banking

Can be used if you:Carers Card Third party accessGeneral Power of AttorneyLasting Power of AttorneyCourt of Protection
Just need help with the small things, like shopping or getting cash.
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Are physically ill, injured or disabled.
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Need a little help with looking after your day-to-day banking, for a shorter period of time, but you don't want someone to make decisions for you. 
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You will be abroad, and won't have access to your account (for example, travelling).
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Are preparing for when you'll be unable to make decisions, or want someone to start looking after all of your finances.
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No longer have the mental capacity to make decisions, and someone needs to do this for you. 
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Arranging a Power of Attorney

Who can be an attorney? 

  • This can be anyone you choose: a spouse, child, family member or a friend, someone you trust.
  • Your attorney must be over the age of 18. 
  • You may not always be in a position to choose someone you know, and this is fine. 
  • You can ask a professional to be your attorney. They could be a solicitor, accountant or financial adviser.

Consider who should be your attorney. 

The most important thing to consider is choosing someone you trust. This should be someone who will be able to act in your best interest if you needed them to.

You should talk to the person or persons you want to nominate, to see if they are happy to do this. You should  find someone who knows you well, and someone you would trust in making decisions for you.

Finding out more

  • To learn more, including how to set up a Power of Attorney document, take a look at the government website. This is a useful starting point to help think about what to consider, and how to complete this yourself.
  • If you'd like help to set up a Power of Attorney, you can discuss it with Irwin Mitchell. They can give advice and information. Our personal customers can have preferential rates with them. Take a look at Irwin Mitchell’s website to learn more
  • We have a factsheet about Power of Attorney (805 KB). It may answer many of your questions.
  • Power of Attorney is just one of the ways we may be able to help you if you’re worried about looking after your money now or in later life. For more information please see our supported banking pages.

Register your Power of Attorney with us

You can use our online form to register a PoA. 

  • Use the button below to get to the form
  • You’ll need some ID (2.16 MB) to hand 
  • It should take 10-20 mins to fill in
  • You can learn a little bit more in the sections below about what happens in the future when you’ve set up a PoA with us.

You can book an appointment to come into one of our branches or print, fill in and send our postal registration form (1.17 MB) or call us on 0800 414 8414. 

  • Please make sure you've read the FSCS information sheet and exclusions (802 KB) before completing the registration form.
  • If you have an account with us and you lose mental capacity, you’ll lose access to your account(s). This information is for personal banking and business banking sole trader accounts and excludes all other business banking and corporate banking accounts 

Personal details

If your attorney banks with us, they'll need to make sure their details are up to date. This will need to be done before registering as an attorney. 

Any errors could cause delays to registering them as your attorney.

Yours and your attorney’s addresses need to be up-to-date and match the addresses listed in our registration form.

Restrictions and changes of circumstance

You can have restrictions or preferences in your Power of Attorney document. It's your and your attorney's duty to make sure they act in line with them. They’ll also need to make sure they keep us up to date with any changes in circumstances.

Office of the Public Guardian access codes

We now accept Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) Digital Access codes. For more information, visit the OPG website  

Foreign PoA documents

We don’t accept Foreign Power of Attorney documents. We only accept UK and Northern Ireland Power of Attorney Legal Documents.

Those acting as attorneys can apply with our digital or paper forms. They can also visit a branch. 

They must represent a business in the United Kingdom or Northern Ireland.

This form is not to be used if a Trust Corporation is appointed on the Power of Attorney document. For more guidance on registering a Trust Corporation please call 0800 414 8414 for the correct application form.

If you need to change an existing Power of Attorney registration

If you want us to we can revoke, amend or update attorney details that have already been registered, please contact the helpline. 

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