Powers of Attorney

We understand there may be occasions where your clients are acting as Attorney for a Donor under a Power of Attorney (POA) or a Deputy under a Court of Protection Order. As an adviser, you may also have been appointed in one of these roles.

The details below give information on how NS&I treats Attorneys and Deputies and should be helpful for anyone undertaking these roles.

Eligible savings and roles

All NS&I savings can be managed and opened by Attorneys. There may be more than one Attorney appointed and acting on the Donor’s behalf at any one time. Deputies can only manage all NS&I savings products and not purchase or open them for a Donor.

Trusts are the exception, as both an Attorney and a Deputy are not automatically allowed to act on behalf of a Trustee.

Whether a product is appropriate for the Donor will depend on the Donor’s personal circumstances as well as the customer agreement (terms and conditions) of the product and therefore will need to be considered in isolation.

A Power of Attorney or Deputyship automatically ends when the Donor dies.

Our guide to acting on behalf of someone else

Acting for Trustees under a Power of Attorney

Attorneys and Deputies do not automatically have the authority to act on behalf of a trustee.

A standard Power of Attorney covers personal finances, not trust management. An Attorney can only act on behalf of a trustee by either applying for a specific delegation or the trust’s funds that are to be invested with NS&I must have been from the sale of land or property.

The special delegation an Attorney needs is usually under Section 25 of the Trustee Act 1925 and is generally limited to 12 months. The trust deed must also be checked, as it may prohibit the delegation of trustee powers to an Attorney.

When Donors have a Deputy appointed to manage their affairs, the Deputy may apply to the Court of Protection under Section 36 of the Trustee Act 1925 to act on their behalf as a trustee.

Regional variations in roles

There are regional variations in the names of Attorneys, Deputies and Orders:

• Donor is known as a Granter in Scotland.
• A Court of Protection Order is known as a Guardianship Order in Scotland.
• A Deputy is known as a Guardian in Scotland and a Controller in Northern Ireland.

Attorneys and Deputies share similar tasks but have different rules and levels of supervision. The courts can set the limitations of what a Deputy can and cannot control.

Application forms

Most of our products have a bespoke application form for Power of Attorney and Deputy applications. However, for Premium Bonds and the Investment Account, please use the standard application form available.

Application forms are available to download from our Resources page (when the product is on general sale).

Evidence of Attorney or Deputy arrangements

All initial investments must include either the original or a certified copy of the current POA document or Court of Protection/Guardianship Order.

See more about specific document requirements.

Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)

If your client is aged 18 or older and has the mental ability to make financial, property and medical decisions for themselves, they can arrange for someone else to make these decisions for them in the future by appointing a Lasting Power of Attorney.

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is the most widely recommended type of power of attorney in the UK. There are two forms of LPA: a health and welfare LPA, and a property and financial affairs LPA.

A property and financial affairs LPA gives an Attorney the authority to manage the Donor’s finances and assets. This includes managing bank accounts, paying bills, collecting pension or benefits and, if needed, selling their home.

LPAs came into force in October 2007 and before that, people made Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) arrangements. EPAs can no longer be created in England, Wales and Scotland, but any EPAs signed before October 2007 remain valid.

The exception is Northern Ireland, where Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) can still be created. EPAs work in a similar way to LPAs. Unlike an LPA, an EPA can be used immediately without registration, provided the person who made it still has mental capacity. EPAs only need to be registered if the Donor loses mental capacity.

Registering a Lasting Power of Attorney

A Donor or Attorney first needs to register a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). The OPG provides step-by-step guidance make a lasting power of attorney (LPA) online.

The access code created as part of the online registration process needs to be passed to individual organisations, such as NS&I. This access code allows us to view an online summary of the LPA.

Donors or Attorneys should post the access code provided by OPG, along with their details and the details of the NS&I account holder, to:

NS&I
Sunderland
SR43 2SB

They should note within their letter that they intend to register an LPA with NS&I. If we need to see the full paper document, we’ll write to your client to ask for this.

Once registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, an LPA can be used immediately or held until required. For more information, see the Office of the Public Guardian.

Ordinary Power of Attorney

In addition to LPAs and EPAs, your client may also have an ordinary power of attorney. These can give someone permission to manage your client’s property and finances on their behalf, for example, if they’re going abroad for some time and want someone to look after their property or finances while they’re away. But unlike an LPA or EPA, an ordinary power of attorney cannot be used if your client becomes unable to make decisions about their property or finances in the future.

Evidence of Identity

NS&I will seek to verify the identity of the Donor and the Attorney (when they are not already an NS&I customer), whereas the court is required to do this when they appoint a Deputy. We’ll accept the Court Order as an alternative to the standard customer due diligence procedures.

Mental incapacity of Donor

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) can give your clients peace of mind that if they become unable to manage their finances due to mental incapacity, someone trusted can step in and make decisions on their behalf.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, when the Donor of an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) becomes mentally incapable, the Attorney has a duty to register the LPA or EPA with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) in England and Wales, or the Office of Care and Protection in Northern Ireland.

Please notify us of any registered LPAs or EPAs so we can update our records.

Managing holdings

The way each holding can be managed varies from product to product. For further information, please get in touch.

The following can be carried out online or by phone for applicable holdings:

• partial repayment or withdrawal
• full repayment or withdrawal
• closure
• change of nominated bank details

Attorneys who are appointed jointly and corporate attorneys cannot manage our products over the phone or online. Joint or corporate attorneys must instruct us by post. This also applies to those acting for Trustees under a Power of Attorney.

Documentation requirements

Power of Attorney

Any copy of a POA must be certified as being a true and complete copy of the original document on each page and signed personally on each page by one of the following:

• the Donor (while they have mental capacity)
• a solicitor
• a notary public
• a Chartered Legal Executive
• a stockbroker (please note – a stockbroker cannot certify a Lasting Power of Attorney)

Court of Protection Order (England and Wales)

Sight of an acceptable copy of the Order is required. We can accept:

• An original Order sealed or stamped with the seal or stamp of the COP
• COP Office copies (with blue stamp)
• Certified copies of the original or Office Copy are acceptable. The person certifying the copy is certifying that it is a true and complete copy of the original document. Certification must appear on each page.

Guardianship Order (Scotland)

We must see the Certificate of Appointment issued by the Scottish OPG. We can accept:

• An original sealed or stamped with the seal document
• Certified copies of the original are acceptable. The person certifying the copy is certifying that it is a true and complete copy of the original document. Certification must appear on each page.

Office of Care and Protection Order (Northern Ireland)

We must see the authority allowing the Controller to act for the patient. We can accept:

• Original Office of Care and Protection Orders sealed or stamped with the Court’s seal, which should be visible
• Certified copies of the original are acceptable. The person certifying the copy is certifying that it is a true and complete copy of the original document. Certification must appear on each page.