New freedom of information (FOI) data obtained by Quilter, the financial adviser and wealth manager has revealed that a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) application was finally processed after 2,777 working days, which is the equivalent of over 10 years.
The data was revealed following a request to the Ministry of Justice regarding the shortest and longest wait times for LPA processing. In addition, in the 2024/25 tax year an application was processed after over six years.
Prior to this, in the tax years from 2019/20 to 2022/23 the longest wait time was over three years while the shortest wait time was 20 days.
Applications may take longer to be registered if they contain errors that need to be rectified by the customer. The time taken for customers to remedy these errors is included in the length of time recorded. Shaun Moore, tax and financial planning expert at Quilter, said:
“It is shocking that an application for such a vital element of financial planning would take so long to process. While we do not know the circumstances that led to such a long wait time, the data shows that it is not uncommon for applicants to have to wait years for the approval of their Lasting Power of Attorney registration.
Part of the reason for this may be that errors are made on the applications, and because the most common method of application was via post, the rectification of errors took longer, either on the Office for Public Guardian’s side or the applicant’s side.
The relatively new method of digitally applying for Lasting Power of Attorney should help to ensure that errors in applications can be rectified more quickly, reducing these mammoth wait times.
It cannot be overstated how important an LPA can be. However, it is worth remembering that one can only be drafted while you have mental capacity – once you’ve lost capacity, it is too late. While we can only hope for the best, we should prepare for the worst.”
