Lindsay Taylor’s experience of financial institutions’ ignorance of the difference between a lasting power of attorney and court order will be a familiar story to most solicitors specialising in elder and capacity law.

Working with the Office of the Public Guardian and the Law Society, Solicitors for the Elderly has compiled case studies of common problems, contained in a paper which was discussed at a recent meeting with the British Banking Association, Barclays, Northern Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS, HSBC and the Building Societies Association.

The representatives of these organisations are well aware of the lack of knowledge at times of staff at branch level, which is generally caused by a high turnover of staff or reliance on agency staff who will be less familiar with protocols.

Financial institutions work in different ways, so the group is ‘customer mapping’ typical scenarios of attorneys and deputies either coming into a branch or online to establish the commonality of process and the trigger points where staff could be prompted to seek further help. The openness of those attending was encouraging. The more we understand the banking process, the more likely we are to find a solution (or rather solutions) when we next meet.

Solicitors for the Elderly has produced a letter for clients acting as delegated decision-makers to give to financial institutions, which explains the different types of powers and authority and the difference between a certified copy, office copy and original. Our 1,200 members throughout England and Wales have found this particularly useful in the education of staff at branch level, but we know more needs to be done.

Caroline Bielanska, chief executive, Solicitors for the Elderly