17 February 2023
New freedom of information (FOI) data requested by Quilter, the financial adviser and wealth manager has revealed a growing trend in the number of people registering a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in the UK.
The data from the Office for Public Guardian, shows that in 2022, 848,896 LPAs were registered, which is up nearly 20% on 2021 figures.
Over the five-year period between January 2018 to December 2022, a total 3.8 million LPAs were registered and on average 761,500 LPAs were registered each year.
Number of people registering a lasting power of attorney (LPA)
|
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
|
Jan |
64,659 |
63,555 |
80,780 |
61,144 |
63,931 |
|
Feb |
54,062 |
60,767 |
82,371 |
62,026 |
68,849 |
|
Mar |
58,855 |
71,187 |
61,684 |
68,454 |
70,690 |
|
Apr |
55,390 |
67,278 |
19,825 |
53,115 |
59,532 |
|
May |
63,658 |
67,766 |
32,250 |
47,970 |
65,719 |
|
Jun |
67,574 |
70,153 |
47,792 |
60,159 |
68,190 |
|
Jul |
68,181 |
82,278 |
52,636 |
57,133 |
61,248 |
|
Aug |
61,326 |
72,156 |
47,952 |
56,121 |
59,754 |
|
Sep |
65,655 |
73,359 |
62,337 |
57,046 |
80,570 |
|
Oct |
62,618 |
75,794 |
65,480 |
57,317 |
81,363 |
|
Nov |
63,692 |
69,332 |
60,221 |
73,088 |
90,326 |
|
Dec |
52,343 |
63,316 |
57,825 |
58,743 |
78,724 |
|
Total |
738,013 |
836,941 |
671,153 |
712,316 |
848,896 |
The data also shows that following a 24% drop in the number of registrations during the start of the pandemic in 2020 compared to the year before, figures have now surpassed the pre-pandemic levels.
It was announced last year, that the process of setting up an LPA completely online would be made possible and this may help increase numbers further.
There are two types of LPA, health and welfare or property and finance. It is vital when you are putting an LPA in place that you consider who is the most appropriate person or people to be appointed as your attorney(s). The data shows that there were the most applications for property and financial affairs (PFA) LPAs.
Despite the number of people registering LPAs rising, research Quilter conducted with YouGov* found that only 51% of people who were concerned about the finances of others felt comfortable talking to their family about financial decision making in old age and just 24% had spoken to their family about setting up an LPA.
Rachael Griffin, tax and financial planning expert at Quilter says:
"The rise in LPA registrations is really encouraging but there are still huge numbers of people who have not put an LPA in place. The UK has a population of over 67 million so there are still many people out there without this vital protection in place.
"Making a lasting power of attorney is one of the most important decisions you can make to protect your future, yet our research shows too few people are discussing this with their loved ones and if they did perhaps these figures would be rising even more steeply.
“It is vital when putting an LPA in place to consider who is the most appropriate person or people to be appointed as your attorney(s) and to have the right conversations with them to ensure that your wishes are respected.
“Part of the reason people might feel unwilling or uncomfortable discussing the topic is the incorrect belief that having an LPA is only needed for older people and therefore they do not need to think about it yet. However, this is the very reason they should have one in place. An LPA can provide people and their families with the peace of mind that their wishes will still be carried out should they lose the capacity to do so themselves under any circumstances.
“Having an LPA in place now provides protection for the future and helps avoid the risk that they leave it too late. A financial adviser can provide a pillar of professional support to help guide people through the process of setting up an LPA to ensure that they are protected should the worst happen.”
