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Which? reports that around half of 1,096 members of its Connect panel had not made a power of attorney, and those who had one set it up at an average age of 68. The report says an application must be made while a person has mental capacity, and registration delays vary across the UK.
Which? says people should consider arranging a power of attorney before they need one, after an August survey found that around half of 1,096 Which? Connect panel members had not created one. Among respondents who had, the average age at setup was 68, the consumer group reported. The timing matters because a person must have mental capacity to make the arrangement.
The report says some respondents had put off making a power of attorney because they still had full mental capacity or were not in ill health. Around a quarter of those without one gave that reason, according to Which?. A similar proportion said they had someone they trusted to help if needed. Which? cautions that a trusted relative or friend does not automatically have authority to deal with organisations such as banks and councils on another person’s behalf.
Registration can take time, with the report listing average clearance periods of 44 days in England and Wales, 276 days in Scotland and 23 days in Northern Ireland. The figures came from freedom of information requests to the relevant public bodies. Which? said Scotland’s Office of the Public Guardian had previously attributed its backlog to the pandemic, an outdated case management system and a large rise in applications. The report lists registration costs of £92 in England and Wales, £99 in Scotland and £189 in Northern Ireland, with prices stated as correct on 1 September 2026.
Which? says that if a person loses the capacity to make a power of attorney before arranging one, relatives may need to seek deputyship through the courts, or guardianship in Scotland. The report says this involves more documentation and fees, which can add up to thousands of pounds. It recounts a member’s account of a family that had to seek deputyship after their mother suffered a severe stroke before registering a planned agreement. The family ultimately appointed a solicitor as trustee, the member told Which?.
Why Capacity and Timing Matter
A power of attorney is a legal arrangement that allows a named person, known as an attorney, to make decisions or manage specified matters for someone else. It must be made while the person granting it has mental capacity, according to the report. Waiting until illness or an emergency may mean the person can no longer create the arrangement, leaving relatives to apply through the courts if they need authority to act.
The reported registration times also mean the process may not be immediate. Scotland’s listed average of 276 days was substantially longer than the periods reported for England and Wales and Northern Ireland. These are average clearance times provided to Which? and may not predict the timing of an individual application. Still, the figures help explain why leaving paperwork until a pressing need arises can create practical difficulties.
Making an arrangement also involves choices about who will act and how they will share responsibility. Which? notes that a spouse does not automatically have power of attorney. People can name more than one attorney, but the terms matter: attorneys appointed to act jointly must act together, while a jointly and severally arrangement allows them to act either together or separately. The report says a replacement attorney can be named to take over if needed.
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Survey Findings and UK Registration Times
The findings come from an August survey of 1,096 Which? Connect panel members, rather than a count of all adults in the UK. Which? reported that around half of those surveyed had not made a power of attorney. Among those who had, just 1% had arranged one before age 50, while 11% did not do so until their 80s. The report does not give further details here about the panel’s composition, so the results should be read as the experience of those respondents rather than a population-wide estimate.
Power of attorney registration is handled under different systems in the UK’s nations, and the report presents separate fees and clearance times for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It says the Scottish figures reflect a backlog previously linked by the Scottish Office of the Public Guardian to pandemic disruption, an old case management system and increased applications. The figures do not establish how long any particular case will take.
Which? also discusses the choice of attorneys. Naming more than one person can share the work, but a joint appointment requires them to act together. The report says the document may become invalid if one of the joint attorneys dies or resigns, and suggests considering replacement attorneys. It also relays a member’s warning that disagreements between attorneys can make joint decision-making difficult. These considerations are presented as practical guidance from the consumer group’s reporting, not as a substitute for advice on an individual’s circumstances.
““Power of attorney can only be set up while you still have mental capacity.””
— Which? report
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Limits of the Survey and Figures
The survey reflects 1,096 members of Which? Connect, and the report does not provide enough information here to determine how representative they are of the wider population. The finding that around half had no power of attorney should not be treated as a UK-wide prevalence estimate. The clearance periods are averages supplied through freedom of information requests; individual applications may take more or less time.
The report does not set out the details of every type of power of attorney or explain which arrangement applies to each reader’s needs. Nor does it provide a forecast for future registration delays. Its account of the stroke case is a member’s experience, not a measure of how often families face similar outcomes. Readers would need to check the relevant official guidance for current requirements and costs in their nation.
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Checking Options Before an Emergency
Which? advises readers to consider who they trust to act, whether to appoint one or several attorneys, how those attorneys will make decisions, and whether to name replacements. Anyone considering an application can check the process and current fees with the public body responsible in their part of the UK. The report’s listed prices are dated 1 September 2026 and may change.
Which? does not identify a future policy decision or registration milestone in the report. Its immediate message is to look into the arrangement while the person concerned can still make the decision. How long registration will take for a new application, and whether the reported regional backlogs will change, remain uncertain.
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Key Questions
Why does Which? say people should arrange power of attorney early?
Which? says a person must have mental capacity when making a power of attorney. If they lose that capacity first, relatives may need to apply for court-appointed deputyship, or guardianship in Scotland, to manage relevant affairs.
At what age did surveyed respondents make one?
Among Which? Connect panel members who had made a power of attorney, the average age was 68. The survey included 1,096 panel members and does not establish the average for the UK population.
How long did registration take in the figures Which? cited?
The report listed average clearance times of 44 days in England and Wales, 276 days in Scotland and 23 days in Northern Ireland. They were figures supplied to Which? through freedom of information requests, not a guarantee for an individual application.
Does a spouse automatically have power of attorney?
No. Which? says a spouse must be named in the document to act as an attorney; marriage alone does not grant that authority.
What should someone consider when naming multiple attorneys?
Which? says people should consider whether attorneys will act jointly, meaning together, or jointly and severally, which permits them to act together or separately. The report also recommends considering replacement attorneys and the possibility of disagreements.
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