NS&I cashed a check for £240,000 sent for my 97 year old father, but then wouldn’t accept a power of attorney

I have a Lasting Power of Attorney (EPA) for my elderly father, who lives in a care home.

My father’s house was sold in mid-July 2023 and I wanted to invest the proceeds in National Savings & Investments (NS&I) Guaranteed Income Bonds to pay for the expenses of his care home.

I called NS&I and was told that an application form would be sent. We discussed the EPA and the advisor told me I could send a copy of the document signed and witnessed by a reputable person.

A few days later a letter arrived stating that the forms were attached, but they were not. So I called the helpline and was told I could print them online.

Upon closer inspection, the forms revealed that a copy of a power of attorney document, which the EPA replaced, had to be signed with very precise wording on every page, either by an attorney or the beneficiary, ie my father. Otherwise the original should be sent to NS&I.

My father is 97, virtually blind and can only write his signature – so he would not have been able to write the required wording on several pages.

So, reluctantly, on July 24, I sent the original EPA document requesting that it be returned promptly.

Since I had not heard from NS&I, I called to inquire about progress and was told that NS&I had not yet opened the application letter.

On August 7, the power of attorney document was returned to me with a letter saying it was incomplete, had to be signed on every page and sent to NS&I before they would proceed.

When I sent the original document, I have no idea what else to do or how to proceed with the application.

In addition, upon checking my father’s bank account, I discovered that NS&I had taken £240,000 from the account on July 26, the day after they received the application.

When I called the helpline I was told that NS&I was unable to track down the application and the advisor was unable to track down why the power of attorney was not accepted. Can you please help? Via email

Helen Kirrane from This is Money replies: It appears that you have received conflicting information at all stages of this process.

You have an EPA for your father, which allows you to manage his financial affairs when he is no longer able to.

EPA was replaced in 2007 by a permanent power of attorney in England and Wales. But if you created and signed an EPA before October 1, 2007, it should still be valid.

NS&I allows you to register to manage someone’s NS&I savings on their behalf if you have EPA on them.

So I asked NS&I what happened with the application to open Income Bond Guarantees for your father.

NS&I told me: “A letter has been sent to Mr. B, dated July 27, stating that there is a problem with the power of attorney.”

But this did not contain any information about what the exact problem with the document was.

You then contacted the NS&I call center several times, but you received conflicting information

The main issue, which was not communicated to you, was that part of the power of attorney document was missing. This was the reason that NS&I could not accept it at first.

Upon re-evaluation of the document, it was decided that it could be accepted, but only with you as attorney who could act on the account on behalf of your father.

NS&I could have been much clearer about what the problem actually was and what to do.

You told me that you had never before had the responsibility of sending nearly a quarter of a million pounds for investment and that you had never been so concerned about what happens to your father’s money.

So it must have been disturbing and confusing that NS&I cashed the check for £240,000 when they said the application couldn’t go any further – because there was a problem with the EPA.

At the time you contacted me, NS&I had been holding your father’s money for three weeks – a time when you assumed the money would be in the account and receive interest at £250 per week.

A spokesperson for NS&I adds: We are sorry for the level of service Mr B received when he recently attempted to open an account on behalf of his father.

This has been below our usual standards and an apology payment of £150 has been issued in recognition of this. The investment in Guaranteed Income Bonds is retroactive to July 27 and will earn interest from then on.

The Income Bonds account is now open and the sale is retroactive to July 27, with no loss of interest.