Register a legal authority

To help keep things clear, we use the following terms:

Donor

This means the person whose finances are being managed under a legal authority.

For a Power of Attorney, this is the person who has set up the POA.

For a Court of Protection Order, this is the person the court has decided needs support managing their finances.

Delegate

This means the person who has been legally appointed to act on the donor’s behalf.

Under a Power of Attorney, this is the attorney.

Under a Court of Protection Order, this is the deputy.

A Delegate is responsible for managing the Donor’s finances in their best interest and must act within the powers set out in the legal authority document.

If the donor has mental capacity, they will still be able to operate their account in the same way as they did before the legal authority was registered with us. New accounts can be opened by either the donor or the delegate.

If you see any transaction which you do not recognise, please contact us to discuss them.

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG ) has a support line that anyone can contact if they have concerns about how a delegate is acting. Visit the Government website for more details on reporting a concern about a delegate.

Unfortunately, we cannot accept documents via email and we require documents to be posted to us. Please be assured that we will return the documents in the way we have received them (for example, registered or special delivery).

We cannot accept photocopies on their own.

If you’re providing a document that gives someone legal authority to act on an account, we need one of the following:

• The original legal authority document, or
• A certified copy of the full legal authority document, including any registration pages or supporting sections.

A certified copy must be a complete copy of the legal authority document that has been signed and dated by an appropriate professional (for example, a solicitor), confirming it is a true and accurate copy of the original.

If you need a full list of acceptable documents or guidance on how to have them certified, please contact us.

If a delegate is no longer able to act, or wishes to stop acting, they must follow the process for ending or changing their legal authority. The Government website provides guidance for each type of legal authority:

• Power of Attorney
• Court of Protection (Deputyship)

If the donor dies, the delegate should get in touch with us as soon as possible. The legal authority will then end automatically.

If the donor is still able to make decisions for themselves, they should call us to open their first account with Tesco Bank. If the donor has lost mental capacity, the delegate will be able to open any account on their behalf, providing they have the relevant authority.

A Power of Attorney is a legal document that lets a person (known as the donor) appoint one or more people (known as delegates) to help them make decisions or make decisions on their behalf.

Depending on where you live, there are slightly different POAs:

• In England, Wales, or Northern Ireland, you will use a Lasting, Enduring or General Power of Attorney.
• In Scotland, you will use a Continuing Power of Attorney.

All POAs must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) for a fee before being used.

If someone loses mental capacity but does not have a POA, the Court of Protection will appoint a deputy to be legally responsible for them. A deputy is similar to an attorney but has more limited powers and responsibilities.

To set up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in England and Wales, you (or your attorney) must sign and submit the completed forms to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). The registration process typically takes 8 to 10 weeks and requires a processing fee.

You can choose to create and register your Lasting Power of Attorney online or fill out paper forms:

• Online: Use the Create a Lasting Power of Attorney service - GOV.UK to be guided through the process.
• Paper: Call the OPG contact centre at 0300 456 0300 to request paper forms.

To set up or manage a Power of Attorney, the official government site depends on where you live in the UK. Please refer to the following websites to obtain guidance:

• Office of the Public Guardian (England and Wales)
• Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland)

Once you have set up a Power of Attorney (POA) you can register with us. Please call the department you wish to register with, for example, Credit Cards, Savings or Loans. View our contact numbers.

Your request will be passed to our specialist Power of Attorney team, who will advise you on which documents are needed to complete the registration process. Please wait for them to call you before sending us anything.

Registration typically takes between 5 to 10 working days after we receive your documents.

Once we’ve registered the Power of Attorney we’ll send confirmation to the delegate by email or letter. As part of the registration process, we’ll get the delegate set up with the access they need to manage the account(s):

• Statements – we can arrange for account statements to be sent directly to the delegate’s address.
• Address updates – if needed, we can update the correspondence address to the delegate’s address.
• Telephone banking – we’ll provide the delegate with their own security details so they can speak to us on the donor’s behalf.

What the delegate can do

Depending on the type of authority and the products held, they can:

• Discuss and carry out transactions on the donor’s account(s) over the phone.
• Have a card for a savings account in the donor’s name.
• Have statements sent to their address (statements can only go to one address).
• Open and close savings accounts on behalf of the donor.
• Update address details.
• Add, amend or cancel standing orders and Direct Debits.
• Request information about the donor’s account(s).

What the delegate cannot do

• Manage the account(s) online.
• Open new credit cards or loan accounts on behalf of the donor.
• Use the donor’s credit card to borrow more money.
• Continue to use any credit cards when the donor has lost capacity.

Please note that we cannot send statements to both the donor and their delegate.

Yes, we accept the code. We can accept the code over the phone, by email, or letter. 

Once you have the code please call us and our specialist team will advise you on where to send it to complete the process.

The code will start with a ‘V’ and is not the code on the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).

• For customers in England and Wales, please visit the Government’s Lasting Power of Attorney webpage to receive a code for all Lasting/Enduring POAs.
• For customers in Scotland and Ireland, please visit Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney to find the relevant links.

If there are conditions or restrictions, we will need to see the paper document.

General Power of Attorney

A General Power of Attorney (GPA) lets someone look after your financial affairs. A GPA does not continue if someone loses their mental capacity, but a Lasting Power of Attorney does cover someone if they lose their mental capacity.

As GPAs don't cover loss of mental capacity, you might choose to set one up if you:

• have a physical illness
• are abroad for a long period

To set up a GPA, contact your solicitor or Citizens Advice for guidance.

Lasting Power of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) allows someone to look after your affairs and can also include your personal welfare, property, and financial affairs.

LPAs are used by people to protect themselves should they develop an illness which may hinder decision-making such as dementia, mental health problems, or brain injury. An LPA can only be made while someone is still capable of making decisions for themselves.

Enduring Power of Attorney

An Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) is an older legal document that was replaced by Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in October 2007, though valid EPAs created before that date remain legally active.

You can no longer create an EPA. If you need to set up a new Power of Attorney, an LPA is your only option.

Continuing Power of Attorney

In Scotland, a Continuing Power of Attorney (CPA) allows someone to:

• take care of your day-to-day finances
• pay bills
• look after bank accounts
• collect benefits
• buy or sell property

These powers can be used when someone still has mental and physical capacity. They'll continue if someone is no longer able to manage their affairs. The CPA must be made by the person whose finances are in question and they can choose whether the attorney has access immediately or not.

You can appoint more than one attorney to act on your behalf, and the differences are as follows.

• Sole – the attorney is the only person responsible for acting on behalf of the donor.
• Joint – the attorneys must all sign for transactions and make joint decisions. They cannot act independently of each other, and all attorneys will need to write to us to carry out any transaction. Furthermore, they will not be able to manage your account by phone. If one attorney decides they can no longer act, becomes bankrupt, mentally incapable, or dies, the POA becomes invalid and a new POA must be set up.
• Jointly and severally – attorneys can make decisions on their own or with other attorneys.

Managing financial affairs

You should always manage finances in the donor’s best interests. Attorneys must keep accounts of the donor’s assets, income, spending, and outgoings. The Office of Public Guardian (OPG) and the Court of Protection can ask to check these records. Those accounts should include copies of bank statements, and we are happy to help with this by sending relevant statements when required.

Restrictions and clauses

When a Power of Attorney is set up, the donor may add restrictions or clauses to limit what you can do when managing finances. It is the attorney's responsibility to keep to these restrictions or clauses when acting on the donor's behalf.

The LPA can be cancelled by the donor or removed by the Court of Protection. A donor must have the ability to make their own decisions when they end an LPA. An LPA can be cancelled by making a written statement called ‘deed of revocation’. This should then be sent to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) with the original POA. Visit the government website for more information on cancelling an LPA.

A Court of Protection Order (COP) is a court‑appointed legal document that gives a person (known as a deputy) the authority to make financial decisions on behalf of someone (known as a donor) who’s no longer able to make decisions for themselves due to mental capacity limitations. 

The deputy is legally responsible for managing the person’s financial affairs and must always act in their best interests.

A deputyship is used when someone has already lost capacity and there is no valid Power of Attorney in place.

A Court of Protection Order is set up by applying to the relevant court.

If the application is approved, the court will appoint a deputy and issue a Court of Protection Order. This order sets out what the deputy can and cannot do when managing the person’s financial affairs.

The appointed authority must be confirmed by a court before it can be used.

Visit the government website to find out how to apply to become a court-appointed deputy and the fees involved. If your application is urgent or an emergency, you can apply for an emergency interim order. 

Court of Protection - GOV.UK

In Scotland a deputy is not appointed but the Sheriff Court can grant the following powers:

• Guardianship Order: Grants ongoing, long-term legal authority to make decisions about property, finances, and/or personal welfare.
• Intervention Order: Granted for specific, one-off decisions or time-limited actions.

Once you have set up a Court of Protection Order (COP) you can register with us. Please call the department you wish to register with, for example, Credit Cards, Savings or Loans. View our contact numbers.

Your request will be passed to our specialist team, who will advise you on which documents are needed to complete the registration process. Please wait for them to call you before sending us anything.

Registration typically takes between 5 to 10 working days after we receive your documents.

A Court of Protection Order allows the attorney to make decisions on behalf of someone who lacks the mental capacity to do so themselves. Powers and responsibility are strictly limited to the specific tasks authorised in the court order.

To help keep things clear, we use the following terms:

Donor

This means the person whose finances are being managed under a legal authority.

For a Power of Attorney, this is the person who has set up the POA.

For a Court of Protection Order, this is the person the court has decided needs support managing their finances.

Delegate

This means the person who has been legally appointed to act on the donor’s behalf.

Under a Power of Attorney, this is the attorney.

Under a Court of Protection Order, this is the deputy.

A Delegate is responsible for managing the Donor’s finances in their best interest and must act within the powers set out in the legal authority document.