Financial misconduct complaints under power of attorney reach a record high

Office of the Public Guardian data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reported by Professional Adviser on 12 October 2026, shows complaints about misuse of a lasting power of attorney at almost 12,000, up from 10,240 the year before and 9,538 the year before that.

9 min read · 13 October 2026 · Altro Partners, by Equity & General

~12,000

complaints about alleged misconduct under a registered power of attorney, a record high

Office of the Public Guardian data, via Professional Adviser, 12 October 2026

Reacting to

Advisers urged to remain 'alert' as LPA financial misconduct complaints rise (Professional Adviser, 12 October 2026)

A lasting power of attorney lets one person manage another's money and property once they can no longer do it themselves. The accountant who prepares that person's tax return, or the accounts of the attorney acting on their behalf, sees the transactions each year. The complaint numbers now published describe how often that authority is misused.

What the data shows

Figures obtained from the Office of the Public Guardian by TWM Solicitors under a freedom of information request, first reported by the Financial Times and covered by Professional Adviser on 12 October 2026:

9,538

complaints about alleged misconduct under an LPA, two years ago.

10,240

complaints the following year.

~12,000

complaints this year, a record high.

28%

of concerns raised through the Office of the Public Guardian's reporting channel were accepted for investigation in its first year, from around 1,200 submissions.

Office of the Public Guardian data, obtained by TWM Solicitors under the Freedom of Information Act, reported by Professional Adviser, 12 October 2026

The Office of the Public Guardian accepts a minority of the concerns it receives for formal investigation. That does not mean the rest were unfounded; it means most of the practical protection against misuse of a power of attorney comes from the people around the donor noticing something, not from a regulator catching it afterwards.

Where this shows in the file

A power of attorney does not appear on Companies House, so it will never come through Client Watch. It shows in the personal file: a self-assessment return for a client who holds an LPA for a parent or a spouse, a set of accounts for someone acting as attorney, or correspondence about a care home or a house sale. The transactions an accountant sees each year are the same ones the Office of the Public Guardian's figures describe: cash withdrawn, a property sold, a gift made, income moved from one name to another. Recognising the same shape across a run of years is ordinary accounting work.

A financial planner talking with an older client

Office of the Public Guardian, via Professional Adviser, 12 October 2026: almost 12,000 complaints about alleged financial misconduct under a power of attorney, up from 10,240 the year before and 9,538 the year before that.

A worked example

This example uses a made-up client and made-up figures.

The example is a woman aged 84 who registered a lasting power of attorney in 2023 in favour of her son, after a diagnosis made managing her own banking difficult. Her accountant has prepared her self-assessment return for eleven years. In the most recent return, the firm notes that her savings interest has fallen from £4,100 to £600 in a year, that her ISA was closed and the proceeds moved to an account in her son's sole name, and that a gift of £28,000 is recorded on the bank statements with no corresponding entry in the papers her son, as attorney, has kept.

The self-assessment file

Made-up client and made-up figures

Savings interest, prior year£4,100

Savings interest, this year£600

ISA proceeds moved to the attorney's sole accountNot recorded

Gift on the bank statements with no record kept£28,000

None of this proves misconduct. A fall in savings interest can have an innocent explanation, and a gift can be exactly what the donor wanted. What the accountant can say is that the figures do not match what the file would normally show, and that the client, or the attorney if they are the one instructing the firm, might want a conversation with someone independent of the arrangement about whether the donor's wider finances are being looked after. Deciding whether anything has gone wrong is not the accountant's role, and this example does not suggest it should be.

Accountancy work

Noticing that the pattern in a return does not match prior years, and asking the client or the attorney about it, is ordinary professional judgement about a file the firm already holds.

Regulated advice

Reviewing the donor's overall arrangements, and whether independent oversight is built into how the attorney manages the money, is work for the Equity & General financial planner.

The division is set out in who does what. The other things a return or a set of accounts can show are set out in what to look for in the accounts.

Why this sits with the accountant first

The Office of the Public Guardian's own reporting channel accepted 28% of the concerns raised with it for investigation in its first year, from around 1,200 submissions. Raising a concern depends on knowing the donor's finances well enough to notice a problem. An accountant who has prepared the same return for several years already holds that picture: a client's income and assets, reviewed every year and compared against the year before.

The FCA's Financial Lives 2024 survey found that 8.6% of UK adults had taken regulated financial advice in the previous twelve months. Someone who has reached the point of needing a power of attorney is less likely than most to be one of them, which means the accountant's annual review of the file may be the only independent look at their finances that happens at all. Raising what the file shows is reasonable for the accountant to do. Going further than the file is not.

Two things to do this week

Note where a registered power of attorney sits in the client list. A client acting as attorney for a parent or a spouse, or a client whose own affairs are run under one, is information the firm already has from the file; it will not come from Companies House or Client Watch.
Ask one question at the next review. Does anyone other than the attorney see the statements? The answer establishes whether independent oversight exists. Asking is not an accusation, and it is not regulated advice.

What is not yet settled

The coverage available does not break the complaint figures down by type of misconduct, by the donor's age, or by region, and the Office of the Public Guardian has not published the reasoning behind its 28% acceptance rate for investigation. The Financial Times reporting that first surfaced the data, and the fuller Office of the Public Guardian figures behind the freedom of information response, may add detail the current coverage does not carry. Anything beyond the numbers above should wait for that.

Common questions

What counts as financial misconduct under a power of attorney?

The Office of the Public Guardian treats a complaint as a concern about misuse of the authority an attorney holds over someone else's money and property. In practice that covers cash withdrawals that do not match the donor's known spending, gifts to the attorney or their family beyond what the donor could reasonably afford, a property sold and the proceeds not accounted for, or a bank mandate changed so only the attorney can see statements. A complaint is a concern someone has raised. It is not a finding of wrongdoing. The data obtained from the Office of the Public Guardian records almost 12,000 such complaints, up from 10,240 the year before and 9,538 the year before that.

Can an accountant see this in a client's file?

An accountant preparing a self-assessment return or a set of personal accounts for a client who holds a registered power of attorney, or for the person who granted it, sees the same transactions each year: cash withdrawn, property sold, gifts made, income redirected. Spotting a pattern that looks wrong is a reasonable professional observation about a client's own file. Deciding whether it amounts to misconduct, and what to do about it, is not within an accountancy practice's permissions, and the practice should not attempt to investigate or adjudicate it.

What should an accountant do if something in the file looks wrong?

Ask the client, or the attorney if they are the client, whether independent oversight exists: a second family member who sees the statements, a professional attorney involved alongside a family one, or regular review by someone other than the person holding the authority. With consent, the firm can also ask whether the client or the family would like a conversation with the Equity & General financial planner, who can look at the donor's wider finances. An accountant is not the right person to decide whether misconduct has taken place, and nothing here suggests otherwise.

How does this connect to the work a financial planner does?

A financial planner reviewing a donor's overall arrangements looks at whether the investments, income and insurance in place still suit someone who may no longer be managing their own affairs, and whether independent reporting is built into how the attorney operates the accounts. That is different from, and sits alongside, the tax and accounting work the firm already does. The two pieces of work use different information and serve different purposes, which is why they are better done together than apart.

Does a lasting power of attorney show up on Companies House?

No. A lasting power of attorney is a personal arrangement registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. It is not a matter of public company record, so it will not appear through Companies House or in Client Watch, which reads a firm's client list against Companies House data such as filed accounts, directors' dates of birth and charges registered. Where a firm sees a power of attorney is in the personal file: the self-assessment return, the correspondence about a house sale or care fees, or the accounts of a client who is acting as attorney for someone else. That is a reason to keep a note of it in the client list the firm already holds. No system will surface it on its own.

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