Deputyship Refund Scheme – How To Claim Your Refund

Those who have acted as a Court of Protection deputy may be interested to hear of a refund scheme, launched by the Ministry of Justice for fees paid between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2015.

Deputyship assessments and annual supervision fees were overcharged by the Office of the Public Guardian for England and Wales (OPG) during this period.

Court of Protection deputies act on behalf of those who lack mental capacity. Deputies can be professionals, or friends or family members, commonly where an individual is suffering from dementia or brain injury and unable to manage their finances without assistance and there is no attorney in place.

Refunds will automatically be made where the deputy is still acting. Those who may be eligible to claim the refund will be individuals or attorneys of people who have regained mental capacity and the personal representatives of people who had a deputy during this period but have since died.

The refund application form can be found online: https://www.gov.uk/deputyship-refund/how-to-claim.

The refunds need to be claimed before October 2022 to avoid the entitlement being lost.This refund scheme follows the OPG’s Lasting and Enduring Power of Attorney refund scheme which covers registration fees paid between 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2017.

The power of attorney refund scheme runs until 1 February 2021 and many millions of pounds still remain unclaimed.

To discuss Powers of Attorney or acting as a Court of Protection deputy, call Sophie Fenn at The Wilkes Partnership on 0121 733 8000 for further information.