External Power of Attorney
We need to see a Power of Attorney or a Court of Protection order authorising the attorney to deal with the financial affairs of the person whose account is held with us. We accept both internal and external Power of Attorney.
Types of Power of Attorney
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) enables someone who’s still mentally capable to decide who can deal with their personal affairs after they become incapable of acting and making decisions for themselves. The LPA may be effective immediately after registration with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) unless restrictions are specified.
We’ll need a Property and Financial Affairs LPA to allow attorneys to manage your account. This must be registered with the OPG. We do not accept Health and Welfare LPA.
A General Power of Attorney enables someone to deal with all your financial affairs or only certain matters. A solicitor or experienced adviser will be able to grant you this.
If a person loses mental capacity, however, then a General Power of Attorney isn’t valid. Under these circumstances, it may be more appropriate to use a Lasting Power of Attorney or apply for a Court of Protection order.
Once a person has lost their mental capacity, it’s no longer possible to create a Power of Attorney.
Representatives will need to apply to the Court of Protection for a decision to be made on the person's affairs. However, if there’s a continuing need to make decisions on the person’s behalf, the representatives can ask the Court of Protection to appoint a deputy.
If you want to become someone’s deputy you might want to seek independent legal advice or contact the Citizens Advice Bureau.
If you live in Scotland
The rules are slightly different - you can either apply for an Intervention Order for a one-off decision, or a Guardianship Order for ongoing decisions. Learn more about Intervention Orders or Guardianship Orders.
After we receive the Court of Protection
Once we receive the Court of Protection, we’ll:
- Update the address on all accounts held by the donor
- No longer allow online dealing so that we can make sure the customer isn’t making unwise investment decisions. This means that the attorney won’t be able to do any online dealing either, but they will be able to do so over the phone.
If the account holder wants to keep making decisions, it’s up to the deputy to specify the circumstances under which the customer may do so, and it’s the deputy's responsibility to make these exceptions or restrictions known to the customer.
If we receive any dealing instructions directly from the customer, we’ll seek confirmation from the deputy.
What a Power of Attorney can and can’t do
- Provide dealing instructions on your account, such as switching, adding money, and selling investments.
- Discuss your accounts with us
- Request copies of reporting documents, such as Statement & Valuations or Tax Vouchers
- Provide online access to your account with your permission to use login details. This is at your discretion and isn’t something we recommend ( see online security). In the event of suspicious or fraudulent online activity on your account, there’s a risk we may not be able to determine the cause if both your Power of Attorney and yourself have been accessing the account online using shared details
We can’t accept an ISA application signed by a prospective client’s attorney unless it’s submitted with either:
- An LPA which has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, and which doesn’t place any restriction on the attorney in regard to making the decision to open an ISA
- An original sealed Court of Protection order
- Where the applicant is physically incapable of signing the form, we may accept an application under a General Power of Attorney (provided the applicant has the required mental capacity). In such circumstances we would require a confirmation that the applicant is physically incapable of signing the required documents.
How to register a Power of Attorney with Fidelity
Lasting Power of Attorney
The Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) service from the Office of the Public Guardian, lets donors and attorneys give organisations access to view an online summary of an LPA.
The donor or attorney named on the LPA will need to provide us with an access code so we can view the LPA. Learn more about creating your unique code. Access codes are 13 characters long and start with a V for example V-AB12-CD34-EF56
Please note you can only use this service for LPAs registered in England and Wales on or after 1 September 2019. This code can be provided to us via post or via Client Services.
If you don't have a digital code, we'll need to see an original or certified copy as noted in the section below.
Power of Attorney or Court of Protection
We’ll need to see an original or a certified copy of the original document before registering Power of Attorney or a Court of Protection. We can't accept photocopies of these documents or a confirmation letter that a Power of Attorney has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.
These need to be sent in by post. We'll return any original document within 72 hours. We will not return certified copies unless this was asked for in any accompanying letter. If it is sent to us by Special Delivery, we will return it in the same way.
If you choose to send us a certified copy of the original, please ensure that it is an original document (wet signature), not a photocopy and is certified on each and every page in accordance with our guidelines below: All certified copies of documents should clearly show List of Independent Certifiers
- The words "I have seen the original document and I certify this to be a true copy of the original"
- An original wet signature by the certifier with their name printed in full.
- The date of signing
- Details of the certifier's professional capacity. The official/institution stamp should be applied as appropriate
List of Accepted Independent Certifiers
- Independent solicitor registered on the Law Society
- Notary public
- Registered Stockbroker
- Named donor on Lasting/Enduring Power of Attorney only (not applicable for Court of protection or Enduring Power of Attorney registered with OPG)
- IFA (registered as active with FCA) (Not applicable if SL BOND/SIPP Product)
- Magistrate
- Barrister
- Judge
Certification by anyone other than those above such as a teacher, doctor or pastor is not accepted.
We may also need identification documents for your nominated attorney; in which case, we’ll let you know.
We may need to contact you to ask for additional information before accepting any request to transact on an asset that is reportable under the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (or MIFID II).
If your instruction is in good order, we will aim to process this within 48 hours and send you written confirmation once it is set up.
Send us your documents at:
Fidelity
PO Box 391
Tadworth
KT20 9FU
Attorney identification requirements
In order to comply with Money Laundering Regulations, we’re required to confirm the identity of all investors and their associated representatives controlling or funding investments on their behalf.
We may use an online referencing agency for this purpose (who will record an enquiry has been made) or request the submission of documentary evidence. Until the identities of all associated individuals have been verified, restrictions will be applied and will remain in place until outstanding verification has been obtained. These restrictions will not affect the value of the investment, but may prevent certain transactions from being completed.
Documentary evidence requested to complete verification of identity will be needed for each associated representative and should be submitted along with the confirmation of identity form below:
