OPG Reviews 9

My mother was being abused at home by my sister who arrived from the US stating she was going to look after our mom even though she didn’t need looking after…

She proceeded to take over her life and isolate her from all … we couldn’t get hold of our mom for 2 years… mom eventually had a series of strokes and my sister tried to treat her at home proclaiming that she is a nurse (which she isn’t).. my sister had some serious mentally health issues and the system knows this due to her behaviour and nothing is done… was advised by the police etc that they cannot do anything until she harms herself or someone else! eventually mom was taken to hospital .. that’s how we found out what was happening because we had no access to our mother… one week later the hospital wants to discharge mom back home… I protested and raised the alarm and a safeguarding …20 safeguardings have been raised by the hospital rehab and the care home to no avail so far….whilst in hospital for the next 2 months mom could no longer be walk… !! deterioration was fast because my controlling sister was allowed to sleep in the hospital bed next to mom for a week before they threw her out.!! That’s when they eventually saw what I was complaining about. Mom then went to rehab then to a care home where she is now… whilst in hospital my mother couldn’t do much on her own and couldn’t write…she would now need 24 hour care… I warned the hospital that my sister would attempt to do a LPA for mom… they said they wouldn’t allow it and would keep a look out since my sister was giving the ward hell and trying to run the whole ward… she was kicked out of the ward by security for trying to run the ward and accusing staff of abuse… but she was lowed for 2 months to run riot on that ward…

A year ago when mom was in hospital we found out that my sister had forged mom’s signature on an LPA … I immediately requested info of who was in the documents… I had to name names before they would even attempt to respond to me… if you don’t have any idea of who could be on the document they won’t respond…

I contacted the OPG and put in a request to have it revoked… so did social services and the rehab centre…. We heard nothing for a year …no one could get hold of the OPG … I finally get a letter the beginning of Feb 2026 asking if I would like to take on the Deputyship for my mom… no reply’s to whether it had been revoked…I said no because we knew that all hell would break out with my sister and the harassment would be non stop…they see it as a family dispute who bit isn’t as we don’t have any contact with this sister even when she lived in the US for over 40 years as we know she’s not right…

I was given 3 days to reply as to whether I would like to take on this role … to which I did … and said NO….because they need to get a grip and take control of thw whole situation they have more authority ….the next stage would be for the OPG to put things in place… until now I cannot even get hold of them… the women who is dealing with this case has received all emails and requests to reply to me I was told by the staff on the OPG front desk that she is sitting at her desk at her computer… they don’t care …its all about money… my sister came back to the UK for mom’s finances… we complained to the bank… they said there’s nothing they can do even to freeze mom’s accounts .. my sister refused to give SS a financial statement … and has also set up online banking which my mom never used and withdraws mom’s money at cash points which again my mom never uses she always went into the bank to the counter…I know of similar if not worse cases of elder abuse and the system turns always… my mom is now on her 8th social worker who you cannot even get hold of…they just keep reshuffling them…. it’s all about money and pure neglect ….and they are getting paid to do nothing…
The systems are collapsing and there’s no where to turn unless you pay for a service that won’t do a thing….

OPG keyed in dates of birth incorrectly for 2 of the 3 attorneys (yes....really) We spent weeks trying to understand why the insurance company would not authorise the attorneys before we realised the error. We complained and OPG complaints dept asked what we thought was reasonable compensation, so we spent ages documenting the issues and impacts. Their reply was "we don't do refunds or compensation". Frighteningly incompetent for such an important service.

We sent 4 lpa's to be revoked and 4 new lpa's to be registered. Firstly they said they'd only received 2 of the new ones even though they were all sent together and signed for on delivery. Phone call made and told it was a scanning error and would be sorted. Second fault, by them, they only sent 3 letters for anyone to object. Another call and the 4th letter eventually arrived. Next they sent 3 letters of revocation back with the old lpa's. Yet another phone call and they said we'd have to send the 4th one again. I refused as they had lost it and told them to find it. They gave me the complaints email which said 10 working days for a reply. On the 9th day we had a call and was told it was found. As of today we have not received it and have only received one new lpa. What an organisation. £368 paid for an absolutely appalling service with no redress and no refund for the inconvenience.

I find it hard to understand how they can call themselves Public Guardians. I applied for POA for my mum who was terminally ill. She died during the process of getting the POA, but under the revised policy OPG refuse to refund any of my deceased mothers money, stating that it is an application fee rather than a registration fee and as such they are not due to refund anything. They have changed their policy so that they can refuse refunds. Absolutely outrageous that they call themselves Guardians and are ripping off vulnerable people.

We applied for health and financial POA for us, a married couple, with each of us being the attorney for each other, in January. We got 4 letters between us, in January, saying we had applied for Health POA. Numerous phone calls we have made, along with registering an official complaint, still have not revealed why the financial applications have been lost or stolen at the Office of The Public Guardian. We were told “you have not sent Financial POA” even though we paid 4 lots of £92 online before posting the documents. This is extremely frightening and very worrying.

Very disappointed with them, first their advice I put into practice I found to be completely useless. on trying to solve this issue which to me was complex, the advisor was condescending and impolite by muttering to her colleague with sighs and “gosh “, I am in my eighties and I hoped that a little respect and help would be given. This advisor was a disgrace.

They are incompetent, lazy, time-wasters and paperwork lost, and some cannot even speak proper English. You pay them and just get useless service, 5 months, they are still messing me about, and if you complain, they say nothing to do with us. Deserves to be shut down.

The OPG lost the 2 cheques I attached to my 2 LP Applications. They also lost my covering letter. They issued incorrect letters to me about how I wanted to pay and their complaints procedure is an absolute joke!"!", It is a typical approach of an organisation which has poor oversight, no accountability and you cannot take to court for administrative errors of the highest order. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Alison Samsone and Ruth Duffin are not fit for purpose either!!Do not use them!! Just give your money and property away to your loved ones before you lose control. See the other negative reviews on various websites and the review by the MOJ which highlighted the following deficiencies:
Three areas for improvement have been identified. These relate to:

an externally facilitated review of Board effectiveness
sharing non-executive appraisals with the MOJ
transparency around Board members’ interests.

It says it all !!

THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC GUARDIAN IGNORES FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUESTS AND LETTERS AND EMAILS. I WROTE A LETTER TO THE OPG ON 3O.05.2025 AND IT WAS IGNORED THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC GUARDIAN IS CORRUPT, TAKE NOTE AMY HOLMES CEO OF THE OPG