In February, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said that anyone who had applied to register a lasting or enduring Power of Attorney between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2017 paid more than necessary and were entitled to a partial refund.

However, results of a Freedom of Information request submitted by insurer Royal London show that out of 1.9 million who could be entitled to redress, just 203,000 had claimed as of 28 August.

Helen Morrissey, a spokesperson at Royal London, said: “The refund option has been available for some time now and, as yet, only a small proportion of people have submitted a claim. The onus really is on the government to sort it out. They should be contacting people who have not yet claimed a refund to make sure they get their money back.”

What is a Power of Attorney?

A Power of Attorney is a legal document which appoints a trusted person to make decisions on your behalf should you become unable to do so in the future.

You can only claim a refund if you made the Power of Attorney in England or Wales.

How much can you claim?

The size of the refund depends on when the fees were paid.

Claims will also include 0.5% interest.

How to claim a refund

It will take around 10 minutes to apply online for the Power of Attorney refund. You need your bank account and sort code to hand.

You will need to claim by phone (on 0300 456 0300) if the donor (the person who made the Power of Attorney) doesn’t have a UK bank account, the donor has died or you’re a court-appointed deputy.

It can take up to 12 weeks for your claim to be processed and if it’s approved, the refund will be paid to the donor’s bank account.