My mum has vascular dementia and is deteriorating fast. She lives 3 hours away from me and my two siblings. My sister and I visit as often as possible but have our own work and life commitments. I have just returned from a visit this weekend.
I sent Mum's driving licence to DVLA for renewal 6-7 weeks ago and it has not been returned. I have just phoned them to ask where it is in their process but they will not speak to me without my mother's spoken approval - I am in Glasgow and she is near Inverness. I have full PoA for her but DVLA insist they must speak to her and asked for her to call directly - I doubt she would manage to navigate their multi-step answering system or remember why she was making the call. The point is I cant ALWAYS be at her side as we live so far apart and at weekends when I do visit few offices are open. It it hugely frustrating to try to help manage Mum's affairs when I have PoA but run up against Data Protection. I want to protect her interests and make sure she is safe. DVLA will not even tell me if my mum should be driving at present and her insurers keep calling to ask for a copy of her licence.
If having PoA does not actually count when trying to deal with the affairs of elderly, demented parents - what is the point of it??
I sent Mum's driving licence to DVLA for renewal 6-7 weeks ago and it has not been returned. I have just phoned them to ask where it is in their process but they will not speak to me without my mother's spoken approval - I am in Glasgow and she is near Inverness. I have full PoA for her but DVLA insist they must speak to her and asked for her to call directly - I doubt she would manage to navigate their multi-step answering system or remember why she was making the call. The point is I cant ALWAYS be at her side as we live so far apart and at weekends when I do visit few offices are open. It it hugely frustrating to try to help manage Mum's affairs when I have PoA but run up against Data Protection. I want to protect her interests and make sure she is safe. DVLA will not even tell me if my mum should be driving at present and her insurers keep calling to ask for a copy of her licence.
If having PoA does not actually count when trying to deal with the affairs of elderly, demented parents - what is the point of it??