Third-Party Authorisation for Rates in Northern Ireland

Your parent is 74 and living alone. They've never claimed the Lone Pensioner Allowance. You want to sort it out for them — download the form, fill it in, send it off. Simple enough, except LPS won't discuss the rate account with you or share its details unless you have formal authorisation.

This isn't bureaucracy for its own sake. Data protection rules require LPS to verify that anyone accessing a ratepayer's account has legal authority to do so.

Authorisation LPS Accepts

1. LPS Third-Party Authorisation Form

The simplest option when your parent is mentally capable but physically limited. Your parent signs a form granting specific consent for LPS to share information with you.

This form is separate from the LPA or DPA application itself. You fill in the authorisation form with your parent's details and your own. Ask LPS what signature or supporting authority it requires if your parent cannot sign, then submit the authorisation with the allowance application.

The form lets LPS share information within the consent given, but confirm with LPS which application or correspondence tasks it permits. Your parent remains the legal ratepayer.

2. Enduring or Lasting Power of Attorney

If your parent has granted you a registered Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) or Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA — confusingly the same abbreviation as Lone Pensioner Allowance) covering financial affairs, you can act on their behalf without a separate LPS authorisation form.

Send LPS a copy of the registered document with the application. It may let you manage the rates account within the powers granted by the document; ask LPS what it needs to verify your authority.

3. Controllership Order

If your parent lacks mental capacity and no Power of Attorney was set up before they lost capacity, a Controllership Order from the Office of Care and Protection of the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland is one route to authority over their financial affairs, including rates. LPS also lists formal appointee status from DfC as accepted authority; ask LPS which applies to your situation.

This route requires an order from the Office of Care and Protection. If capacity is declining, ask a solicitor or the Office of Care and Protection about the available options.

4. Departmental Appointeeship

If you have official appointee status from the Department for Communities (DfC), provide the appointment confirmation to LPS. Ask LPS what further documents it needs to record your authority.

What You Can Do Without Formal Authorisation

You can help your parent fill in the form — there's nothing stopping you from sitting with them, gathering the evidence, and writing the answers. If your parent cannot sign the application, ask LPS what signature or supporting authority it requires. LPS won't discuss the claim's progress with you unless accepted authority is on file.

If your parent can speak with LPS, they can contact LPS directly and ask how they want a representative to participate. Do not assume that taking part in a phone call gives you ongoing access to the rate account; use written authorisation or another accepted authority document.

The Evidence Your Parent Needs

Whether you're helping with LPA or DPA, the evidence requirement doesn't change:

• LPA: National Insurance number, proof of age, rate account details
• DPA: disability evidence (PIP/DLA/AA award or medical certificate), occupational therapist report, photographs or plans of the adaptation

Gather everything before submitting. An incomplete application gets returned — and without authorisation on file, LPS sends the return letter to your parent's address, not yours.

The Northern Ireland Rates Allowances guide covers the full third-party workflow: which authorisation form to use, how to submit it alongside an LPA or DPA application, and a checklist of evidence to gather before you start.

See more Northern Ireland guides →