Need to update my aunt’s account

[Helly19]

Hello there, I am next of kin to my aunt who is now in a care home and suffers from dementia.  I am currently applying to court of protection for a deputyship which can take up to six months. The problem is that she is out of contract on her internet and phone and the bill is very large for a service she is not using.  I have tried to set up a power of attorney or become a nominated person on her account but TalkTalk did not accept the document I provided.  They have asked for a Medical consent letter but I have no idea what this entails. Can anyone help with this.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

HI Helly19

Really sorry for the delay 

As far as I know a Medical consent letter is a letter from your Aunt's doctor allowing you to deal with her affairs. 

That should allow you to take control.

[Helly19]

Thank you Arne.  I have already sent in a Power of Attorney request and got a letter repeating what you have just said.  I am currently applying to the Court of Protection, this will take months to finalise - so i haven’t got a court order.

I am still trying to understand what the Medical Consent Letter is.  Can you tell me?  My aunt is in an old people’s home and is not using all the facilities that she is being charged for.  She is out of contract and will now be paying £63.00 per month!  I do have a copy of a letter from the Essex memory assessment service confirming her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s dementia.  Will that suffice as the Medical Consent letter?

Alternatively would it be more straight forward to complete the form to be a Nominated User on her behalf?  I cannot get this form without logging into the account.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Hi Helly19

Sorry that you are having problems.

You can send any of the following:

• A Power of Attorney, which is Registered with the Office of the Public Guardian
• Solicitor’s Letter
• Court Order
• Medical Consent letter

You should only include a copy of the proof as we’re unable to return it to you.

Hope that helps

[Gliwmaeden2]

@Helly19, there was a similar case here, fyi:

https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Billing/Ending-service-for-mother-in-care/td-p/2984717

Generally speaking, the Power of Attorney approach is effective but involves the time and expense of getting that set up via a lawyer etc. Once done, you need to show documentation to each and every separate company where your relative needs representation. It's rather arduous.

A medical consent form is also mentioned in the above link. Seems to help speed things up a bit.

You could also simply become a "nominated user".

See also here for support in cases where accessibility is difficult:

https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/TalkTalk-Accessibility/ct-p/talktalk-accessibility

[fr8ys]

Staff are not back until monday now as they work normal office hours. 

You could try chat or phoning.

I suspect it is a letter from your aunt's GP stating she cannot manage her own affairs, but as I'm a customer like you i may be wrong.

If you wish to wait for staff here, you are in their queue for a response.
For a quicker reply can you please ensure you have your aunts personal information up to date in your profile including her TalkTalk landline phone number so her account can be traced. Link here - https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/user/myprofilepage/tab/personal-profile:personal-info

You can also add her account number in the private notes field, which only you and the support staff can view.
Please post back when done.

If you wish to chat online, there is a link on this page.

https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/articles/our-live-chat-team/ta-p/2230529

Opening Hours can be found here - https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Articles/How-to-contact-TalkTalk-Broadband/ta-p/2230529

Or try phoning 0345 172 0088

Opening Hours can be found here - https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Articles/How-to-contact-TalkTalk-Broadband/ta-p/2230529#

Thank you