MyPOA Day – March 2024

This MyPOA Day – March 2024 blog post is some of the issues that I have to deal with on a daily basis being a power of attorney…

The Scammers

This morning I got a call from the lovely man who takes Dad out for walks in his wheelchair (let’s call him Wheelchair Carer or WC).  WC wanted to know what was wrong with the roof and why the men had come to repair it.  I don’t know, what’s wrong with the roof, why?  “So, you didn’t organise the two men who came round on Saturday?” said WC.  “Nope” I said.

So it turns out that two men had come round to my Dad’s house and taken about 10 slates off the roof and, it turned out later, had ripped the lining as well.  They left the slates behind!  What kind of scam is this, I’m thinking.  So, I reported it on the village Facebook page and within minutes, all was revealed.  These roofers target vulnerable old people and tell them that they’ve been working next door and that they have noticed that the roof was damaged.  Then they go up the ladder to ‘have a look’ and then ‘damage’ the roof themselves!  Unbelievable!

They had then asked the live-in carer to pay them.  She told them they needed to contact me. They didn’t.  It still cost £300 to repair the damage.

I logged it with the police and, remarkably, they were on the phone the same day and would visit tomorrow.  I had also been contacted by people in the village to tell me that these people had been doing the rounds and targeting other elderly people.

Lessons learnt:

• Don’t have a wheelchair notice on the front of the gate!  It’s a big advertisement that a vulnerable person lives in this house.
• The live-in carer didn’t check with me because they told her ‘the daughter had sent them’.  Must do some scam-awareness training for the carer.
• Get a video doorbell installed.  The old fashioned type that doesn’t rely on someone having a smart phone.
• Consider whether a care home would be a better option.

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