Letters of authority are where new clients go to die.

Every adviser knows this stage. Almost nobody runs it as a process.

Why the LoA stage rots

It's nobody's favourite job, so it becomes everybody's someday job:

The chase has no owner or rhythm. "Chase Aegon" lives on a sticky note. Providers know, structurally, that a request unchased for 20 days is a request they can leave for 20 more.

Every provider wants something different. One accepts e-signatures, one wants wet ink, one has a portal, one has a fax number they'd prefer you didn't know is a fax number. Without a per-provider crib sheet, every request restarts the learning curve.

The information request is incomplete. A valid LoA that doesn't explicitly ask about guaranteed annuity rates, protected tax-free cash, exit charges and full charge structures triggers a second round-trip — and another six weeks. The costliest LoA is the one you have to send twice.

The client hears nothing. The work is happening; the silence says otherwise. Clients don't churn at this stage — but the referral warmth they arrived with quietly cools.

Running it like a process

The fix isn't heroic effort; it's the same discipline you'd apply to any pipeline:

One register, one status per request. Every client-provider pair is a row with a state: drafted → sent → acknowledged → chased → received. If you can't answer "what's outstanding across the whole firm?" in ten seconds, you don't have a register — you have folklore.

A chase cadence, logged. 10 days, 20 days, 30 days — dated, initialled, attached to the request. Providers respond to firms that demonstrably chase. And when a transfer stalls for twelve weeks, a dated chase log is the difference between a complaint and a shrug.

A provider directory that learns. Which address, which format, e-signature or wet ink, who actually answers the phone. Capture it once per provider, per firm — every subsequent request starts warm.

Tell the client about the silence. A two-line note at day 20 — "still with Aegon, chased today, this is normal" — costs nothing and converts dead air into evidence you're on it.

We built exactly this into WealthR Partners — a letters of authority register with a strict status flow, a chase log, and a provider directory your firm extends — because the admin that eats new-client weeks deserved better than sticky notes. But honestly: even if you run it in a spreadsheet, run it.

The firms that treat LoAs as a pipeline onboard in weeks. The firms that treat them as correspondence onboard in seasons.

For the full mechanics — what a valid LoA must include, a free information-only template, and the complete information-request checklist — see our complete UK adviser guide to letters of authority.

This is general information for UK advice professionals, not regulated financial, legal or compliance advice. Provider requirements and turnaround times vary — verify with each provider. WealthR Partners is a client-engagement and planning workspace; it does not replace your regulated back-office or compliance systems. WealthR is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.