Bank ' ROBBED ' my 82yr old father

System

I hate the way these businesses pray on the weak and the vunerable, over the years my mother has been 'persuaded' to invest her money in bonds which have performed really badly and she cant even move them as they will penalise her for doing so. She has well over £100,000 sitting in a HSBC current account gaining 0.10% interest and the wont move it because she cant handle change.

margaretclare

Hi

Get your Dad to change his bank account forthwith. As you say, he has a savings account but there are better ones - so get him to open another savings account and just switch his savings. You have access to a computer - can you get access for him?? My DH is in a computer club for wrinklies locally, he does a lot of teaching with them, he goes to a local day-centre where people have computer access. Although some of them are housebound they get taken there weekly.

From memory, DH had a 'Royalties' account when he first opened his RBoS account (that was when he came to live here in 1997) and for a year or two they were charging him £5 a month. Until he realised he didn't need any of the things they offered and was paying £5 a month for nothing!! So he changed to an ordinary current account.

Oscar mentions about joint accounts - yes, I've heard horror stories. This is why we opened a joint account some while ago. DH had had joint accounts in previous marriages and didn't feel good about them, but we use this joint account purely for household expenses and we both tip into it. The last thing we'd want, when/if one of us pops his/her clogs, is for the electricity to be cut off or the like.

Aunty Margaret

mjanet

Mark7799 wrote:

I was thinking of a general third party mandate to operate the account rather than any Power of Attorney but this would still be subject to your father giving his permission for you to do so (I have the same arrangement on my parents' accounts as there have been instances where they have been offered things by their Bank and they have asked my advice/opinion so I set this up to allow the Bank to talk to me).

Unless your father is willing to give permission and as long as he is of sound mind, unfortunately I don't think there's a lot you can do by way of legal recourse.

Mark7799 would it be possible for you to explain what a third party mandate is ? and how it works ? or is there anywhere online that explains about it where I can read up on it ?

JUDI am I right about not being able to name the bank without the proof ? ( was reading Martins new rules on libelous posts )

It is difficult to deal with elderly who wish to remain independant but it would be well worth trying to speak to your Dad about his various finances

Dad says HE doesn't want to upset the bank . :mad: and he has been with them over 40 yrs and they have been a good bank grrrrrrr the elderly are so easily taken in by people in ' authority ' .They are a bank so they are very clever and know more then me , his words. :eek: There is no getting through to him he's to stuck in his ways.

jenniferpa

Not Mark, but I have a 3rd party mandate on my Mother's account so I can give you some basic info. There is a multi-page form that you and the account holder have to sign (it has to be witnessed, but I can't remember if it has to be by the bank: that's where we did it). It specifies what access to can have to specific accounts, or it can be for all accounts present and future. If all goes well, you can then apply for the appropriate phone access code (you need your own). If it doesn't go well, they'll lose your signature and you'll spend 3 months sorting it out (guess how I know this). When It's all done you will be able to write cheques, set up standing orders make transfers etc. If it is HSBC you will not be able to access the account on line, but other banks are different. The difficulty here is the original account holder can still go and change anything about the account they like, with possible problems. I can't imagine that the OP's father would be willing to do this if he doesn't want to make a fuss, because it is a hassle. We both also had to take proof of identity in. Strangely they accepted my Mother's birth certificate, even though it was in her maiden name, as proof of her married name. She had banked with them since 1946.

Jennifer

Mark7799

Not a lot I can add to Jennifer's post really - I have experience of dealing with this in NatWest & Barclays - PM me if you want any more info.

margaretclare

Dad says he doesn't want to upset the bank. Upset them??? (Sound of head being banged against brick wall!) Just HOW do you upset them? The days of your friendly local bank manager are long gone. They're faceless morons with a head office probably in Mumbai.

You owe them NO loyalty at all!! As Martin says: Ditch and switch. I have cahoot, I'm very happy with them, but I have no illusions. I have actually tried others, some demand £1K a month going in there, some want to charge extra, some do sneaky tricks like A&L which offered an interest-free overdraft facility for a year, and assumed I wouldn't remember when the year came to an end.

I heard a man on a Radio 4 Moneybox Live programme. He'd been with his bank for 50 years and was most upset because they wouldn't give him....whatever it was he asked for (can't remember what it was now). But he was really upset, kept going on about the 50 years he'd banked with them. As though that matters at all!

Your Dad says: 'the bank people know what they're doing, they're cleverer than me'. I bet he could still do mental arithmetic, add up without a calculator - I'd lay any money the bank employees couldn't do any such thing!!

Aunty Margaret

margaretclare

sloughflint wrote:

And another thing..... Modern banking with phonebanking, centralised phone numbers, PIN do not suit the elderly. My poor Dad could not prove his identity over the phone when he needed to transfer money. Nothing can be done about that though. It's just the modern way. Poor man who is desperate to be independent has to rely on me doing internet banking on his behalf.

At the computer club that DH goes to for wrinklies there was a talk recently on bank security. DH had arranged for someone from his bank to do this, but at the last minute she couldn't, so he gave the talk instead. A lot of people there actually do computer banking. Phone banking isn't new - I was doing it back in the late 1980s, was able to access my bank from the depths of Saudi, when I worked there.

Many older men can remember their forces number - when they're given the chance to change the PIN to one they find easier to remember, a good idea is to use part of the forces number. Some of the old soldiers who fought the Afrika Korps can still rattle off their army number from 1942!

Aunty Margaret

jenniferpa

sloughflint wrote:

And another thing..... Modern banking with phonebanking, centralised phone numbers, PIN do not suit the elderly. My poor Dad could not prove his identity over the phone when he needed to transfer money. Nothing can be done about that though. It's just the modern way. Poor man who is desperate to be independent has to rely on me doing internet banking on his behalf.

For goodness sake, never admit this to the bank! They'll act like you're a potential bank robber or worse. Every T & C I've seen makes the account holder promise not to share these details with anyone, and if they do, the sky falls in (or the account can't be accessed)

Jennifer

Mervcashsaver

My Grandad forgets his PIN all the time. it's a nightmare! My mum has to sort it everytime!!

jenniferpa

Well I can say for certain you're not banking with HSBC (lucky you)!

Jennifer