ITC Legal Services - Avoid Them

angrygirlie

cp3go wrote: »

Hi guys, I saw your thread mentioned on the Healthier Matters blog and thought I would look it up. Don't know if you know about the post because it' was posted today http://healthiermatters.com/uncategorized/uk-probate-services-477
The probate situations seems quite dim in the UK at the moment, glad I haven't come across it just yet.

Great publicity for the MSE forum which now has over 23,000 views, so I hope that this article directs people to reading about real experiences with ITC.

Elsie238

Although I haven't posted for several months, I have been keeping an eye on the forum!

Yes, as my title states - our nightmare is over! Beneficiaries have received their cheques this week from ITC. I am so looking forward to receiving their feedback questionaire.

Sadly not all beneficiaries have received their cheques. My 86 year old aunt, who was a beneficiary, died at the beginning of June so did not get to see her money. Her inheritance goes to her estate and languishes in ITC's bank, until my cousins have probate. Funnily enough they decided not to use ITC - I wonder why?

My story was picked up by my local paper and I have sent this on to both Watchdog and Panorama, so here's hoping!

portlandboy

Elsie238 wrote: »

Although I haven't posted for several months, I have been keeping an eye on the forum!

Yes, as my title states - our nightmare is over! Beneficiaries have received their cheques this week from ITC. I am so looking forward to receiving their feedback questionaire.

Sadly not all beneficiaries have received their cheques. My 86 year old aunt, who was a beneficiary, died at the beginning of June so did not get to see her money. Her inheritance goes to her estate and languishes in ITC's bank, until my cousins have probate. Funnily enough they decided not to use ITC - I wonder why?

My story was picked up by my local paper and I have sent this on to both Watchdog and Panorama, so here's hoping!

Congratulations! At least now you can get on with your life again. You probably won't know what to do now you'll have so much time on your hands and so little weight on your shoulders!!

angrygirlie

Elsie238 wrote: »

Although I haven't posted for several months, I have been keeping an eye on the forum!

Yes, as my title states - our nightmare is over! Beneficiaries have received their cheques this week from ITC. I am so looking forward to receiving their feedback questionaire.

Sadly not all beneficiaries have received their cheques. My 86 year old aunt, who was a beneficiary, died at the beginning of June so did not get to see her money. Her inheritance goes to her estate and languishes in ITC's bank, until my cousins have probate. Funnily enough they decided not to use ITC - I wonder why?

My story was picked up by my local paper and I have sent this on to both Watchdog and Panorama, so here's hoping!

Thank you Elsie for sharing your trial with the forum. Good to hear your local paper have shown interest and with other ITC stories being sent to the BBC, I am sure there will be more bad publicity to come

ctcantwell

I have been trying to get my fathers Will which is in safe keeping at Barclays Bank but even though i have death cert, id, and i am a named executor on the will they wont let me have the original which my solicitor needs for grant of probate. They have given me a stamped copy of will and said this is all I need and then they tried to offer me their services to obtain a grant of probate through their 'deceased persons centre' in Warwick. They said that I need the grant of probate before they will let me have the original will and other docs in the safe. Catch 22. Has anyone else had this problem.

portlandboy

Barclays are not entitled to keep your father's will if they are not named as executors. However, if they "helped" your father write the will they may have suggested to him that they ought to be named as "joint executors" along with yourself. If this is the case, things might be a little more tricky. They will then try to make you use their "deceased persons centre", AKA ITC Legal services, to obtain probate (as I'm sure you might be suspecting by now, having posted here).
If you are the sole executor, not only do you have the right to the original will, but they also have the legal obligation to hand it over to you. The proof of the situation will be noted in the copy they have offered you.
If you're sole executor, I suggest you return to the branch, demand to see the manager and threaten to take legal action to obtain it. Be strong though, as far as they're concerned, there is a large value to be had by them keeping it "in house" and with ITC. Do not think for a moment that Barclays will be acting in the best interests of their deceased customer or his family, a read of this site will prove that.

datostar

portlandboy wrote: »

Barclays are not entitled to keep your father's will if they are not named as executors. However, if they "helped" your father write the will they may have suggested to him that they ought to be named as "joint executors" along with yourself. If this is the case, things might be a little more tricky. They will then try to make you use their "deceased persons centre", AKA ITC Legal services, to obtain probate (as I'm sure you might be suspecting by now, having posted here).
If you are the sole executor, not only do you have the right to the original will, but they also have the legal obligation to hand it over to you. The proof of the situation will be noted in the copy they have offered you.
If you're sole executor, I suggest you return to the branch, demand to see the manager and threaten to take legal action to obtain it. Be strong though, as far as they're concerned, there is a large value to be had by them keeping it "in house" and with ITC. Do not think for a moment that Barclays will be acting in the best interests of their deceased customer or his family, a read of this site will prove that.

I think their attitude to lay executors, especially those who do not avail themselves of ITC services, is unhelpful at best, and mulish at worst.
I commenced the process of accessing my late father's account on 3rd June, and paid in 2 cheques discovered amongst his personal papers. I was handed the phone to speak to the 'Bereavement Centre' and got the hard sell for ITC, being told how obtaining probate was extremely difficult, stressful and time consuming, taking 6 to 9 months. I declined. I was then told by the branch that I would definitely need probate. As the total estate was over £5000 I was applying anyway. A few weeks later I received correspondence from Warwick offering to 'pay away' the funds on certification from me that I was not applying for probate. I couldn't sign this as it would have been untrue.
Probate was granted with no difficulties at all, and I took an office copy of the grant to the branch. I told them that I wanted details of transactions on the account since the date of decease up to the date of closure but was told that this would be 'illegal'. I read out to the youth the relevant part of the grant - "Administration of all the estate which by law devolves to and vests in the personal representative of the said deceased was granted by the said Court on this date to the Executor...", and pointed out that when it came to the legalities the boot might be on the other foot.
Almost three weeks have passed now and I have heard nothing from them.
This contrasts starkly with the approach of the Halifax Bank, with whom he had 3 accounts. Within four days of production of the Grant of Probate, all funds were paid over and I was supplied with proper closing statements.
I'm sure it wouldn't be 'illegal' for ITC to receive details of account transactions!

John_Pierpoint

As I have posted above, I found Barclay's to be total chaos.
Have you done the final Income Tax return yet? (Unless the deceased had an untaxed income less than the (aged person's?) personal allowance and did not conveniently die in early April - there is likely to be a balancing entry (probably a refund) due to the estate. I had to submit returns for one and a half fiscal years.

Of the score of financial organisations, with which I had to deal, it was a toss up between Barclays (incompetent & disorganised) or HMRC (poor communications and fixated by THEIR internal systems) for the worst organisation.

How do these people manage with the other 1,999 people who die every day?

datostar

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

As I have posted above, I found Barclay's to be total chaos.
Have you done the final Income Tax return yet? (Unless the deceased had an untaxed income less than the (aged person's?) personal allowance and did not conveniently die in early April - there is likely to be a balancing entry (probably a refund) due to the estate. I had to submit returns for one and a half fiscal years.

Of the score of financial organisations, with which I had to deal, it was a toss up between Barclays (incompetent & disorganised) or HMRC (poor communications and fixated by THEIR internal systems) for the worst organisation.

How do these people manage with the other 1,999 people who die every day?

I have written both to the Tax Office which sent him his 2009/10 Short Self Assessment form (Thornaby on Tees) and the one which dealt with his occupational pension (Sunderland), notifying decease and asking for relevant forms to be sent to me if they require completion of tax returns (as you point out, I'm anticipating there being two). This was back in June - no reply from either to date.
I'm not going to allow their dilatory ways to impede distribution of the estate. All beneficiaries are my siblings so I'll make an interim distribution once Barclays and A&L (that's another story!) get their fingers out and keep back maybe £200 for any tax liability then sort it out later.

John_Pierpoint

datostar wrote: »

I have written both to the Tax Office which sent him his 2009/10 Short Self Assessment form (Thornaby on Tees) and the one which dealt with his occupational pension (Sunderland), notifying decease and asking for relevant forms to be sent to me if they require completion of tax returns (as you point out, I'm anticipating there being two). This was back in June - no reply from either to date.
I'm not going to allow their dilatory ways to impede distribution of the estate. All beneficiaries are my siblings so I'll make an interim distribution once Barclays and A&L (that's another story!) get their fingers out and keep back maybe £200 for any tax liability then sort it out later.

In my case I very promptly got a manilla sheet style of form BUT I failed to notice that there were two little tick boxes on it asking if I wanted to handle the part year by two other systems, one of which was self assessment. Completing a full year of SA plus half a year of "informal" R27 turned out to be a mistake, as the [STRIKE]two [/STRIKE] three systems don't seem to link up.
I was left expecting the bullying payments on account SA system and its positive balance to be sorted out in response to the R27.
It was not.
So I wrote.
No reply.
So I telephoned - it took three phone calls plus at least half a dozen that said "we are busy" and cut me off.
I think you will need to telephone.

Presumably you don't have an IHT liability ?