Opening an account for patient with no ID

enkiboat

Can anyone help please (I'm a newbie)....
Issue:
Have just taken over working with an 84 year old man who has been in prison and hospital for over 30 years. He is due to be discharged to a care home soon. He has a few thousand £ in the hospital cashiers office. He needs a bank account - to aid him in his new life and for the cashiers to transfer his money to.

Problem
He has no passport (is not British), no photo ID,no birth certificate, no utility bills, just the hospital as is address (and various hospitals / prisons going back 30 years), is not in receipt of any state benefits but did get a one off DWP payment recently and will get a state pension when he leaves. A DWP benefit post office account will not suffice as he won't be able to go out alone and access it - he'll need an account that he can set up a regular monthly amount to be sent to the care home for them to look after for him. He has mental capacity to understand that he needs a bank acoount and can manage one with limited support. He has no debt but no credit history.

I could get letters verifying his identity from doctor, solicitor and the cashiers office.

How can I assist him to open a simple bank account please?

ses6jwg

You'll be looking at a basic cash account and whichever bank you choose will need to follow their exceptions process for vulnerable individuals.

Did the DWP send him a letter when he had this one off payment as way of confirmation?

Does he have any correspondence sent to him from any government department? The home office? HMRC? DWP?

You can also use something called a "letter of introduction", which is usually on official headed paper and signed by an official such as a doctor, care home manager or solicitor.

enkiboat

I'm hoping ward staff will have helped him to keep the DWP letter - if not I can ask them to write re his pension forcast perhaps. He should have a letter from the Parole Board (or I can get them to write to him) - would that do? I could get the solicitor and his hospital doctor to write a "letter of introduction". When I contact the banks - do I ask about their "exceptions process for vulnerable individuals"?
Thank you so much - everyone has said "it can't be done" but I knew someone would know what to do. Lovely of you to reply.

pmduk

Toynbee Hall, a charity in London, used to publish a useful leaflet on providing ID in difficult circumstances. I can't find it on their website now, but it may be worth giving them a call.


Found it now, thanks to Google.
https://www.toynbeehall.org.uk/core/core_picker/download.asp?id=1521