banks and power of atterny

23bumble23

I needs some help.

Power of atterny over my mother has been completed by the court of protection. My aunt and myself registered this with my mothers bank - Santander.

My aunt and myself also bank with Santander.

Without telling us Stantander cancelled my mothers debit card. I discussed this with Santander and was told that because the PoA is due to deminised mental capacity (my mother is 81) we can only manage her account using cheques, no debit card will be reinstated as my mother needs to be protected.

I told Santander it is impossible to manage my mothers money. The nearest Santander is 30 minutes drive, it's impossible to purchase items with cheques because either the retailer will not accept a cheque or ther is no guarantee card!

This means I or my aunt have to pay for out of our account then transfer the money. I was also told Santander would question too many transfers from my mothers acounts into ours!

Santander told me we can move my mothers accounts to another bank if we so choose but they won't issue a debit card!!

Does anyone know what banks would accept my mothers accounts and issue a debit card.

Any help would be appreciated.

A very destressed bumble.

beecher2

I have PoA over my mum's Lloyds TSB current account and both she and I have a debit card and cheques. I also have online access to the account. My mum doesn't have diminished mental capacity though so I don't know if that makes any difference.

I also have PoA with Halifax and they have a special PoA section who would be able to help you, if you choose to move to them

http://www.halifax.co.uk/helpcentre/poa.asp

I found them quite helpful and everything was straightforward enough

dzug1

I am puzzled that they know the reason for the PoA unless you have told them - I didn't think it appeared on the document. But agree they are totally useless about them.

I found Natwest totally clued up on PoA - no problems at all with them.

Biggles

23bumble23 wrote: »

Without telling us Stantander cancelled my mothers debit card. I discussed this with Santander and was told that because the PoA is due to deminised mental capacity (my mother is 81) we can only manage her account using cheques, no debit card will be reinstated as my mother needs to be protected.

The reason should be irrelevant to Santander, all they need to know is that you are your mother's Attorney in these matters. And the whole point of that is that she needs to be protected - by you, not by Santander, that is nonsense!

Definitely worth trying LTSB (who allow online banking as well as debit card access) and NatWest as well.

But first it might be worth ringing Santander, they have a 'Power of Attorney Team' at the Bradford office, according to their website. Branch staff are worse than useless on PoA matters (yes, that's a generalisation).

madgagoo

23bumble23 wrote: »

I needs some help.

Power of atterny over my mother has been completed by the court of protection. My aunt and myself registered this with my mothers bank - Santander.

My aunt and myself also bank with Santander.

Without telling us Stantander cancelled my mothers debit card. I discussed this with Santander and was told that because the PoA is due to deminised mental capacity (my mother is 81) we can only manage her account using cheques, no debit card will be reinstated as my mother needs to be protected.

I told Santander it is impossible to manage my mothers money. The nearest Santander is 30 minutes drive, it's impossible to purchase items with cheques because either the retailer will not accept a cheque or ther is no guarantee card!

This means I or my aunt have to pay for out of our account then transfer the money. I was also told Santander would question too many transfers from my mothers acounts into ours!

Santander told me we can move my mothers accounts to another bank if we so choose but they won't issue a debit card!!

Does anyone know what banks would accept my mothers accounts and issue a debit card.

Any help would be appreciated.

A very destressed bumble.

This is normal practice AFAIK. As your mother is not deemed capable of managing a bank account (hence CoP POA) then she should not have a debit card (and you should not use her card, as no-one should know the PIN apart from the particular person that the card was issued to).

As it is a court issued POA then the donor (your mum) is effectively removed from operating the account and should not be allowed to withdraw from the account.

That said (and I can only speak for Natwest) YOU should be able to have a debit card with your name on, for mum's account. Also you should be allowed to sign cheques. That's kind of the point of going to the trouble of getting a POA!

You should be able to open an account in branch at Natwest with proof of ID and address for yourself, proofs for mum (I need to check exactly what you need for mum - let me know if you would like to know) and the original (or solicitors certified copy) POA document.

I hope that all makes sense!

madgagoo

Biggles wrote: »

The reason should be irrelevant to Santander, all they need to know is that you are your mother's Attorney in these matters. And the whole point of that is that she needs to be protected - by you, not by Santander

Hmm, not quite true. The reason is quite important. As I say above, she has been deemed not capable of managing a bank account and therefore is not able to have access to the account. Debit card needs to be cancelled as the person who it has been issued to is no longer capable of using it. The donor in this type of POA is not allowed access to their accounts, even if they wanted to withdraw £10 at the counter - the attorney HAS to do transactions for them.

This is quite different than the majority of powers of attorney, which are signed by the donor in full mental capacity - they just want someone else to be able to manage things in their behalf. I'm sure these people would be quite upset if we cancelled their cards etc. In this case either donor or attorney can carry out transactions on the account.

So you can see that the reason for the issue of the POA is very important.

That said Santander should have explained that when POA was registered and I don't understand why they will not issue a debit card under the attorneys name.

Biggles wrote: »

Branch staff are worse than useless on PoA matters (yes, that's a generalisation).

Oi! (I'd like to think I fall outside that generalisation!)

jonesMUFCforever

If mum is unable to have a card there is no reason why Santander cannot issue a card to one or both of the attorneys.

tug

I have had similar problems to 23bumble23.
My 89 year old mother-in-law's finances have been controlled online by me, using her details, for several years without any problems. I did have an Enduring Power of Attorney issued 4 years ago but never felt the need to use it.
However, as a result of some minor problem we had to ring the Halifax. My mother-in-law had difficulties answering the security questions without prompting.
I decided I would register the POA with Halifax as I thought it would make life easier.
Dohhhh!!!!
On receiving the POA, Halifax cancelled online access without notifying anyone, by post, telephone or internet and put a block on the accounts.
They registered me but I still couldn't do anything with the account as it was issued "jointly" and not "jointly and severally".
My wife produced her I/D docs and the POA was sent off again.
They then said they couldn't register it "jointly" and we would both have to bring the POA into a branch to conduct any business. I want to do all the banking online but it's very definitely not possible with the Halifax.
The Halifax do not allow attorneys to have online access in any event.
MIL did have an account with Cahoot (online bank) and they were happy to accept the POA and allow us to continue banking. I tried other banks and Cahoot was the only one I found who were able to allow POA's to run the bank account.
Once I have sorted the deposits, direct debits and standing orders (Cahoot don't have a switching service), I will cancel the Halifax accounts.

le_loup

Try HSBC. Never had a single problem with them since I became an attorney.

madgagoo

tabby_cats_mum wrote: »

The fact is POA over an account does not mean you have the same easy access as if it were your own personal account and you just have to work around it.

IMO it should give you the same easy access, a POA means that you should have full access to the account.

Come and see me at my branch and you'll get a debit card, cheque book and full Internet banking - exactly the same as if it was your own account.

I'd like to think you'd get the same if you went to any Natwest branch but I can't be 100%, I've never had formal training on the subject - have just taught myself!

Biggles

madgagoo wrote: »

I've never had formal training on the subject - have just taught myself!

I think that summarises the whole problem with the banks, Madgagoo.