Bereavement - Problem with bank

hellycopeland

Hoping someone can advise me if there is anything else I can do with this...

I lost my Dad last month and as exector on the will, I have been putting things in order.

He had various bank accounts, and all have been straight forward to close with the exception of one. Met with a financial advisor at the branch, completed all the paperwork, presented the death certificate (which was copied and signed off as seen), presented i.d. for myself as executor and for the sole beneficiary (Mum). Was then told the paperwork would be sent to head office for completion. Advised that if funeral expenses needed to be paid, to present the invoice at bank and a cheque would be processed (which was done beginning of August).

I needed to arrange for a tax deduction certificate so contacted the banks probate & bereavement dept. It was then that I was advised that no paperwork had been received. I was given the branches ex directory number and told to call.

The financial advisor who I had met with was on holiday and no-one could find any paperwork relating to my Dad. Was told I had to wait until financial advisor had returned from holiday but if paperwork had got lost in the 'post and they had not made copies before posting, we'd need to go in and repeat the process...

My understanding is that banks send paperwork through internal post so not sure how it could get lost.

Where do I stand legally on this because the funds within the account belong to the estate. Its not at a value that requires probate, the bank have had access to the original will, the death certificate and so should not be any delays.

The probate & bereavement dept have confirmed that if paperwork is sent to H/O then funds are released within 7/10 days. They also confirmed that the account can be closed at branch level and funds released same day.

I have heard that some banks have a practice of with-holding funds for maximum interest and can make you jump through unnecessary hoops. Could this be one of those times and is it legal?

I've since put in a formal complain to the bank but as of yet not had any response from the complaints dept or the original branch..

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give. My Mum is finding things very hard and to have to go through the process again, its wrong!

opinions4u

I have heard that some banks have a practice of with-holding funds for maximum interest and can make you jump through unnecessary hoops. Could this be one of those times

Probably not. Just sounds like a staff member leaving loose ends before going on holiday.

and is it legal?

I don't think it's specifically illegal. The regulator would frown on such practice.

I've since put in a formal complain to the bank

Good. Keep pursuing it. I'd suggest this is done by phone at this stage (not email).

Winding up an estate can be hard enough to do simply because of the loss you've suffered. I had an awful experience with Barclays a couple of years back who lost paperwork and were slow correcting the problem. You don't need it and you don't deserve it.

Hope it sorts itself out quickly.

InsideInsurance

hellycopeland wrote: »

My understanding is that banks send paperwork through internal post so not sure how it could get lost.

First of all sorry for your loss.

Just because its "internal post" unfortunately doesnt make it 100% secure any more than Royal Mail is etc. One large banking chain use the couriers TNT for their internal post so whilst it does into special envelopes it still goes to a sorting centre, it still has to be rebagged and then delivered to the relevant office then sorted by department or mail point or such and then delivered inside the building by the post room.

Whilst the hit rate is probably better than Royal Mail its not fool proof and things certainly do get lost on occasions.

getmore4less

Which bank?

Santander can take weeks to do simple things.

smartiedriver_2

hellycopeland wrote: »

My understanding is that banks send paperwork through internal post so not sure how it could get lost.


I have heard that some banks have a practice of with-holding funds for maximum interest and can make you jump through unnecessary hoops. Could this be one of those times and is it legal?
QUOTE]

Whilst I offer my condolences for your loss, this sounds like a simple mistake. Internal mail is by no means foolproof, particularly when you think of the volume of documents passing through the processing centres.

As far as withholding interest is concerned, banks and their staff have better things to do than to make extra work for themselves by engaging in this sort of practice. Plus on a logical point of view the interest would only be pennies, or even zero if held in a current account, so it's somewhat irrelevant.

Most likely scenario is the advisor you met with has the paperwork in their desk, and forgot to send it off prior to their holiday. Whilst this is inconvenient for you, particularly given the recent bereavement, in this case it is simply a mistake and one which can be corrected very shortly.

smartiedriver_2

Grrr why don't my 'quotes' work?!

Azrael_1701

smartiedriver wrote: »

Grrr why don't my 'quotes' work?!

You deleted [/ before the end of the last QUOTE]