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money withdrawn from mums account advice needed
sitcom321
Posts: 386 Forumite
My mother in law has been in hospital for a month now with some complex ailments including onset of dementia which we dont know if its permanent or caused by medication. We have been seeing to her post and the other day she received bank ststement which shows a withdrawal of £700 s few days before she went in hospital. She was housebound and could not have been to bank herself. Bank wont tell me anything due to data protection etc. Is there anything we can do to find out where its gone
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Tell them not to be so bloody ridiculous?She was housebound and could not have been to bank herself. Bank wont tell me anything due to data protection etc. Is there anything we can do to find out where its gone
Write them a letter, say you didn't make the withdrawal, sign it in your mother-in-law's name."It will take, five, 10, 15 years to get back to where we need to be. But it's no longer the individual banks that are in the wrong, it's the banking industry as a whole." - Steven Cooper, head of personal and business banking at Barclays, talking to Martin Lewis0 -
Tell them not to be so bloody ridiculous?
Write them a letter, say you didn't make the withdrawal, sign it in your mother-in-law's name.
I'd say it is you who is being ridiculous.
The bank have received a request from an unauthorised person asking for account details - of course they are going to refuse due to the DPA.
As to forging the MIL's signature - that really seems like a good idea (NOT!!!).
If the MIL is not able to sign her own name and there is no power of attorney in place, then unfortunately, there really is not a lot that can be done.0 -
Write them a letter, say you didn't make the withdrawal, sign it in your mother-in-law's name.
Banks check signatures.
Why not just get the MIL to sign it? Although if dementia causing incapability is an issue then maybe a power of attorney should be looked into.urs sinserly,
~~joosy jeezus~~0 -
She wont sign anything as she is not in a good mental state not sure about power of attorney as doctors don't know if its permanent or not. But her heakth is deteriorating.0
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The world doesn't stop when people are ill. Other people have to assume authority. This lady, who's got quite enough problems, is relying on her family to look after her interests. What else can she do? And she needs the bank to co-operate, even if she's in no fit state to say so. Because she's in no fit state to say so.The bank have received a request from an unauthorised person
Privacy does tend to get sacrificed in such circumstances. The people you have to depend on might end up knowing more about your affairs than you'd have liked. Welcome to old age.
Of course it's not unheard of for relatives to look after their own interests. Well that's a risk you take if you don't make arrangements before you become incapable.
No forging necessary, you write "on behalf of". Lots of people don't compose and sign their own letters. They have "people" who handle their correspondence without pestering them.As to forging the MIL's signature - that really seems like a good idea (NOT!!!).
The bank can write to the OP's mother-in-law at her home address. The OP will get the letter, she's got the house keys.
In any case, the bank has been warned of a suspected fraud (against the bank). Doesn't matter who they've been warned by. They're now obligated to satisfy themselves that the transaction was authorised by the account-holder, or else delete it. The default is not that they can take the customer's money unless the customer complains.
If the bank wants to show that the housebound account-holder made the transaction, they'll probably need some co-operation."It will take, five, 10, 15 years to get back to where we need to be. But it's no longer the individual banks that are in the wrong, it's the banking industry as a whole." - Steven Cooper, head of personal and business banking at Barclays, talking to Martin Lewis0 -
The world doesn't stop when people are ill. Other people have to assume authority. This lady, who's got quite enough problems, is relying on her family to look after her interests. What else can she do? And she needs the bank to co-operate, even if she's in no fit state to say so. Because she's in no fit state to say so.
Privacy does tend to get sacrificed in such circumstances. The people you have to depend on might end up knowing more about your affairs than you'd have liked. Welcome to old age.
Of course it's not unheard of for relatives to look after their own interests. Well that's a risk you take if you don't make arrangements before you become incapable.
The world stops legally until arrangements are made for someone to officially act on her behalf.
The bank will not enter into communication with a third-party - to do so would leave them at the mercy of the data protection laws.
If the account holder is not able to deal with her affairs herself then a temporary power of attorney has to be applied for so that a member of her family can act on her behalf.No forging necessary, you write "on behalf of".
Slight difference to what you wrote in your earlier post.Lots of people don't compose and sign their own letters. They have "people" who handle their correspondence without pestering them.
Really, in which world is that? Any official leter sent "on behalf of" would be ignored.In any case, the bank has been warned of a suspected fraud (against the bank). Doesn't matter who they've been warned by. They're now obligated to satisfy themselves that the transaction was authorised by the account-holder, or else delete it. The default is not that they can take the customer's money unless the customer complains.
If the bank wants to show that the housebound account-holder made the transaction, they'll probably need some co-operation.
The OP has no way of knowing whether fraud has taken place, all they know is that MIL couldn't get to the bank herself - what they don't know is whether MIL arranged for her son/daughter/neighbour etc to take her card and PIN and take out the money. Unless the account holder themselves (or someone properly authorised to act on their behalf) confirms that they don't know anything about the withdrawl then the bank won't do anything.
And a refund is in no way guaranteed - if the MIL was negligent and has allowed someone else to use her card and PIN then she is unlikely to be refunded as she will have broken the T&Cs.0 -
well we got MIL to sign a letter we wrote to bank asking for details of transaction, it is actually a cheque that she has written "pay cash" for £700 it is def her writing and signature but there are only 5 people that go to the house 3 sons a sister and a granddaughter all are 100% certain they know nothing about it so it looks like we will never know what happened to it as she could not have been to bank herself with it0
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She can use the Data Protection Act to request the CCTV of the transaction. Either it will be her or the bank will deny the request thereby admitting it wasn't her undertaking the transaction.0
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I would check her cheque book and see if any other cheques have been written.0
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well we got MIL to sign a letter we wrote to bank asking for details of transaction, it is actually a cheque that she has written "pay cash" for £700 it is def her writing and signature but there are only 5 people that go to the house 3 sons a sister and a granddaughter all are 100% certain they know nothing about it so it looks like we will never know what happened to it as she could not have been to bank herself with it
My guess is that one of them knows more than they're letting on.0
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