Can people on DLA get a bank account?

shelley24

MY mum has MS and is on the higher rate of DLA and incapacity benefit, she has a building society account but wants to open a current account so she can pay bills easier (she keeps forgetting and getting charged due to not being able to pay by DD and her memory/illness)

Im worried that any bank will not give her an account because she is disabled. She has an income of around £900/month.

She has been paying interest only on her mortgage for about 10 years and so i have advised her to see a mortgage advisor and sort a new repayment mortgage out. This she did and he came back with 2 companies who would lend her the money, she wants £30,000 to pay off TSB, her house is worth around £120,000. He also said she did not have any adverse credit on her name and the mortgage should go through ok.

Can anyone advise if there are any banks out there who would give her an account, just a simple solo account would do for now, i dont want to apply everywhere just for them to see occupation disabled and decline straight away!

Any advice much appreciated

smithja

Legally they cannot discriminate against a disabled person in the manner you are worried about it is in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 section 19,

19.—(1) It is unlawful for a provider of services to discriminate against a disabled person—
(e) facilities by way of banking or insurance or for grants, loans, credit or finance;

I am also on DLA and with LloydTSB were they have just upgraded my current account to a Gold Service Account, and I imagine I am down as "technically" unemployed, although my annual income is £14,000. So there is no reason why you should have any problems.

Hope this helps

James

computerwoman

I am on DLA and I have a halifax electron card, a barclays cashcard account (which I dont use anymore) and a citibank debit card account, they cannot stop you from appling but some banks do discriminate against you like barclays, I would try halifax and citibank.
cw.

shelley24

Many Thanks to you both :T , i have heard Halifax mentioned before when discussing this with colleagues so i think ill give them a go. I'll definitely report back.

Fingers crossed eh!

shelley24

Sorry, thought of one more thing. Did you both already have your accounts before you started receiving DLA? Just for reference really..and im nosey, lol

smithja

Nope, I opened mine to have my benefit paid into and after 3 months they offered to upgrade mine to a Gold Service Account. I had a Post Office Card account before, I am on the electoral register, and I have a good credit record for using a Capital One builder card and a few catalogues.

I noticed from your first post you have not mentioned Income Support, I also get the high rate of care, which entitles me to the single persons allowance, the disabilty premium, the severe disabilty premium (you only get this one if you live alone, otherwise someone who lives with you can get carers allowance depending on their income), and the enhanced disability premium which brings it to about £140 per week. If the level of Incapacity Benefit is below this, and the hours worked are below 16, and the savings are below a particular level, your mum should be entitled to the difference between the her maximum entitlement of Incapacity Benefit (or that might not even be counted), and Income Support.

Hope this is of some help, best people to ask are the CAB.

James