Average time for a bank to send the final statement of accounts?

thinkable

I'm currently going through the process of valuing my mothers estate, as part of my application for probate. But one bank in particular (the Co-Op) seems to be taking a long time to send the final statement of accounts. Is two weeks an exorbitant amount of time to be waiting for it? Her building society sent it (unsolicited) within 1 day?

Savvy_Sue

I'd say worth a call to check they received the death certificate / grant of probate.

Slightly different, but I'm finding NatWest taking a long time to activate the Executor's Account after I took in the grant.

getmore4less

2 weeks is not that long, but do a follow up.

Santander were the worst when we were dealing with things.

Don't know how quick they are now but from a branch creating a letter to be sent out it took two weeks for the system to post it.

A lot of institutions have centralised bereavement services so you can only do so much in branches in person.

SevenOfNine

Yes, IMO that is too long.

Barclays were a whole lot faster than that. They were even quicker than that when I asked for one bank statement for a particular date for 8 years before the death that Department for Works & Pension asked for (checking on a benefit claim the deceased had made).

They couldn't go back 8 years so they went as far as possible, 6 years, and sent me approx. 120 double sided pages of statements! If they can get that done in record time then the Co-op are either too slow or something has gone wrong. Chase it up.

ferger

I'd chase them up, but two weeks doesn't strike me as ridiculous, not if there are multiple accounts and credit cards. Barclays took longer to confirm all my Dad's accounts (alongside protracted exchange on Continuous Credit Card Authorities...)

They all vary, and they all have slightly different variants on the approach to telling you what you need to know. I despatched 15 letters and DCs between 22/1 and 26/1, to various BSocs, Banks, PO, Registrars... - and I just, yesterday, confirmed the last shareholding and have the full set of DoD numbers, which is pretty good going I think. Most of them seem to deal with these requests sensitively and efficiently.

ferger

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Slightly different, but I'm finding NatWest taking a long time to activate the Executor's Account after I took in the grant.

I opened an executor's account with NW at the beginning of the month, and the whole process, end-to-end, was a complete shambles. I finally lost it when they returned a cheque I'd sent them to credit, in my father's name, because 'Payee Name Differs from Account Name'. Sent them a very stroppy letter last week, got a call from them yesterday apologising profusely, alluding to an internal review of their process which is just starting and offering me £100 in compensation.

The guy I spoke to yesterday was the first, of several, to actually understand what an E's account is for and how it should operate.

LavenderBees

N8tionwide took 6 weeks - 3 phone calls, 2 letters, then a stroppy recorded delivery letter got instant action and £100 compensation for my distress.

I wasn't distressed, just bl00dy annoyed at their incompetence! I couldn't start anything without the basic figures.

On the other hand, S*ntander went out of their way to help me open an Executor's account (they didn't have to as my mam did not bank with them, but N8tionwide don't "do" Executor's accounts), and help me distribute money etc. They made it all much easier than I expected...sounds like I was lucky to hit a local bank manager who cared.

It's the lack of training/too few staff etc that causes the problems ...

Savvy_Sue

ferger wrote: »

I opened an executor's account with NW at the beginning of the month, and the whole process, end-to-end, was a complete shambles. I finally lost it when they returned a cheque I'd sent them to credit, in my father's name, because 'Payee Name Differs from Account Name'. Sent them a very stroppy letter last week, got a call from them yesterday apologising profusely, alluding to an internal review of their process which is just starting and offering me £100 in compensation.

Well, I have to say that apart from the branch where we first opened the account, everyone we've come across in branch seems to understand what an executor's account is. To be fair, that person might have understood too, but there didn't seem to be any acknowledgement of it, we were just opening a normal account according to all the paperwork, and we even seemed to have the choice of upgrading to a different kind of account.

But then attempts to set up internet banking were doomed, and no-one could say why. It was on my third attempt at changing my PIN that someone in the branch explained that until they'd seen the grant of probate, the account was 'locked'. But I could still pay cheques in, definitely, that's what the account was for.

ferger

My experience was somewhat the other way around. I opened the a/c with NWB because that's who I banked with, and the facility to download transactions alongside my own accounts makes life much simpler. NWB have no problem with this (and nor should they). But, as you say, they open the account as a normal current account, then have to apply appropriate markers and stops to the account later. Which meant I ended up with chequebook, debit card et al. Entirely inappropriate for an executor account, at least until grant has been obtained (months way yet). And, if the appropriate markers have been applied, completely useless anyway - no debit should be accepted to the account until grant received, money IN only!

Savvy_Sue

ferger wrote: »

My experience was somewhat the other way around. I opened the a/c with NWB because that's who I banked with, and the facility to download transactions alongside my own accounts makes life much simpler. NWB have no problem with this (and nor should they). But, as you say, they open the account as a normal current account, then have to apply appropriate markers and stops to the account later. Which meant I ended up with chequebook, debit card et al. Entirely inappropriate for an executor account, at least until grant has been obtained (months way yet). And, if the appropriate markers have been applied, completely useless anyway - no debit should be accepted to the account until grant received, money IN only!

See, I got the debit cards straight away, but no cheque book yet. Which is (almost) as it should be - I think they're taking a long time to get the stops off the account, but I'll check again tomorrow.

It may be because we opened the account in one place, and I've made all my enquiries somewhere else entirely, and they need to send the certified copy of the grant to the branch where we opened it. Even so, if it's not 'working' tomorrow I shall be having words!

makeitstop

ferger wrote: »

I opened an executor's account with NW at the beginning of the month, and the whole process, end-to-end, was a complete shambles. I finally lost it when they returned a cheque I'd sent them to credit, in my father's name, because 'Payee Name Differs from Account Name'. Sent them a very stroppy letter last week, got a call from them yesterday apologising profusely, alluding to an internal review of their process which is just starting and offering me £100 in compensation.

The guy I spoke to yesterday was the first, of several, to actually understand what an E's account is for and how it should operate.

I 100% agree that Natwest are hopeless when it came to my Executor account also, when dealing with the estate of my late uncle.

As stated above, they seemed to mess up everything, confuse the simplest of processes, and constantly claim that things are being improved upon.

I told one agent during one of my "many" phone calls, that I'd listed almost one full side of A4 with issues which were glaringly obvious as being easy to improve / rectify. She said she would connect me to customer services where I would be able to share my suggestions, but, was unable to put me through. I was then subsequently told that someone would call me back to discuss this, but nothing.....hahaha. God, you gotta love it eh.

I'm only too glad I don't bank with them, and from my brief...ish experiences with them, never will either.

An utter shambles.