Problem getting my mum a new bank account

Gers

Spot5Flowers wrote: »

My dear old mum is in her 80's.

Gers wrote: »

Passports are free for those aged over 75 years

http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN03201/SN03201.pdf

agrinnall wrote: »

You're right, but you're also wrong. It's actually for people born on or before 2 September 1929, so 75 year olds wouldn't qualify. Whether the OP's mother would we don't know.

https://www.gov.uk/passport-fees

Yes, it's now as agrinall said, however as the OP said his / her mum is in her 80s it was a punt with a slightly incorrect angle!

Spot5Flowers

She's a couple of years too young for the free passport option. The post office is, again miles away.
Given the above comments and advice, I'm hoping the lady on the banks reception desk was being over-zealous with the requests for specific forms of ID.
She's lived at the same address since the 60's, so hopefully an electronic check will be sufficient.

Lorian

Does she really need access to a branch?

The reason they are closiing is most people don't visit.....

My mother just gets cash from the supermarket while shopping. She hasnt been in her bank branch for years.

xylophone

She's lived at the same address since the 60's, so hopefully an electronic check will be sufficient.

I would still take documents listed in my post above.

p00hsticks

xylophone wrote: »

She will have her bank statements.

She will have a recent letter from DWP concerning her state pension/any other benefits.

She will have a Council Tax bill.

These should be sufficient?

I'd second this, especially if she is also on the electoral roll. If she needs anything further she could phone up HMRC and request a tax coding notice - I've used this successfully before when opening a new Santander account.

In my experience most banks have further options for those who don't have a passport or driving licence, but you may need to quote them to individual staff members.

luvchocolate

Stuart_W wrote: »

This is worth investigating.

Even if you do get this account transferred, you could be in the same situation again in 6 months.

Branches are closing and will continue to close.

If she is on the electoral roll and has lived there a long time I am surprised that an electronic ID check isn't sufficient, which is clearly what happened to luvchocolate.

Its also worth saying I have only lived at my current address 6 months but they were still able to I.D me electronically.

eskbanker

Spot5Flowers wrote: »

I'm hoping the lady on the banks reception desk was being over-zealous with the requests for specific forms of ID.

Which bank is it and what does their website say about their ID verification process? Most require proof of address (hopefully fairly straightforward here with xylophone's recommendations) but also proof of ID in photo form, which is the trickier bit here.

As above, electronic verification may work anyway, and it may be that the documents she takes are adequate, but reviewing a published list of acceptable documents is probably still worth doing, not least from the perspective of being able to argue from a position of strength if the branch staff are unhelpful....

bengal-stripe

eskbanker wrote: »

......proof of ID in photo form, which is the trickier bit here.

What about a bus pass/travel permit for the elderly issued by the local authority? Those have a photograph and should suffice as photo ID.

If the OP's mother doesn't hold one yet (maybe she didn't feel the need as she doesn't use public transport), she should apply now. After all, they are issued for free.

kkgree1

We've had similar issues with my mother-in-law when we tried to open new accounts for her with PoA, following a house sale. She hasn't held a passport or driving licence in over 10 years (driving licence due to medical reasons & passport expired).

As others have mentioned it is worth looking at the list of acceptable documents for the new bank as in our experience they are all different! We managed to open one account with her Blue Badge as Sainsburys accept this as photo ID (a lot don't). We also took letters from DWP and HMRC as they seemed to prefer these.

We also found address verification difficult as now she lives in a residential home she is not listed on the electronic electoral roll, although registered to vote. This meant we had to provide extra documents with her address listed.

We found most banks were helpful if you explain the situation apart from a few we gave up with and went elsewhere.

teddysmum

Have a look on the bank's website, as most have a list of acceptable documents.


TSB looked at our documents, but though we were asked to take them along, Nationwide just used the electronic record system.