Can I use family members card for them?

unholyangel

Malthusian wrote: »

Giving your card and PIN to someone else = gross negligence, regardless of whether it is explicitly stated as such in the T&Cs.

What constitutes gross negligence is not strictly defined. The Financial Ombudsman refers to it as "more than carelessness, bordering on recklessness" - giving your card and PIN to a family member is a deliberate act and clearly "more than carelessness". What we can say with certainty is that it's an open goal, an invitation to your bank to refuse to refund you if fraud does occur.

Again, its only relevant if the loss resulted from that disclosure.

You can't say giving your card & pin to a family member is always negligent (let alone grossly so). Some banks may favour that line (just as some banks try to disclaim section 75 liability) - but thats not the position the FoS or the courts take.

If it was always grossly negligent, what are you supposed to do when family live with you? Never leave anything of value anywhere they could have access to it? Ensure all your mail is delivered to a secure lockbox that only you can access?

Whether someone has been grossly negligent or not depends on individual circumstances, there is no blanket rule.

Savvy_Sue

I must admit, when my mother was alive and treating me to lunch in a 'queue and pay' establishment, if she wanted another drink or anything she would give me her card to take to the till and I'd use her PIN, with her full knowledge. But her card 'lived' in her purse, not mine.

And when I realised that DH knew my PIN, I changed it immediately! I think he was a bit shocked, but then so was I when I put MY card into a slot and HE put my PIN in!

Bellisima

I used to do this with my dear old mum as she was finding shopping etc too difficult. She would give me her card and I would do her shopping with it. Eventually she added me to her account (we both visited her bank to do this), and I think it was called “third party”. Eventually she developed dementia so this made everything easier to manage, as she had not made a Power of Attorney. Can I point out that once a person has lost capacity due to dementia, illness or accident, they can no longer do a Power of Attorney. It must be done when you have full capacity, and can only be activated if said person has lost capacity to make their own decisions.

Pollycat

Bellisima wrote: »

I used to do this with my dear old mum as she was finding shopping etc too difficult. She would give me her card and I would do her shopping with it. Eventually she added me to her account (we both visited her bank to do this), and I think it was called “third party”. Eventually she developed dementia so this made everything easier to manage, as she had not made a Power of Attorney. Can I point out that once a person has lost capacity due to dementia, illness or accident, they can no longer do a Power of Attorney. It must be done when you have full capacity, and can only be activated if said person has lost capacity to make their own decisions.

Not strictly accurate.

There are 2 types of POA:
Health and welfare lasting power of attorney

Can only be used when you’re unable to make your own decisions.
Property and financial affairs lasting power of attorney

Can be used as soon as it’s registered, with your permission.

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

elsien

Third party mandate is only for when people have capacity, it should finish when people lose capacity although I'm well aware than many relatves carry on using it regardless.

Malthusian

unholyangel wrote: »

Again, its only relevant if the loss resulted from that disclosure.

If you give your card and PIN to someone else and then somebody uses your card and you say it wasn't you, you've an uphill battle to say the loss didn't result from you giving the card and PIN away.

If it was always grossly negligent, what are you supposed to do when family live with you? Never leave anything of value anywhere they could have access to it? Ensure all your mail is delivered to a secure lockbox that only you can access?

Not give them the PIN.

Erica51

Both my children were given cards on my John Lewis Account as soon as they were 18 and old enough to be allowed to have them. They are for use in emergency or when I ask them to buy something on my behalf. This has worked well for ten years.

Maat

As others have said, the best thing might be to see if you can get a card for your relative's account which is specifically for you to use. I did this with my mother's Post Office account when she broke her hip and was out of action for a few months. I also used her bank card and pin, although while in her bank one day it nearly came unstuck. I was using my mum's debit and her credit card to pay money from one to the other as she was still too immobile to get to the branch herself. The teller checked (as she informed me they're supposed to do) the date of birth and realised I was unlikely to be my mother's age. She asked if I was the card holder and I immediately admitted that I wasn't and explained the situation. She said she couldn't carry out the transaction for me so in the end I had to use the debit card to take money from the indoor ATM and take it to the teller to pay the credit card debt. Thankfully that was ok and I didn't get arrested or anything!

In my mother's case it was always going to be an issue for only a few months. If you're going to have to support your relative in this way going forward then having your own card(s) on their account(s) would really be the best thing. It puts things above board and means any issues like that I had in my mother's bank can't arise.

PeacefulWaters

Erica51 wrote: »

Both my children were given cards on my John Lewis Account as soon as they were 18 and old enough to be allowed to have them. They are for use in emergency or when I ask them to buy something on my behalf. This has worked well for ten years.

That's very different from handing over your own card and PIN to your adult kids.

But a logical way of dealing with the issue.

flybynight

i had the same thing through Barclays on me granddads account, his account / money, my name on card and pin. it meant he could carry out his version of internet shopping ( he emailed me and said, "ive seen such and such on the tv and id like one" and id find one, buy it and take it round and set it up etc) also useful for the phone call that said things like " ive run out of rice pudding can you get some on the way over", when he actually meant " my store cupboard is down to 4 tins of rice pudding and I like a minimum of 5. I am pretty sure nationwide do something similar aswell and it made him happy as I thinki he would've been very wary of me just using his card as it would be against the rules, so was better for peace of mind all round.