Barclays refused joint account as we live too far apart, is this normal?

sheramber

The_miser wrote: »

Yes they meet all the Barclays criteria for account holders, s

Does you wife have regular income or salary paid into the account per the requirements?

latinaid

sheramber wrote: »

Does you wife have regular income or salary paid into the account per the requirements?

But if that was the reason for refusing, why say it was because of the distance?

xylophone

Does you wife have regular income or salary paid into the account per the requirements?

I had a look at the link to these requirements - it seems very much aimed at couples or co-habiting friends which seems inappropriate to these circumstances.

And even these days, surely there are still some couples where (eg) one party is a stay at home parent and has no income so that all credits to the account are from the working parent?

And as I said in my previous, I do know of a case where a Barclays joint account held only money belonging to the elderly parent and where the offspring lived sixty miles away and held his personal accounts with another bank.

phillw

Ben8282 wrote: »

I don't believe that either a joint account or POA is necessary or appropriate.

A financial LPA is usable from the moment it's been registered to help run financial affairs, how exactly is it not appropriate?

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

Property and financial affairs lasting power of attorney
Use this LPA to give an attorney the power to make decisions about money and property for you, for example:

managing a bank or building society account
paying bills
collecting benefits or a pension
selling your home
It can be used as soon as it’s registered, with your permission.

Having a joint account is less appropriate in my opinion, a third party mandate is equivalent to using the LPA but the third party mandate becomes invalid if you lose capacity. From what the OP is saying they already have the LPA in place, so I have no idea why they wouldn't use it.

Keep_pedalling

Ben8282 wrote: »

I don't believe that either a joint account or POA is necessary or appropriate. What is needed here is a Third Party Mandate to allow your wife to operate the account but without the money in the account becoming jointly hers as it would were a joint account to be opened.

A LPA is appropriate for every adult. We have had ours in place for several years, I hope they never need to be used but no one knows when they might be struck down with illness or an accident, so giving your loved ones the ability to manage your finances when you can no longer do so is the act of a responsible person.

In this case an LPA would not only be able to manage what is required now, but also do much bigger things like sell the aunt’s house if she lost capacity and funds were needed to pay for residential care.

Ben8282

mgdavid wrote: »

you didn't read post 6 para 1?

The fact that the Aunt is apparently not interested in a Third Party Mandate makes no sense. Why not? Why does it have to be a joint account where the money will become their joint property?

Flobberchops

I agree with Jami74 - the only logical explanation (other than the manager having had a bad day and deciding to kick the proverbial cat) is that they felt there was a chance the aunt was being taken advantage of (and these days, where the media and general public feel that banks should be clairvoyant and/or refund all victims of scams out of their own pockets, they take this more seriously than ever). There are certain criteria or behaviours that will trigger this suspicion, some of which Jami74 correctly identified.



How to proceed? I would say, try again. Have the aunt take the lead in negotiations to demonstrate she's acting of her own informed, free will (nothing sounds warning alarms more than the "old dear" sitting there confused and virtually mute while the younger party explains why giving them access to the OAPs life savings would suit them nicely). If they decline, politely insist. If that comes to nothing, have the aunt make a formal complaint. If that comes to nothing, move banks.

Flobberchops

Ben8282 wrote: »

The fact that the Aunt is apparently not interested in a Third Party Mandate makes no sense. Why not? Why does it have to be a joint account where the money will become their joint property?

There's the important distinction whereby on the event of death, the surviving party of a joint account will become the sole beneficiary. In a Third Party or Power of Attorney situation the relationship (and access!) is severed at death. If part of the intention is for the younger party to be able to settle funeral bills, maintain utilities on the deceased's house during probate, and so on, a joint account can be preferable.

The_miser_2

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

Mrs Arthur is spot on with the intended use of this account, it is exactly what the Aunt wants to do.

Ben8282, this is her Aunts decision, not my wifes, we have to respect that.

Also, this account is a single day to day account, used for bill paying and other expenses, not any of the main accounts or investment accounts, it does not give my wife access to the Aunts savings, investments etc... There is also enough in the account to cover funeral expenses etc... Until the legal machine kicks in and the estate is settled.

If the Aunt loses her faculties beforehand the necessary paperwork has been lodged with the solicitor and my wife will assume control of her affairs, this was sorted before her Uncle died and has been updated since.

I get the bit about the bank might be worried about scamming, but as my wife has been attending the bank for years with her Uncle (before his passing) and has been since then with her Aunt, the staff (except for this chap it seems) know my wife and are aware of the relationship.

They can and probably will use another bank for the account, personally, this is what I would do (my wife has asked her bank, Lloyds, and they have already offered to do so for her). My Aunt has also asked Santander (yep she has accounts there too) and they also are happy to oblige.

But the Aunt wants this chap taken to task for the rudeness he displayed so I have written to Barclays and am awaiting the response.

Incidentally, I bank with Barclays and also have my business account with them, in the instances I have complained they have acted swiftly, flowers and champagne have been given as a 'sorry for getting it wrong'. Monies have been speedily refunded and compensatory amounts have been given when errors have been made.

Let's see how they respond to this.

The_miser_2

OK it's taken a while but here is the news from Barclays.

After a full and thorough investigation, the manager has been dismissed, why we do not know as they cannot tell us due to confidentiality. We can only assume that putting him under a spotlight revealed other matters that gave them cause for concern.

Barclays have offered profuse apologies and invited the ladies back in this week to sort out the account.

Let's see how it goes this time.