Banking advice for older parent.

ceewash

Concerned about my dad's (aged 89) management of his money. I am 3rd party on his Barclays bank accounts set up after he was scammed out of about £500, which could have been much worse. Barclays said they could not do anything as he transferred money himself.
Now we have just intervened after he was about to make a large purchase using a banker's draft. Explained to him that credit card would give more protection. So there are a few issues.
My question is - would Barclays notify me, if I asked them, if there was usual/ large amounts going out of his account. I'm treadingin on delicate ground here. My dad is not incapable in any way he just has trouble keeping up with how things work in financial world.
Btw the accounts are not online, he uses the branch.

Neil_Jones

If your father is of sound mind and wants access to his own money then realistically that's up to him. In an ideal world a bank worker would spot a sign of a large withdrawal request as being unusual but in reality all that's been devolved to technology so it can't always be picked up.

Easiest solution in the short term could be if you don't have it already is (Lasting) Power of Attorney which would allow you to effectively take over as and when its needed. Or register for online banking which would allow you to "monitor" the account but I would suggest you let your father know you're doing this.

Zanderman

No, the bank won't help you like you suggest.

Agree with Neil above that LPA is the way to go - you can activate it whilst he is still of sound mind (with his consent, obviously) and then monitor what's going on via online banking on his accounts. And get whatever alerts might be available (dep on the bank) to your mobile.

And LPA is a sensible thing to have anyway - if he becomes less capable LPA will be essential to manage his affairs. Better to set it up now, whilst you can, than later when it will be difficult.

ceewash

Thank you. I think LPA is the way to go. As there is my mother as well.

Possibly Barclays would have questioned him about it when he arranged for the banker's draft? I would hope so. I really don't want him to have access to an online account. He does have a pc and a tablet device but he's not the best with them. Also the previous scam would have wiped him out if he had an online account. More conversations needed I think. Stressing that using credit card gives more protection. Maybe setting up an online account that only I can access?
Can't believe what an emotional issue this is. he was always the person I went to for financial advice!

18cc

you could install the barclays bank app on your phone - this can tell you via notifications if any amounts over £150 go in or out. Also you can look any time at balances and tranactions of course.

Others on here might be able to help in letting you know what permissions you will require for example do you need an LPA to do this or do you just need your father's permission

Zanderman

18cc wrote: »

you could install the barclays bank app on your phone - this can tell you via notifications if any amounts over £150 go in or out. Also you can look any time at balances and tranactions of course.

Others on here might be able to help in letting you know what permissions you will require for example do you need an LPA to do this or do you just need your father's permission

Anything that is logging into the account can only be used by the owner of the account (unless by an attorney under LPA) otherwise it breaks the bank's T&C. The fact that it's the app not the website makes no difference to that. Father can't give 'permission', only the bank can do that.

Doesn't mean it can't be done, er, informally though! But it would be breaking T&C and it would require father's registration on the app.

18cc

Thanks for that info zanderman...

one way might be for the father to install and register the app on his son's phone and setup a pin that his son doesn't know. In that way the son cannot log onto the app

however the app would still give notifications on the phone of spending or receipts over £150

edgex

If you get LPA, you could open a separate account, that you manage, that income goes into & bills go out of.
Then you transfer a 'spending allowance' to his account. That way there would be a limited amount at risk.

Skibunny40

If you've got 3rd party access, that might be enough to allow you to get the app without breaking any T&C's.
Are you local enough that you can pop into the branch to have a casual chat with the staff? Depending on who you speak to, they can have some creative ideas to help ( without breaking the rules!)

ceewash

Skibunny40 wrote: »

If you've got 3rd party access, that might be enough to allow you to get the app without breaking any T&C's.
Are you local enough that you can pop into the branch to have a casual chat with the staff? Depending on who you speak to, they can have some creative ideas to help ( without breaking the rules!)

Yes I think that might be the next step, to go to the branch. I had got to know the staff after the business with the scam. They would have kept an eye on things informally. However not long after this branch closed down.:mad:

Zanderman

ceewash wrote: »

Yes I think that might be the next step, to go to the branch. I had got to know the staff after the business with the scam. They would have kept an eye on things informally. However not long after this branch closed down.:mad:

Getting LPA though, as you've acknowledged above, is probably the best solution.

Don't delay getting that done - you can do it DIY (though do read the guidance notes thoroughly first!) or get a solicitor to help. Details here: https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

There are two versions - financial and health. Obviously the financial is the one you need most, but you might as well (as we did for my old mum) do both at the same time. And there's your mum as well. So that would be 4 LPAs if you did the whole set for both parents.

Downloading the forms is instant, but you'll need a few days at least to read through and discuss with parents and siblings if you have them. And, once completed, you need to register the forms - at £82 apiece - and that can take 10 weeks.

And after that you need to go and make an appointment with the bank to progress it there.

So start soon, it could be 3 months before an LPA is in place. And that's before any discussion with the bank.