Death of primary cardholder - consequences for secondary cardholder

blue.peter

p00hsticks said:

Even with the dedicated bereavement team, it usually only takes one phone call. I'm surprised that when you phoned you weren;t trasferred over to the bereavement team when you explained why you were calling - surely they wanted some evidence that the cardholder was actually dead and thet you were in a position to be dealing with the estate before they closed the card ?

Nope. I just phoned the normal number for their call centre and told them that my father had died. They said words to the effect of "Sorry to hear it, thanks for telling us, we'll close the credit card account, goodbye." There was no money owed either to or by the estate and Dad had no other accounts with that firm, so it was all very quick and simple.

Dealing with his investments was rather more complicated. The managers - quite rightly, and as expected - did require evidence of death (death certificate) and of my appointment as executor (grant of probate) before handing anything over. That was a fairly protracted process, and I did deal with bereavement teams at those firms.

The bank account wasn't as much effort, because it was jointly held by both of my parents. Mum just went in with the death certificate and they transferred it to her sole name.

lr1277

Shortly after posting about not knowing how to setup a POA with customer service with the donor not available, I am sure I saw a post by somebody saying they had gone into branch to register a POA and it was not difficult. I was looking forward to reading and considering that post in full.

I then logged into thank that poster, but that post has disappeared.

Did the poster delete the post? If so I am sorry for bringing it up.

If not, has the website got a glitch?

blue.peter

lr1277 said:

Shortly after posting about not knowing how to setup a POA with customer service with the donor not available, I am sure I saw a post by somebody saying they had gone into branch to register a POA and it was not difficult. I was looking forward to reading and considering that post in full.

I then logged into thank that poster, but that post has disappeared.

Did the poster delete the post? If so I am sorry for bringing it up.

If not, has the website got a glitch?

I think that was probably me. I did write such a post, but then deleted it because I thought, on reflection, that it wasn't terribly relevant to you because of the complication caused by your father being known by a different name from that on his passport. Since it seems that you are actually interested, I'll repeat myself.

There was no need for the donor of the PofA (my mother) to talk to the banks. In fact, she was about a hundred miles away from the branches that I went into (as were her bank branches). I simply made appointments with my local branches of both - Lloyds and Halifax - and spent about half an hour or so in each talking with them. I took the original PofA in with me, and both took their own copies of it. I think I had to take in evidence of my identity and address (for anti-money laundering purposes), but don't remember for sure. I was told before I went what I needed to bring. It was a bit protracted, but tedious rather than complicated.

What might make it a bit more difficult for you is the possible confusion over your father's name. I don't know how his bank will want to resolve that: they might want him to go in and explain it in person.

lr1277

blue.peter thank you for re-submitting your post. Your experience is not quite the experience I had with RBS but this is a different outfit that provides the credit card.

Nebulous2

blue.peter said:

Nebulous2 said:

It may well depend on the lender and the team.

Yes. It might also depend on the circumstances. My point was that dealing with my father's card was a very simple case - one phone conversation was all that was needed, so I had no need to deal with the issuer's bereavement team (assuming that they have one).

Nebulous2 said:

OP Here's a link which gives details of poor service by Barclays...

I see no link - it appears not to have caught. You might wish to try again.

Apologies - I've edited and added it in.......

Nebulous2

lr1277 said:

blue.peter thank you for re-submitting your post. Your experience is not quite the experience I had with RBS but this is a different outfit that provides the credit card.

Hi there - thanks for the additional information. I'd say your mother should open her own credit card. If she has limited credit history, with it all being in your father's name it might be difficult. I'd try her own babk / lender first, as they know her history. Banks should be sympathetic and helpful, but they are also trained to be suspicious and wary of the information they are given. They don't always get the balance right. 

lr1277

Nebulous2 said:

lr1277 said:

blue.peter thank you for re-submitting your post. Your experience is not quite the experience I had with RBS but this is a different outfit that provides the credit card.

Hi there - thanks for the additional information. I'd say your mother should open her own credit card. If she has limited credit history, with it all being in your father's name it might be difficult. I'd try her own babk / lender first, as they know her history. Banks should be sympathetic and helpful, but they are also trained to be suspicious and wary of the information they are given. They don't always get the balance right. 

Thank you. Yes I have started that conversation with my mother. I too was thinking about applying for a card with her bank. Her issue is that dad's bank account requires a minimum number of direct debits, for which the card counts as one DD.

Apparently parents have a number of accounts. In her head, I think mum thinks of them as pots of money, each used for a particular type of expense. So debiting money from one current account, the money may not be used for its intended purpose. As I said, an ongoing conversation.

Nebulous2

lr1277 said:

Nebulous2 said:

lr1277 said:

blue.peter thank you for re-submitting your post. Your experience is not quite the experience I had with RBS but this is a different outfit that provides the credit card.

Hi there - thanks for the additional information. I'd say your mother should open her own credit card. If she has limited credit history, with it all being in your father's name it might be difficult. I'd try her own babk / lender first, as they know her history. Banks should be sympathetic and helpful, but they are also trained to be suspicious and wary of the information they are given. They don't always get the balance right. 

Thank you. Yes I have started that conversation with my mother. I too was thinking about applying for a card with her bank. Her issue is that dad's bank account requires a minimum number of direct debits, for which the card counts as one DD.

Apparently parents have a number of accounts. In her head, I think mum thinks of them as pots of money, each used for a particular type of expense. So debiting money from one current account, the money may not be used for its intended purpose. As I said, an ongoing conversation.

Is the bank account only in your father's name?  Most bank accounts with a DD requirement only need them initially when you switch, or to retain certain perks, like a regular saver. You may have passed the point where that is a priority. 

Edit to add - it isn't an all or nothing decision. She could open a new credit card in her own name, and still put a small purchase every month through as secondary cardholder to maintain the DD. 

lr1277

I need to find out if the DD’s are still a requirement. I think she has an account in her own name, but again need to find out.

Sea_Shell

I just found this thread after searching, as I was about to raise this potential "problem" on the death and probate board.

I'm sure it's something that many people don't realise when they're just an additional card holder ☹️

It could leave you in a pickle, financially, if you rely on one card that's not 'yours'.


Also that any debt owing would need to be settled from the deceased estate.  It doesn't just get written off.