Matured Junior Cash ISA with Tesco Bank

stardust23

My son turned 18 and he can finally have access to his money.  (It started as a CTF, back in 2003, and has moved to a Junior Cash ISA with Coventry, then NS&I and finally Tesco Bank.)

He phoned up to ask that it be transferred to their best Savings account, but they will not do anything without him proving his identity, via a Passport or Driving Licence, neither of which he has.  I have obviously sent Proof of Identity numerous times over the years for myself and him (using his Birth Certificate) but we are now at an impasse.

Tesco Bank tells us that it is in their T&Cs, but all the T&Cs state is "they will have to provide us with certain details to allow us to confirm their identity".  If I had known that a Passport (£75) or Driving Licence (£34), either of which need to be Certified (£25), was specifically required then I would either have not signed up with them, or I would have put some money aside.  But the thought of now having to spend money on things he does not need just to get access to his money is extremely annoying.

To highlight how ridiculous their request is, one cannot get a Passport without a Birth Certificate, but Tesco Bank will not accept a Birth Certificate as Proof of Identity.

Any ideas on the way forward?  Thank you.

xylophone

According to the T&C, Tesco will write to the JISA owner (the young adult) shortly before the account matures to set out his options.

Did your son receive such a letter?

What exactly did it say?

The T&C further state that if the JISA owner has not become the registered contact before age 18, he will have to provide Tesco with certain details (unspecified) to confirm identity  together with details of another account he holds before he will be permitted access to the funds.

I fail to see how Tesco can insist on either  a driving licence or a passport since it is not compulsory for any UK resident to hold either and indeed many don't.

Does your son have a bank account in his own name?

I would suggest that your son writes to Tesco Bank explaining that he does not hold either a driving licence or a passport and ask what other forms of proof of identity would be acceptable, eg recent bank statement/ medical card/ birth certificate/ statement from Head Teacher/clergyman/other professional/ etc.

xylophone

Has your son registered to vote?

https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

colsten

As an adult, your son is likely to have to prove his ID at various places, so 'splashing out' on a provisional driving licence or even his first passport could be a very sound investment, even if he has no intention to ever drive or travel. He'd need a passport even for UK-internal flights.

The Post Office does certifications for £12.75. https://www.postoffice.co.uk/identity/document-certification

NB. It is normal for any bank or other financial product provider to request ID, particularly if they are unable to electronically verify people. Your son should be pleased that Tesco won't hand over his money to anyone who is unable to prove that they are him 

eskbanker

colsten said:

He'd need a passport even for UK-internal flights.

Do you know of any airline that requires this?  I've flown domestically hundreds of times without needing to take my passport, although some form of photo ID (such as driving licence) is requested by some airlines.

stardust23 said:

If I had known that a Passport (£75) or Driving Licence (£34), either of which need to be Certified (£25), was specifically required then I would either have not signed up with them, or I would have put some money aside.

Have you checked if any other ISA providers have less stringent ID requirements than Tesco?  Your son could perhaps open a new ISA elsewhere and transfer the Tesco one into it....

colsten

eskbanker said:

colsten said:

He'd need a passport even for UK-internal flights.

Do you know of any airline that requires this?  I've flown domestically hundreds of times without needing to take my passport, although some form of photo ID (such as driving licence) is requested by some airlines.

There’s the famous incident when Frankie Dettori was denied to board a Ryanair flight from Stansted to Ayr because he didn’t have his passport on him. https://gulfnews.com/sport/horse-racing/frankie-is-the-golden-boy-at-ayr-1.684068

Whilst, strictly speaking, other forms of photo ID might be acceptable, the CAA advises all passengers to bring their passport along for domestic travel.

In any case, though, the point is that an adult is likely to hit all sorts of of difficulties without photo ID - as the son of the OP is already experiencing now.

stardust23

xylophone said:

Did your son receive such a letter?

What exactly did it say?


Does your son have a bank account in his own name?

I would suggest that your son writes to Tesco Bank explaining that he does not hold either a driving licence or a passport and ask what other forms of proof of identity would be acceptable, eg recent bank statement/ medical card/ birth certificate/ statement from Head Teacher/clergyman/other professional/ etc.

Yes, he received the letter, and it was in this letter, that Tesco outlined (for the first time) the specific documents required.

Yes, he has a bank account.

Thank you, that is a good idea.

stardust23

colsten said:

The Post Office does certifications for £12.75. https://www.postoffice.co.uk/identity/document-certification

Thank you, that is useful.

refluxer

@stardust23 My daughter will be in a similar position soon so how did you resolve this in the end ? Were you able to provide suitable, alternative proof or did you avoid Tesco's ID requirements by opening an adult ISA elsewhere and requesting a transfer ?

She does have a driving license and passport, but I've never had the hassle or cost of having to get documents certified to open a savings account myself and see no reason why she should have to, either. I guess it's possible that she may come up against similar ID requirements with a different provider though, if it's not one she already deals with.

stardust23

@refluxer Apologies for the very late reply. I went to the Financial Ombudsman Service, and after another year, my son received Lost Interest (at a better rate) + £200 compensation + his ISA balance without needing to purchase a Passport or Driving Licence.

A great result in the end, but so unnecessary.

refluxer

stardust23 said:

@refluxer Apologies for the very late reply. I went to the Financial Ombudsman Service, and after another year, my son received Lost Interest (at a better rate) + £200 compensation + his ISA balance without needing to purchase a Passport or Driving Licence.

A great result in the end, but so unnecessary.

No worries - better late than never

I thought I would reply just for completeness and in case this thread crops up when someone searches for similar issues with Tesco JISAs in future. (Tesco Bank were bought out by Barclays last year and no longer offer cash JISAs, however it's likely that there will be many children still holding this account when it matures as the rate was decent for a while and it was one of only a few JISAs that had online access).

When my daughter's JISA matured, we took a scan of her passport and got it certified by a friend who is a registered professional and certifies passport photos for others regularly without issues, but it was rejected by Tesco on the basis that her exact profession wasn't in their list of suggested certifiers.

After a bit of searching, I ended up using someone was on Tesco's list and eventually got it sorted, but this took a while. Fortunately, the account did appear to earn interest in the meantime, so I presumed it automatically became an adult ISA by default at the age of 18 (or earned the same rate at least), although this wasn't specifically stated in the terms.

TLDR - if you hold a Tesco JISA, only use someone specifically mentioned in Tesco's list of suggested professions, otherwise it'll be rejected. If finding someone suitable is an issue then you may be able to use the Post Office document certification service however you would probably want to check that Tesco would accept this first, as there is a cost for this.