Financial Institutions - Bereavement Teams Experience

YorksNick

Wondering what other people's experience has been with Bereavement teams from different financial institutions. I'm currently dealing with my recently deceased mother's estate and finding the bereavement teams of various financial institutions being less than helpful:

1. RCI Bank (Savings Account) - generally helpful, quick to respond and will send balance to the executor's account by transfer.
2. Paragon Bank UK (Savings Account) - slower to respond and are insisting on sending a cheque with the balance made payable to the executor. 
3. Nationwidw Building Society (Current Account) - ridiculously slow to respond, letters take ages to be processed and responses sent. Need a closure form filled out which had to be sent by post to me (no email or download option). A member of their Bereavement Team hung up on me on the phone a few days ago because I was asking for timescales and options etc. Very frustrating despite their letters stating "We know this might be a difficult time for you and we're here to help any way we can."
4. DWP - I used the Tell Us Once Service when registering the death and mostly it's worked well. Bizarrely they are still paying Winter Fuel Allowance because my mum was still alive in the "Qualification Week".  

bazzyb

Nationwide have a dedicated bereavement web page with guides and all the relevant closure forms available for download (or at least they did in January of this year). My experience with them was the complete opposite of yours, very straightforward to deal with. 

mjm3346

bazzyb said:

Nationwide have a dedicated bereavement web page with guides and all the relevant closure forms available for download (or at least they did in January of this year). My experience with them was the complete opposite of yours, very straightforward to deal with. 

Same, had to deal with them twice in a matter of months, very helpful both times inc when information had to be obtained re a benefits fishing investigation.

BooJewels

I've done this twice in the last 18 months and found dedicated bereavement teams to be very gentle and helpful and no issues whatsoever - everything resolved very quickly - same with assorted utilities etc.  The only modest issues I've had have been where they don't designate a specific bereavement team and you end up dealing with the same general staff as for other matters - I don't think they get quite the same 'sensitivity' training and perhaps don't choose to go into that field because are the 'right sort' to start with.  Even the DWP have been lovely with me.

The one organisation that were totally tiresome to deal with were NS&I - I knew my father had some premium bonds (he regularly put larger amounts in and withdrew again later, so didn't know how many he might still have) and had his and my Mum's account numbers, plus a savings account that had been transferred to them over the years, that had been opened in 1938 and had a balance of 4 shillings.  I sent the same information to them on slightly different forms on 3 or 4 occasions and after many weeks, thinking that it must be a decent amount for them to making me just through so many hoops, I finally got a pay out of £4.20. 4 PBs refunded and the 4 shillings returned - they don't pay interest on balances under a pound!   

KxMx

Barclays were okay.... Everything settled bar funds being sent to executor then they got another letter asking for all the documents again... Was a mistake and Barclays did apologise immediately and offered to facilitate a complaint.

British Gas chased executor for a bill they'd already paid, final demand was sent but due to dates they assumed it had been issued just prior to payment, BG then sent solicitors letters, then that firm couldn't find the case, then when proof of payment was sent to BG via the solicitors nothing was heard again, not even an apology. 

74jax

Halifax - went above and beyond for us (I used to work for them and their service to me was easy above how we (I) was trained. 

CoOp - exceptionally good service and very helpful

Cumberland Building Society - amazing, even opened the branch when closed just for me and my brother.

Post Office - worse than useless. Although it wasn't their staff, it was their policies that the staff sadly are working with. Absolutely poor put me off ever using a post office account, ever. 

Dwp - quick and no issues. 

Equinity - extremely helpful and guided us through step by step. 

BooJewels

74jax said:

Cumberland Building Society - amazing, even opened the branch when closed just for me and my brother.

I'll second that, they have been totally lovely.  My parents had a nominal mortgage to keep the Deeds stored and I've just had to pay it off to get them released as we put the house up for sale.  They owed a grand total of £1.21 and when we'd done the card transaction over the phone the lad said "I'm going to need a lie down after handling so much money".  Which has been making me titter whenever I think about it.   I've dealt with them over a couple of years under a power of attorney and apart from one exception, they're always cheerful and obliging - and answer phones promptly - which is so rare these days, they make you jump!

74jax

BooJewels said:

74jax said:

Cumberland Building Society - amazing, even opened the branch when closed just for me and my brother.

I'll second that, they have been totally lovely.  My parents had a nominal mortgage to keep the Deeds stored and I've just had to pay it off to get them released as we put the house up for sale.  They owed a grand total of £1.21 and when we'd done the card transaction over the phone the lad said "I'm going to need a lie down after handling so much money".  Which has been making me titter whenever I think about it.   I've dealt with them over a couple of years under a power of attorney and apart from one exception, they're always cheerful and obliging - and answer phones promptly - which is so rare these days, they make you jump!

@BooJewels and it is the actual store answering too! They were pure gems to me and my brother. 

YorksNick

bazzyb said:

Nationwide have a dedicated bereavement web page with guides and all the relevant closure forms available for download (or at least they did in January of this year). My experience with them was the complete opposite of yours, very straightforward to deal with. 

I looked for the Account Closure form but it's not available online any more - they have to send by post. No idea why because it's just a basic form asking for the usual information. It seems they've "improved" the website! 

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/help/challenging-times/bereavement/releasing-money-and-closing-accounts/#close-the-accounts 

I had to deal with Nationwide about 3 years ago when my father passed away - but at the time I was working close to a branch and it was relatively easy to pop in. I'm now having to do everything by phone / post and it's a lot more challenging and takes longer. 

kipsterno1

Lloyds have been very good both with my late fathers accounts and home insurance. Did all the account closure online. It helped that I held his LPA prior to his passing and also have an account with them, less ID checks.

United Utilities  were excellent as were British Gas.

TV license refund all online and very quick.

DWP seem on the ball. Two weeks after using 'tell us once' got a letter telling me they owe the estate money and how to claim it. That was balanced  out by us owing his private pension but again the customer service was very good.

NSandI responded quickly with full details of all his holdings. I will see how that progress once I have probate .

SiliconChip

It's interesting how people have had different experiences with the same instituation, perhaps it depends on who answers the phone. After 12 days of executorship I will say that in general those that have a dedicated bereavement number and department are much easier to get through to and provide a better response.

Lloyds Bank: the person I spoke to first was excellent, providing helpful information and freezing the account there and then, the next one wasn't quite as switched on but I was impressed that they didn't need to see the death certificate, they just recorded some information from it and that was enough to let them close the account and transfer the balance to the account that I'm using to hold and distribute all funds.

The following will probably need to see the grant of representation given the value of balances held.

Coventry BS: they have a good online system to advise of the death but I'm still waiting for the documents they said they'd send.

Yorkshire BS: form advising death submitted online, subsequently received a form to be completed and returned with the death certificate

Family BS: notified online, death certificate sent and returned along with a closure form to be completed once probate is done

NS&I (Premium Bonds): notified online, valuation letter received with closure form to be completed once probate is done

Co-op credit card: had to notify by phone, email received with 4 page form to be completed, they also wanted to see death certificate and a certified copy of the will, the only good thing was that the documents could be scanned and submitted by email, although they still haven't responded

Other organisations

DWP: phoned to advise to stop state pension and attendance allowance (subsequently also used Tell Us Once), two letters with forms received and also a letter about Winter Fuel Payment (although it's unclear if they will attempt to pay this or if it'll be stopped as the date on the letter is later than the date of death by a few days).

Severn Trent Water: notified by email with meter reading, response also by email advising account would be closed, supply would be maintained until the house is sold, and there would be no charge for any water used after the date of death

BT: phone service cancelled online and line was dead about 36 hours later, final bill send to me

British Gas: notified by email with gas meter reading, latest bill sent to me, bills will continue to be produced but no payment required until house is sold (or after 10 months if that's sooner)

E.ON NEXT: notficed by email with electricity meter reading but no response so phoned them (no dedicated number or team) and they claimed the email hadn't been received, they did however manage to process the account closure and transfer into my name, but they require monthly payments

TV licence: advised online and it looked like a refund would be processed within 21 days, but it seems that the DD to take payment for the current 12 months may have failed (if recent that's because the account has been closed) so I'll need to contact them to see if the estate owes them anything or if they owe the estate