Old Post Office current account? (BoI)?

pfpf

i really don't know where to start so i'll try and be brief but accurate.

MIL passed away (no property/investments and cash holding well under 20k) and i'm trying to help sort financials out on behalf of my Wife, her only child. MIL had a long term partner but not married and TBH a great guy but nowhere near up to sorting anything out, so i'm helping him too with his basic day to day financial needs.

ok. he says he/she/they, he doesn't actually know how the account was titled, sole or joint had/have a PO current account going back many years. i have found no paperwork or card etc but this household was a hoarders paradise. i know they had an account because i do remember seeing a black debit card with the PO logo on it many years ago.

he thinks it was locked many moons ago as the PIN had been used wrongly too many times----and they never pursued it. but now he tells me there's around 10k in it which i don't doubt.

does anyone have any advice / experience of dealing with this type of issue? all i found was: https://www.postoffice.co.uk/current-accounts

any advice appreciated and i'll answer any questions if it would help.

thank you.

edit: he tells me he "thinks" they had a card each and it was only for withdrawing, not for making purchases. so joint but not a current account with a debit card? no idea. HELP.

Band7

I don't envy you, this could be a long and fruitless search. The best I can suggest is you try 

https://www.mylostaccount.org.uk/search

wmb194

pfpf said:

i really don't know where to start so i'll try and be brief but accurate.

MIL passed away (no property/investments and cash holding well under 20k) and i'm trying to help sort financials out on behalf of my Wife, her only child. MIL had a long term partner but not married and TBH a great guy but nowhere near up to sorting anything out, so i'm helping him too with his basic day to day financial needs.

ok. he says he/she/they, he doesn't actually know how the account was titled, sole or joint had/have a PO current account going back many years. i have found no paperwork or card etc but this household was a hoarders paradise. i know they had an account because i do remember seeing a black debit card with the PO logo on it many years ago.

he thinks it was locked many moons ago as the PIN had been used wrongly too many times----and they never pursued it. but now he tells me there's around 10k in it which i don't doubt.

does anyone have any advice / experience of dealing with this type of issue? all i found was: https://www.postoffice.co.uk/current-accounts

any advice appreciated and i'll answer any questions if it would help.

thank you.

edit: he tells me he "thinks" they had a card each and it was only for withdrawing, not for making purchases. so joint but not a current account with a debit card? no idea. HELP.

The executor/administrator contacts the bereavement team. The website linked below tells you how and the documentation that'll be asked for.

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/social-responsibility/help-with-bereavement

TheBanker

How many years ago are we talking, and do you know how the account was used - did it receive pensions, wages or was it just savings?

There was a Post Office branded current account for a while, which was a Bank of Ireland product. As per the link you have found, you'll need to contact them to find out if they are still holding a balance for your late MIL. Wikipedia says these accounts were launched in 2013 and closed in 2019 - do those dates match the recollections?

There also used to be something called a Post Office Card Account, which was for people who needed to receive state benefits but didn't have a bank account. A far as I know you couldn't use it to receive any other types of payments and the only way to withdraw was cash from a Post Office (and maybe ATMs). These are closed too. You can find details here: https://www.postoffice.co.uk/help-support/card-account.

Some people refer to National Savings products as 'Post Office Accounts' because this is how they used to be accessed. I don't think they ever issued Post Office branded cards though.

Katiehound

and before that there was -   National Girobank / Girobank plc - which was run by the Post Office,(-defunct 2003.)
Pretty sure that was subsequently taken over by Alliance & Leicester BS.
Google suggests that happened in 2003 but I recall dealing with my mother's estate in the late 90s- pretty sure A&L involved then.
It was a bank account with cheque book etc.

Ah, just found article: A&L bought Girobank 1990
If it's of interest:
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2003/jul/07/business.postalservice

pfpf

i had just posted another rather long message asking for advice. can scrap that as i have found the account, quite incredible really.
now at least i know it exists and what to do next.
thanks all.