Bank won't give my dad his money

Sarahspangles

HeparGirl24 said:

I'm not sure. I looked and it the first thing it asked was if you were an existing Barclays customer and if you say yes it asks you to log in to online banking.  If I say no and start from scratch will the two accounts eventually show together?  Also how to Barclays go about checking his ID if we make an online application for a current account? 

From the website it looked like the evidence of ID could be scanned and provided online - they then check this against the address and the cards go out to that address. But I see now he doesn’t have an in-date proof of ID - that might be something he comes up against in future?  

Presumably you can’t set up an account and add him as a joint account holder for the same reason, lack of ID.

While it may not always work like this, on two occasions my OH has opened a bank account and an existing dormant savings account has automatically been linked. One of these was when I added him to mine as a joint account holder, so it wasn’t even a new account.

If your dad can’t get into branch to prove his ID would any of the Barclays Local sessions work for him - I think he’d need to check beforehand he would be able to use an appointment for this purpose. https://events.uk.barclays/local/

Otherwise it’s the sort of ‘digital exclusion’ issue the Guardian Money Expert Advice team might help with

I share your frustration - my dad would be spitting feathers! 

HeparGirl24

He doesn't see why it is so much of a problem for them to send a cheque in his name to his address (the same one they have registered on the account). It would have to be paid into another account owned by him as I'm sure you can't just sign the back and pay it into somebody else's account these days.

Unfortunately I'm in the banking wilderness so I don't think I'd be able to open a joint account with him online.  I've lived abroad a lot and although we returned permanently at the end of 2019 we ended up "stuck" living with relatives for 2 years due to the covid lockdowns and an absent credit history. We only got our own place and started paying bills in our own names last year.  Recently I attempted switching accounts for the bonuses but was rejected, I suspect because of my lack of UK addresses and credit history.

In the end I think we'll have to wait for the updated POA to come back but that seems to be taking forever and he's losing so much interest.

sheramber

What was he intending to do with the cheque?

Does he have an account with another bank  to do a switch?.

Since  lloyds  already have him as a customer and accepted you POA, Can you set up an account for him with Lloyds then do a switch through Lloyds to that account?

wmb194

sheramber said:

What was he intending to do with the cheque?

Does he have an account with another bank  to do a switch?.

Since  lloyds  already have him as a customer and accepted you POA, Can you set up an account for him with Lloyds then do a switch through Lloyds to that account?

You can't switch non-Isa savings accounts.

prowla

There seems to be some due-diligence the bank is carrying out, especially in light of the news stories of old folks being scammed out of their life savings, so I wouldn't be blaming them too much for being overly careful.

One option would be to take a trip to branch in the next town and do things F2F.

Rob5342

You might have to go.alomg with Barclays. Is there any reason he couldn't apply for a passport and get someone to take him to the branch at some point?

Make sure he signs up for online banking for his other accounts so he doesn't get himself into the same situation with those.

xylophone

Your father does not have a passport or driving licence but presumably he does have utility bills, bank statements of one kind or another, DWP pension/winter fuel notifications, council tax bill etc etc?

The nearest Barclays branch is a two hour bus journey but presumably a car journey would take less time?

Does he have a friend who could drive him to the branch?

Or could he take a taxi? 

If so, make an appointment for him at the branch so that matters can be resolved.

HeparGirl24

Thank you to everybody for your replies.  I appreciate the POA updating has been allowed to slip but I always seemed to need to have it to hand and there was never a good time to send it away for weeks on end. 

My father has lost his confidence particularly since his stroke affected his speech and will not phone or talk to people he doesn't know well (he's worried he sounds drunk, which to be fair he does especially when he gets stressed). At best he is difficult to understand if you don't know him so going into the new branch alone, even if he could get there, is not something I think he should put himself through.  As mentioned I live 300 miles away so I think things will just have to wait until I can make a visit to him.  His nearest Barclays branch have a 5 week waiting time for an appointment so I've made one for him and I will attend too. 

I asked Barclays if they will accept utility bills, DWP notifications etc as a form of identity but they said no. If he still doesn't have a current passport or driving licence by then he needs to get a solicitors letter confirming his identity and that he is under no pressure to withdraw his money. Which is slightly ironic as I suspect the main reason for them insisting he sees the advisor is to persuade him to open another product with them and not withdraw his money completely!  He needs his sort code and account number for the other bank so they can transfer electronically as apparently their policy is not to issue cheques.

I have online access with the other two banks he uses.  Lloyds and Santander accepted the original POA with supporting evidence that my addresses had changed from x to y and from y to z. Neither were interested in proof my mother had died as the POA stated severally and jointly.  Barclays would not accept it even with supporting evidence.

I suppose if he was really being scammed I would be grateful for all this jumping through hoops.

.

Brie

There should be no reason that Barclays shouldn't accept an out of date passport or driver's licence assuming the latter has the photo card.  Other things to check are bus passes and voter ID cards.  If distance is an issue would a video appointment be possible?  (basically a skype or zoom meeting)

TheBanker

Barclays, quite rightly, won't discuss his account with you until/unless the PoA is registered.

But have you tried asking them in general terms what they can do to help? Rather than deal with the contact centre, ask if they have a Vulnerable Customers team you can speak to. Tell them you don't want information about the account, you just want to explain that your father cannot speak on the phone and cannot travel to the branch due to his medical condition, and needs someone from Barclays to help him access his money. 

The bank I worked for (not Barclays) had a team who could make special arrangements for vulnerable customers - but the challenge was navigating your way to that team past the call centre who use scripts and can't make special arrangements for anyone.