Dormant Account - Abbey National

TheBanker

I'm pretty sure the request to go to a branch is due to ID. The branch staff can confirm the identity of the customer then pass details onto which ever team deals with dormant accounts. I wouldn't expect them to actually locate the account and hand the balance to the customer in the branch. Maybe the complaints team will suggest another way, maybe they will say go to a branch. Maybe they'll offer to call the branch so they know the customer is coming and check they know what to do.

I'm just a bit surprised everyone seems to expect the bank to bend over backwards to help someone who's ignored their account for 30+ years and not kept their details up to date. It may be that the customer can't get to a branch for a few months, but he's left this account for three decades so will a few more months make any difference? Why has this suddenly become urgent?

The customer ignored his account for 30 years, did not keep his contact details up to date (which is generally a breach of the account terms and conditions) and made no effort to reclaim their funds. The bank sent a letter with incorrect information in it. Yet the bank are the ones being unreasonable? 

Not excusing the letter saying to call, but I think the instruction to go to a branch is reasonable, provided the branch can resolve it. I don't think it's reasonable to expect the bank to deal with this kind of query by phone, and I am not surprised the bank haven't built a digital solution for re-claiming long forgotten accounts, because I imagine they invest their digital development budget in things that will benefit their business and their active customers. 

Actually, someone suggested the OP open a Santander account. This may be worth doing - it will mean they have an active profile on Santander's systems with up to date ID. It will also mean Santander have somewhere to deposit the balance of the missing account when it's located. But they may need some other evidence to prove the connection between the old account and the OP - do you still have the passbook, or any statements or letters or anything else that proves you are the owner of this account?

MattS1976

Thank you all for your responses, there has been a lot of helpful information and suggestions.

I emailed the ceo@santander.co.uk email address yesterday afternoon and received a response in less than 25 minutes advising that they will arrange for a senior complaints manager to contact me at the earliest opportunity. So it’s just a case of wait and see now.

I’m hoping this will help resolve it without going as far as an official complaint.

As others have pointed out the most frustrating thing about it all in my eyes is that they clearly stated in their letter that calling is an option when it appears that it isn’t.

As things stand I’d be happy if they could even just give me an idea of how much is in the account, and if I then need to visit a branch to provide any further ID or arrange for a closure of the account and withdrawal of funds then I can make a decision whether it’s something worth doing. 

For me to visit my nearest branch would be a 3 to 4 hour round trip, plus petrol and city centre parking costs… and the truth is I genuinely don’t know how much was in the account and whether it would be worth it at all.

I will provide an update when I get more information.

TheBanker

And one more thought... if the account was opened before 1989 (I think) the OP may have received some Abbey National shares, which are now Santander shares. No idea what they'd be worth but could be worth looking into if the dates tie up and the OP doesn't remember receiving their windfall. 

boingy

MattS1976 said:

Thank you all for your responses, there has been a lot of helpful information and suggestions.

I emailed the ceo@santander.co.uk email address yesterday afternoon and received a response in less than 25 minutes advising that they will arrange for a senior complaints manager to contact me at the earliest opportunity. So it’s just a case of wait and see now.

I’m hoping this will help resolve it without going as far as an official complaint.

As others have pointed out the most frustrating thing about it all in my eyes is that they clearly stated in their letter that calling is an option when it appears that it isn’t.

As things stand I’d be happy if they could even just give me an idea of how much is in the account, and if I then need to visit a branch to provide any further ID or arrange for a closure of the account and withdrawal of funds then I can make a decision whether it’s something worth doing. 

For me to visit my nearest branch would be a 3 to 4 hour round trip, plus petrol and city centre parking costs… and the truth is I genuinely don’t know how much was in the account and whether it would be worth it at all.

I will provide an update when I get more information.

Excellent. I'm really glad that you are finally getting somewhere and I hope there is something in the account worth collecting. 

wmb194

TheBanker said:

And one more thought... if the account was opened before 1989 (I think) the OP may have received some Abbey National shares, which are now Santander shares. No idea what they'd be worth but could be worth looking into if the dates tie up and the OP doesn't remember receiving their windfall. 

A quick Google suggests that if you hadn't claimed them in 12 years from the 1989 demutualisation then they were forfeited.

born_again

Rob5342 said:

Maybe I didn't phrase that very well. What I meant is that if that they can't reasonably get to a branch any time soon then a complaint may be worthwhile as it could get it past the general call handlers. If it still can't be resolved and they still can't get to a branch then they could escalate it to the FOS. If there was a branch down the road then obviously it would make sense to try that first, but if you they can't reasonably get to one for a few months then a complaint would be worth trying.

That said a bank should be able do everything without you having to visit a branch. You can open accounts, get loans etc all online, often by uploading I'd or with the bank checking it electronically. If they can determine your identity well enough for those purposes then they should be able to determine it well enough to give you the.money from an old account.

Sadly you can not compare opening a account or a loan, which are taken via your current address & situation. With a account which has been dormant for 20+ years & the person claiming no longer lives at that address. If they did it could be a lot easier.

So you can see why going to branch is the quickest & easiest way for proof of ID. I understand it is not always the easy option for many people. given all the branch closures.
Really needs more hubs, shared by all banks to make life easier for customers.

Yes some banks have other means of doing this, but to do so requires electronic checks to provide partial info. If not then you are looking at physical checks.

If it did go to FOS, they would agree with the bank on wanting to do physical checks. Know your customer.👍

Nebulous2

I think Santander are trying to retrieve and resolve old accounts.

I got a strange letter demanding I phone them to provide information, at risk of getting my account suspended. When I called they were quite relaxed and said it wasn't really me they wanted, but my wife, as they did not have ID for her. 

We provided ID and then got a lost account letter. She phoned and was asked if she had any evidence of the lost account. Astonishingly we managed to find a passbook with a few pounds in it. After two branch visits, where the first branch was pretty useless, they sent my wife a cheque. 

Altogether - though it was messy, and my memory of some of the details has faded, I thought it was a pretty good effort to tie up loose ends. The person in the second branch had never seen a passbook like the one my wife had before, and told her that they were getting a lot of unusual documents appearing at the moment. 

That suggested to me that there is a campaign on.