Money stolen at care home

AskAsk

My brother suffer from mental ill health and he moved to a new care home in October.  He has lost money from his room since he has been there and his debit card has been taken and used.  I haven't yet got the to bottom of who is stealing the money and taking his debit card.

Anyone got experience similar to this?  I have emailed the care home manager to explain the problem and will await her reply.  What measures can be put in place to stop my brother's belongings being stolen in a care home situation, anyone know?

Brie

What a carpy situation.  You put your trust in these people and it's so maddening to have that trust destroyed.

You could ask his bank to put you on his account as an approver of spends.  Might be just over a certain limit or might be a notice of every time the card is used.  Presumably you have some sort of POA or joint TPA for his account.  If not then get something asap.  I had TPA (3rd party authority) on MiL's accounts just so I could monitor and make an occasional payment on her behalf (like care home fees).  The bank (NatWest) was very helpful getting this set up when MiL was in hospital and couldn't go to a branch.  

AskAsk

Brie said:

What a carpy situation.  You put your trust in these people and it's so maddening to have that trust destroyed.

You could ask his bank to put you on his account as an approver of spends.  Might be just over a certain limit or might be a notice of every time the card is used.  Presumably you have some sort of POA or joint TPA for his account.  If not then get something asap.  I had TPA (3rd party authority) on MiL's accounts just so I could monitor and make an occasional payment on her behalf (like care home fees).  The bank (NatWest) was very helpful getting this set up when MiL was in hospital and couldn't go to a branch.  

Thanks.  I will take my brother to the bank and ask to be TPA.

Savvy_Sue

Can you also ask for him NOT to have a contactless card? 

Is your brother able to shed any light? Can you help him find a new safe place for card and cash? If someone asked for his card and PIN, would he say no?

elsien

AskAsk said:

Brie said:

What a carpy situation.  You put your trust in these people and it's so maddening to have that trust destroyed.

You could ask his bank to put you on his account as an approver of spends.  Might be just over a certain limit or might be a notice of every time the card is used.  Presumably you have some sort of POA or joint TPA for his account.  If not then get something asap.  I had TPA (3rd party authority) on MiL's accounts just so I could monitor and make an occasional payment on her behalf (like care home fees).  The bank (NatWest) was very helpful getting this set up when MiL was in hospital and couldn't go to a branch.  

Thanks.  I will take my brother to the bank and ask to be TPA.

That does really depend on firstly if your brother has capacity round his finances, and secondly, if he wants to do a third-party bank mandate. Or power-of-attorney because he may not wish to have anyone else involved in his finances. 

Brie keeps talking about third-party mandates in reply to various threads, but they are only effective while someone has capacity. And they cannot be used to approve his spending. That is just unlawful  and no bank is going to do that. And it’s his choice whether he has a third-party mandate or not, so he needs to know what it is and that he can say no or can cancel it at any point if he wishes.

If his money has been stolen and his card used, has he reported it to the police? If not, then why not?

What is his card being used for and does it need a  PIN - if so has he told anyone his pin number?
Presuming that he has capacity, because that is what you have to do unless it’s evidenced otherwise, why is he leaving his money and his card where other people can get to it? Does he have a lock to his bedroom door? Can he get a cash tin to keep his money and card in there?
Can he ask the care home office to keep his debit card for him and just give it to him when he needs it?


Most of the answers here are going to depend on your brother’s understanding of his finances. If he understands the risks and still chooses to leave the card and money unsecured  in his room knowing that it’s likely to go missing then he needs to accept there could be consequences from that. What does he want to do about it? 

If he doesn’t have capacity around his finances, then he cannot agree to a third-party mandate. And the care home need to be doing more to support him. Does he have an appointee does he manage his own benefits? If there’s a query around his capacity than this would probably need to go back to the local authority, possibly as a safeguarding.

T.T.D

Buy a biometric safe and place it in his room.  Take the spare keys only he and you can have access.

AskAsk

Savvy_Sue said:

Can you also ask for him NOT to have a contactless card? 

Is your brother able to shed any light? Can you help him find a new safe place for card and cash? If someone asked for his card and PIN, would he say no?

i have now changed his card to pin access only so other people can not use the card.  i don't think he will disclose the PIN to anyone.