How can a housebound person get to their money

ss2020jd

Another option is a General Power of Attorney. 

I was advised about this by my mum’s bank as a temporary solution until the LPA was activated (currently five months for a new application or 4-6 weeks to be updated from a replacement attorney). My mum couldn’t make it into a branch to set up a third party mandate. 

It’s very straightforward to set up, the bank accepted a GPA template and once it was signed by my mum and witnessed (not by the attorney) they arranged access within a week. I had to upload a scan/photo of the signed original form and provide ID - this was all done online.

Depending on the bank, you or her brother can get a card for your mum’s account to use on her behalf or use telephone or internet banking. It only works if your mum has full capacity, which it sounds like she does. 

BungalowBel

My elderly friend needs petty  cash to pay her hairdresser, window cleaner etc.

I get the money out of my account and she gives me a cheque for the same amount which I put back in.  Works OK for us.

Spendless

Maybe I'm completely wrong but I *thought* that unless someone holds POA then they shouldn't have someone else's bank card in order to get their shopping etc for them. It would be against the banks ts & cs???.

I can see that being an issue if the card is lost, having to describe the circs in which it went missing and that someone else had it, who strictly speaking shouldn't have.

400ixl

Some banks like starling allow you to have a separate pot to put money into (can be an auto transfer) and have a card associated with that one pot in someone else's name for this exact purpose.

Ms_Chocaholic

There's an over 60 team at Nat West where she could request the money over the phone and they will send her the ££ via Special Delivery.  I think the no you ring you get straight thru to a "real person" rather than having to press 1 for this and 2 for that etc etc.

tooldle

Some solicitors, if appointed as LPA, offer a cash delivery service.

Mr.Generous

amanda1024 said:

If she’s not going out, does she actually need cash? Could she eg buy vouchers online to give to her brother for him to buy the shopping - or transfer the money over to him in advance?

You can say that again!!

Parking_Trouble

I know it's very common but disclosing your PIN to someone and giving them you card can lead to all sorts of problems if money goes missing.

Have you considered getting Lasting Power of Attorney, as mentioned above?

My wife has it for her father. Under the LPA his bank have issued her with a card linked to his bank account. She also has access to online banking for his account so she can deal with bills and other payments. His capacity is very limited and without the LPA there is no way he can cope.

bunnygo

LPA is the way to go, and will allow a second card but that card does have full access to the account. As noted it takes months so get started ASAP.

quick solution for most of this - open a Starling account in your name and get a 'connected card'. This allows in person spending only (not cash withdrawals or online) up to £200, and the account holder can see what is going on. Looks like Lloyds, RBS and Halifax may have something similar.

oystercatcher

My brother and I do shopping for our mum we keep a note and she writes a cheque when the amount reached a certain amount. She needs cash to pay cleaner, hairdresser, gardener etc so one of us gets the cash out and she adds the amount on to the cheque.

I guess the problems occur if person doing the shopping has very tight finances and can't afford to buy extra and wait for the cheque to go through.