Saga Savings problem

WannabeeMillionaire

Hi,

My mother had an account with Saga Savings which she couldn't access for the last three years of her life as she had Alzheimers and they won't accept our power of attorney. She passed away three months ago and they still won't release the funds to us. Every time we talk to them there's another excuse and another delay.

Today they told me that they can't verify my current account to transfer the money. It's a perfectly ordinary UK current account that I use for everything so it's just another ridiculous excuse.

So I asked to raise a formal complaint and was told that will take two weeks. It just never ends.

I no longer think Saga have any intention of ever releasing our money.  Can anyone tell me what the next steps are to force them to behave decently and honestly?

Thank you.

Archerychick

What a pain at such an emotional time. Have you followed their process for bereavements - https://www.sagasavings.co.uk/uk/en/public-site/help/bereavement

I would ensure the complaint is in writing, they are part of Goldman Sacs so I don’t imagine they’ll not release the money, but they’re clearly having difficulty and communicating poorly with you. 

Outside of their complaints process, the escalation point would be the finance ombudsman but that would be a last resort, and they would expect you to have gone through the complaints process with the institution 

subjecttocontract

Don't you need to obtain probate ?

mills112

This may be better in the death and probate board.

As said above, do you need probate?  How much is her savings?

WannabeeMillionaire

I have obtained probate and they've been provided with all the required information. The problem is they are now pretending they can't verify my bank details to transfer the money.

subjecttocontract

Ask them to be more specific.......is it the account number, your name, address etc.....what exactly is the problem?

WannabeeMillionaire

I have but they won't elaborate. It's like arguing with a pigeon.

mills112

WannabeeMillionaire said:

I have obtained probate and they've been provided with all the required information. The problem is they are now pretending they can't verify my bank details to transfer the money.

What about asking them to send you a cheque?

DRS1

WannabeeMillionaire said:

I have but they won't elaborate. It's like arguing with a pigeon.

Have they asked for a recent bank statement?  If not offer to send them one and that might do the trick.

WannabeeMillionaire

mills112 said:

WannabeeMillionaire said:

I have obtained probate and they've been provided with all the required information. The problem is they are now pretending they can't verify my bank details to transfer the money.

What about asking them to send you a cheque?

I have a Starling current account, which would mean receiving and sending a very big cheque by post, which I'd rather avoid.

Section62

WannabeeMillionaire said:

mills112 said:

WannabeeMillionaire said:

I have obtained probate and they've been provided with all the required information. The problem is they are now pretending they can't verify my bank details to transfer the money.

What about asking them to send you a cheque?

I have a Starling current account, which would mean receiving and sending a very big cheque by post, which I'd rather avoid.

Open a Saga (if over 50) or Marcus (if under 50) account, linked to your Starling current account, and ask them to transfer the money to your Saga/Marcus account.  They should have no problem with verifying the details if they have already done so to open your new account with them, and/or the account they are transferring to is one you hold with them.

It would be a bit of faff you shouldn't have to do, but would make them look silly if they continue to use the verification argument.