Phoning banks and passwords

Buster_Danog

I tend to sort out finances for my mum and am having a bit of a problem with a new account I opened for her. They sent a debit card with the account, which was not activated. They then sent a replacement and I made the mistake of destroying the new one instead of the old one.

The problem I am having is I cannot get the bank to send another one as they want my mum to ring and they literally can ask up to 10 security questions about when accounts were opened etc. which my mum cannot answer. It has got to the point where I am thinking of getting my sister to ring up and pretend to be my mum.

Does anyone know if the bank is obliged to take requests in writing? If I got my mum to ask for a replacement debit card by sending a letter that would be easier.

I would ask the "helpline" only they go hysterical if you have not passed the security test or if you have any issues with the way they organise their checks. I don't even know when I opened my account and my memory is fine.

10_66

When my parents got themselves into a bit of a mess with their bank account and I tried to sort it out for them, we had to arrange for a third party mandate to be set up on their bank account so I had the authority to speak to the bank on their behalf. It might be worth your while asking if it's possible to have one of these set up for you in the future. In our case it was a high street bank, and we took the third party mandate and my identification into the local branch.

Mikeyorks

You get her to 'phone whilst you're present. She answers the security questions - prompted by you - then say's 'talk to my son' and passes it across? Works every time for me (and same for the OH's accounts).

DocProc

She answers the security questions - prompted by you - then say's 'talk to my son' and passes it across?

It's worth a try - but I don't think you could guarantee it. You only need the bank CS person to take the view that the son is 'a baddy who has taken Mum hostage' or is herself having a bit of a PMT problem and it could well be back to square one.

But.... It's worth a try though.

Mithos

Franco78 wrote: »

I tend to sort out finances for my mum and am having a bit of a problem with a new account I opened for her. They sent a debit card with the account, which was not activated. They then sent a replacement and I made the mistake of destroying the new one instead of the old one.

The problem I am having is I cannot get the bank to send another one as they want my mum to ring and they literally can ask up to 10 security questions about when accounts were opened etc. which my mum cannot answer. It has got to the point where I am thinking of getting my sister to ring up and pretend to be my mum.

Does anyone know if the bank is obliged to take requests in writing? If I got my mum to ask for a replacement debit card by sending a letter that would be easier.

I would ask the "helpline" only they go hysterical if you have not passed the security test or if you have any issues with the way they organise their checks. I don't even know when I opened my account and my memory is fine.

I think its to do with FSA aims "to build confidence in financial institutions" and to generally just protect the savers money thus protecting themselves etc.

In all honestly I'm with the BS and Banks on this one, the questions they ask can be answered with ease if you maintain your paperwork... if you really can't then I'm sure you could write to them instead!!

Mikeyorks

DocProc wrote: »

or is herself having a bit of a PMT problem

.... which could be why she's passing it across! More seriously ... never known it fail, whether it be Banks / Council Tax or even HMRC. And that's both Mum and the OH.

It probably just comes from sounding 100% trustworthy? Must take up scamming ..... I'm probably missing my true calling.

Buster_Danog

Mikeyorks wrote: »

You get her to 'phone whilst you're present. She answers the security questions - prompted by you - then say's 'talk to my son' and passes it across? Works every time for me (and same for the OH's accounts).

That doesn't work. In fact they informed me that if they hear someone else talking in the background they will not be able to go ahead with the call.

I would be with the banks, but it's questions like when you opened your account that annoy me. How many people keep that date?? It's nonsense!

I think the easiest way is to get my sister to ring and pretend to be my mum. And to the poster who mentioned setting up an agreement with the bank, I doubt they would allow it. I think power of attorney would be the legal avenue and I understand that could complicate things even more.

Meltdown_2

Franco78 wrote: »

I think the easiest way is to get my sister to ring and pretend to be my mum.

Wouldn't even that be problematical, since your sister's voice pattern wouldn't match that of your mum which is stored on the bank's computers. Oh no, wait a minute, that comes in next year ...

Some bank staff can be "jobsworths", some can actually act like sensible human beings. Mikeyorks seems to have been lucky so far. But any bank that says the customer MUST confirm things over the phone surely is acting in a discriminatory way with regard to anyone who is deaf or so hard of hearing that the phone is an unsuitable medium for them.

emma396

Mikeyorks wrote: »

You get her to 'phone whilst you're present. She answers the security questions - prompted by you - then say's 'talk to my son' and passes it across? Works every time for me (and same for the OH's accounts).

yes, i've done this before for both my mum and my nan. my nan speaks absolutely no english, i think i called up the tax office something to do with her pension, the woman insisted she spoke to my nan, so i had her on loud speaker, then made my nan say yes, when she was asked if i could speak on her behalf. ha ha

PBA

Just type up a letter and get your Mum to sign it, then it's a direct request from her so will be fine. Or if it's a bank with branches take your Mum in to the local branch, they'll then be able to discuss the account with you as long as she's present.