I have a client who is terminally ill with metastatic cancer - weeks left. She is in hospital some distance from home and although she has mental capacity she struggles to speak.
She and her husband have separate bank accounts with one of the big UK banks. She is still being paid (quite well) and has been advised she'll be better off if she dies 'in harness' rather than seeking ill-health retirement.
Husband needs access to the cash in the account which includes salary as above and also child benefit for their daughter (16) and her Personal Independence Payment which is approx £170/week.
No LPA/EPA; they didn't get it place in time.
He visited the bank yesterday (he is their customer too) seeking help.
IMHO he should have been sat down and talked through the options of which a third party mandate looks best. Instead he was given a 'computer says no' lecture on client confidentiality and told that the bank could do nothing without speaking to his wife. The fact she cannot speak cut no ice.
I've sent him the mandate form and a link to the bank's guidance and hopefully he can get that sorted.
I'm left fuming at the insensitivity of the bank/staff. However that's tempered, so far as the staff member is concerned, by the fact that I suspect a role that once carried discretion is now run off a script.
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Agree. This is where you need an understanding human to get involved and look to see his they can help.
I do think there is a lot of ignorance adding finances and death. Many folk think Ach I have my live cover or we have a will etc.
But as this case highlights, there are very practical issues that arise through incapacity and/or death that have immediate consequences especially with assets being frozen until lawyers have done the necessary.
Have often thought that if I am in your clients position, I would be onto my app on my phone and transfer every penny that is in a sole account over to either a joint or my wife’s account. Just typing that, I assume that your client can’t do likewise?
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>>Disgusting.
Ditto
The banks do have GDPR obligations. However, they are not the be all and end all.
As I've said before, I don't work in retail, so don't know all of the rules re access rights, getting mandates sorted etc.
Our bank has regular treating customers fairly training sessions which we all have to complete.
One was a real case of a woman who was dying with cancer. Her life insurance would lapse if the premiums weren't paid and the benefits were life-changing for her young children.
There was no power of attorney etc. The account was for a single person.
Relatives asked for access - short notice of course there are legal obstacles to that.
What we could do, within the boundaries of the law, was let the relatives pay in enough money money each month to ensure the insurance was paid and they were given guidance on how much was needed.
(The woman had accounts with other banks for household bills and the other banks had told them that it was illegal to pay money in to an account that wasn't theirs!)
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My father's death revealed how useful old fashioned branches were. In this instance HSBC were superb. My wife had dealings with them as well and they've been pretty good . That real world branch closed last week, a big loss to the town.
Zippy's story sounds like a simple and common sense solution.
When my first wife died Co-oP bank had a specialist "team" to deal with such an event. They were very good and very flexible in resolving issues, including sorting a cheque that was given to me by her employees for siginifcant sum (salary and other amounts) it had been made out incorrectly, but co-op handled it without any fuss. Lloyds was awful, the person I dealt with suggested the Death Certificate my be forged, she felt the full force of my pent up feelings very publically and I got a grovelling apology from them in the end. My wife had a £75.00 debt with Lloyds Credit Card, I refused to pay it and rather dramatically they siad they were going to claim from her estate, they never did. I'm still with both banks, neither of which have been troublesome to be fair
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These sort of issues can be a problem. A solicitor friend was telling us that because of GDPR, they can't tell anyone if a client has a will. I asked "what about beneficiaries?", only to be met with silence.
We've told all our rellies the whereabouts of our wills, in the house, in a steel box.
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I suspect the (GDPR) privacy thing changes upon death.
While I'm alive whether I have a will or not is my information and, unless I tell them, not something other folks should know.
Once I've croaked responsibility passes to the executors who, in turn, communicate with beneficiaries.
For most of us, letting our our adult kids know our testamentary situation, who are the executors and where the document(s) are is fine.
OTOH if siblings are at daggers or for other reasons 'it's complicated' it's perfectly reasonable to say sorry mate can't tell you.
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>>I suspect the (GDPR) privacy thing changes upon death.
AFAIK, It does. GDPR does not survive death.
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> OTOH if siblings are at daggers or for other reasons 'it's complicated' it's perfectly reasonable
>> to say sorry mate can't tell you.
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From my experiences, that option tends to make things far worse especially in the long run.
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Playing devils advocate:
Man comes into bank and says that he is husband of account of an account holder. Says that he needs urgent access to his wife’s bank account for reasons outlined. Bank provides advice on setting up a third party mandate. And provides necessary forms. Account holder manipulated into signing documentation and account fraudulently emptied.
Where does the bank stand then?
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Bank Totally Insensitive and Unhelpful - legacylad
