Power of attorney and NS&I

fortune

Registered User
Sep 12, 2014
146
0
Mum received £25 from NS&I premium bond prize. Good news! No not good news. I didn't know she had any bonds, so contacted NS&I to register the PoA. They refuse to accept the PoA certified copies - they have been accepted by several other financial institutions. They are in accord with the PoA act but NS&I say they are not quite right - the solicitor did not put their full address/postcode, the solicitor is not LLP registered, on and on. I've now filed a complaint with the FSA. As if there wasn't enough to cope with without pettifogging bureaucrats making life just that bit more difficult. Anyone else had trouble with NS&I?
 

Spamar

Registered User
Oct 5, 2013
7,723
0
Suffolk
Apparently NS&I also require probate to cash in bonds after death. I wasn't going to bother - OH only had £4 worth. But now two financial institutions have wanted probate to transfer ISAs to my name without losing the ISA wrapper ( as per the last budget). One of them didn't know what I was talking about! So know I had to spend quite a lot of money to satisfy ISA providers who don't know what they're doing! Grrrrr.
 

fortune

Registered User
Sep 12, 2014
146
0
That's something to look forward to as I am executor as well! I don't want to sound like a whinger but ... on top of all the stresses and strains of caring and managing the one thing that sends me off the edge is pointless bureaucratic charades by institutions who are NOT trying to ensure security, simply covering their own backs. The LLP thing is not a requirement under the act, so why are NS&I insisting on it. Double grrr.
 

Kevinl

Registered User
Aug 24, 2013
6,050
0
Salford
There's another thread where someone asked if registering a POA with a bank was likely to be problematic, same thing here that although the NS&I have all the info they can put and number of hoops of their own up. One day it will get computerised and this whole stupid paper trail will end, until then we're stuck with it.
K
 

2jays

Registered User
Jun 4, 2010
11,598
0
West Midlands
I had this issue with the "tick box clerk"

I telephoned and demanded to speak to the manager... Then demanded to speak to senior manager... As I was continually told my certified copy wasn't legal !!!

I was certified by the solicitor who did the original....

I then had strong words, ranted, cried :rolleyes: why is it when you get to the point of crying... People listen to you.....

"Politely" with sobs in my voice asked if the senior manager was more qualified than my mothers solicitor in ascertaining whether the certified copy was legal... gave them solicitors telephone number and asked them to ring solicitor for confirmation...

10 minutes later... Phone call from senior manager telling me money had been transferred to mums bank account.....

So unnecessary isn't it


Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point
 

Liz57

Registered User
Dec 22, 2013
184
0
Surprised to read this as I sent off the certified copy of the POA, got it back with an acknowledgement and some further information I'd asked for without a problem. Had a similar experience with the bank (Nationwide).
 

Soobee

Registered User
Aug 22, 2009
2,731
0
South
I didn't find NS&I or the Post Office straightfoward for LPA - there was a bit of extra hoop jumping needed, but neither were as bad as M&S bank who made me cry with frustration at their ridiculous interpretation of the LPA document.

As an aside, I'd closed all accounts about 2 years ago as an attorney and was therefore a little shocked that mum was sent mailshots from the Post Office (about 7 months after her death) asking if she wanted to take out an age 70+ product!
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
25,018
0
South coast
I have Court of Protection Deputyship and I have been stunned by the number of people who will not accept CoP and tell me I have to get POA :eek: I wish......
And I must say that the Post Office is the worst offender.
 

betsie

Registered User
Jun 11, 2012
252
0
I was executor for dads will. NS&I only wanted probable for bonds with a value over £15,000.
I think I just had to send them the death cert. and copy of the will.
 

sinkhole

Registered User
Jan 28, 2015
273
0
I registered a certified copy with NS&I about 3 weeks ago and mine only has the name and signature of the solicitor on each page, which is all it needs of course.

I think a lot of the time with all organisations we have to deal with, it often comes down to individuals not being trained well enough or just not being bothered to find out the facts.

If you come across one of these individuals, just call back later and try and speak to someone else or escalate it to someone more senior as 2jays says.

We can't rely on all so-called 'professionals' doing their jobs adequately I'm afraid.
 

KingB

Registered User
May 8, 2011
254
0
Berkshire
I have dealt with NS&I a fair few times - with EPA (the old-style POA) for both mum and dad, and latterly with dad's probate. They've always been very helpful and I had no trouble registering the docs with them. As someone else said - sometimes its worth trying again and hoping you get someone more experienced. Having said that - if they genuinely have a problem with the certified copy maybe its worth getting fresh ones - if you ring around you should find a solicitor willing to do it fairly cheaply.
 

IOW

Registered User
Feb 6, 2014
1
0
Whose Premium bonds?

Mum received £25 from NS&I premium bond prize. Good news! No not good news. I didn't know she had any bonds, so contacted NS&I to register the PoA. They refuse to accept the PoA certified copies..... Anyone else had trouble with NS&I?

I also had delays in getting POA accepted by NS&I - maybe it's a problem with different laws in Scotland and England. When eventually they allowed me to handle my friend's Premium Bonds, they insisted that their computer only allows MY NAME to be on the top of the bonds. Whenever she wins a new bond, I get quite excited - until I realise it is hers - the only difference from my own winnings being the holder's number on the bonds. Heaven knows what happens if I need to cash in some of her bonds to pay her care homr fees that have just gone up by over £180 a month. (As for getting her Pensioner's Bonds a year ago, I just gave up as I had no way of jumping through their hoops - despite already having letters from them saying they had accepted our POA forms.) If anybody has managed to do POA and get the real owner's name on the bonds, I would love to know.
 

Katrine

Registered User
Jan 20, 2011
2,837
0
England
IOW, the real owner's name probably is recorded correctly in their database, however the way NS&I has set up the printing of letters means that bond summaries show the name of the correspondent, which if you have POA will be you. You can check this with them by phone if you have a few spare hours to waste. :rolleyes:

I was told that prize warrants would still be in the name of the bond holder and would be posted to THEIR address, not your address. I asked if I could arrange for prizes to be paid direct to my mum's bank account. The answer was No. However, I rang them again about this a few weeks later, was sent a form in the post, and succeeded in getting future prizes paid into her bank account.

It really does seem like they make it up as they go along. Some advisors are really helpful, others are obstructive muppets. The less well trained seem to be the most defensive and unhelpful. Keep at it until you get one that has more experience. :)
 

tre

Registered User
Sep 23, 2008
1,352
0
Herts
I bought the recent 65+ savings bond for my husband under POA. I sent in a certified copy and they had no problem with it and returned it very promptly. The certified copies cost £35 each and some people on here said that they had obtained these for £5 each. This surprised me as the solicitor had to sign and stamp every page and knowing their charges £5 seemed really inexpensive. It now makes me wonder whether these cheaper certified copies are a false economy.
Tre