Setting up a new savings account or ISA on Mum's behalf

Alloway

Registered User
Apr 26, 2009
30
0
Southern England
I have registered EPA over Mum's finances. She is in a CH and the proceeds of her house sale are sitting in her bank account (which I manage). She also has a number of pre-existing ISAs which I also have control over. Problem is that I'd like to invest some of her money in a new ISA or savings account from a provider that had no previous relationship with her before the EPA was registered last year.

SO far when I've tried to set it up in her name, I've not been able to proceed as they require details of her address. As she's in a CH, all the bills, bank statements etc naturally come to me at my address. I could of course set up an account in my name but not sure if that is legit. Does anyone have any experience of how to do this?
 

Chemmy

Registered User
Nov 7, 2011
7,589
0
Yorkshire
I had this problem - and my OH worked for the building society concerned!

I paid the account to the CH head office, which didn't help either.

As I recall, I had to get a letter on headed paper from the CH manager to confirm that my mother lived there. Might be worth checking if that's acceptable as they all differ; some are much easier than others.

The financial organisations accept these rules are bizarre, but their hands are tied by FSA regulations.
 

Saffie

Registered User
Mar 26, 2011
22,513
0
Near Southampton
I'm Deputy for my husband and have had no problem setting up new accounts for him. He is in a nursing home. I also have a debit card in my name with 'deputy' added.
 

nmintueo

Registered User
Jun 28, 2011
844
0
UK
SO far when I've tried to set it up in her name, I've not been able to proceed as they require details of her address. As she's in a CH, all the bills, bank statements etc naturally come to me at my address.

They should be perfectly capable of opening account in the donor's name and using the attorney's address for all correspondence. It sounds like someone at the bank has got the wrong idea.

Either give up and try another bank, or persist with trying to get this one to understand - talk to the branch manager / email head office. Persistence sometimes pays off. A couple of examples:

http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?50467&p=670041&viewfull=1#post670041
http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?49300&p=655747&viewfull=1#post655747
 

Soobee

Registered User
Aug 22, 2009
2,731
0
South
I couldn't get access to ISAs because they can only be in one person's name, so maybe that is a complication. Savings accounts should be fine but you may have to do it in person at the bank to ensure there are no problems.
 

Chemmy

Registered User
Nov 7, 2011
7,589
0
Yorkshire
It all depends on the organisation. Building societies have different operating rules to banks.

My OH was in charge of IT at a major building soc. Their rules (set out by the FSA) insisted that a copy of the annual report had to be sent to my mother at her CH and a copy to me as her attorney. This is the same B Soc that needed the letter confirming her address. All day to day correspondence was still sent to me, but they needed her address as well.

This anomaly was discussed at board level and although they admitted it was a nonsense, there was nothing they could do about it. Protest if you wish, but their hands are often tied.

I had accounts as attorney with several other banks and they didn't have the same issue. But nor did they have as good a deal on the investment at the time either ;) As I said above, a simple letter from the CH got round the problem.
 

Saffie

Registered User
Mar 26, 2011
22,513
0
Near Southampton
It all depends on the organisation. Building societies have different operating rules to banks.

The accounts I mentioned were with a building society - one which operates all over the nation - and all statements, correspondence etc. come to me. I'm not even sure they have the address of his Nursoing home but have certainly never used it. Perhaps Deputyship is different though both bank and BS I have dealt with seem to think it is just another form of LPA.

From past posts on TP, it does seem that the situation can differ not just between financial businesses but also between branches of those businesses!
 

Chemmy

Registered User
Nov 7, 2011
7,589
0
Yorkshire
one which operates all over the nation
Oh, a clue.....:D

One of mum's accounts was with them too but I set that account up when she was still living in her house so she still had her own address.

So once she was enrolled in the Society, it was easy to open any of their other accounts later on.
 
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nmintueo

Registered User
Jun 28, 2011
844
0
UK
Picking another building society more or less at random (i.e. one of the first ones that came up on google),

What can an Attorney do on my behalf?
Your Attorney, using a registered LPA, will be able to make exactly the same kind of decisions you can make now about your money and property.
http://www.skipton.co.uk/life_planning/powerOfAttorney/lastingPowerOfAttorney.aspx

I'd say 'exactly the same' should mean just that. There's nothing magic about ISAs; attorneys should be able to open them just like any other account (we have done).

Meanwhile, another building society says this:

How do I open a savings account under a Power of Attorney?
You can operate/open a Coventry account while under a Power of Attorney dependent on:

The type of attorney document
The restrictions in that document
The type of account you're applying for

http://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/savings-and-investments/faqs/opening-a-savings-account.aspx

Enigmatic.
 
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Chemmy

Registered User
Nov 7, 2011
7,589
0
Yorkshire
For the one that has branches across the nation ;)

Information on a power of attorney
For new accounts - we will need to see the original power of attorney certificate along with two forms of identification for both the account holder and the person acting as power of attorney. One is to prove your name and the other is to prove your address.

..and there's the dilemma. The person in the CH won't necessarily have proof of address (but as I said, the letter from the manager seemed to suffice in our case)
 

rosiee

Registered User
May 7, 2012
65
0
I've been/was managing Mum and Dad's LPA & Deputy for some years and I've found it varies very much between organisations as to how they do their id bit. They should all know that ID is a common problem with the elderly (try the blue badge people ... nightmare), but don't seem to grasp that they don't have a passport, drivers licence, bills or even stuff from DWP that have their address on. Its not as if there aren't rather a lot of elderly about is it. Geting a letter from the carehome works well although some have just accepted a copy of the LPA. None of my Mum's accounts has her address on, everything has mine.

However if you have an LPA etc there is no resaon why you can't open an ISA or any other account in their name. (don't open it in yours a definate no no). As I say it varies very much and one of the things I do when I want to open a new account is ring them and ask their process for LPA.

Stick to the main banks/building societies and if you have any problems it'll be due to their lack of training rather than not being able to do it, so ask to speak to someone up the food chain.

Sorry this is rushed but good luck with it.

Also going into branch is best call centres have to stick to their scripts
 

nmintueo

Registered User
Jun 28, 2011
844
0
UK
The person in the CH won't necessarily have proof of address (but as I said, the letter from the manager seemed to suffice in our case)

Gosh - so they actually specify they want utility bills / mortgage statement / council tax bills for both attorney and donor - obviously inapplicable to a care-home resident, so you need a manager who applies the rules with discretion rather than absolutely literally and stupidly.

They also say "we will need to see the original power of attorney certificate". Oh, really?

If any organisation refused to accept a certified copy I would refer them to S3 in http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/27
 

Steevjo

Registered User
Dec 2, 2012
11
0
I am in the process of opening a new account for my dad with smile. They wanted a letter from the care home as proof of his address.

I spoke to them first on the phone but once they understood what i was on about it all seems to be going smoothly, now have account details, chequebook with cash card and Internet access expected in the next couple of days. Compare that to the forum sponsors that require me to physically go the branch with my passport to perform every single transaction.

In my limited experience every organisation is different and some are useless. Speaking to someone helps.
 

graybags

Registered User
Jun 16, 2010
108
0
Hertfordshire
I've have to opened a number of accounts for my Mum as her Attorney and the various institutions ability to handle such a task has varied quite widely !. My latest was with Coventry who seemed pretty switched on, but they still required some evidence of where Mum lived because she was unable to be satisfactorily identified by the usual on line checks. In my case I just sent them a recent tax coding which has the care home as her address along with an invoice from the care home referring to her by name. This tends to be the crux of the problem with many financial institutions who can't seem to grasp that a resident of a care home pretty much dosen't exist as far as they are concerned. I do find this very frustrating as you want savings to earn as much interest as possible, but the hassle of opening accounts in the correct fashion can be a real chore. I wanted to invest in a Tesco account, but by the time I got Mum satisfactorily identified they had closed it to new investors
 

jenniferpa

Registered User
Jun 27, 2006
39,442
0
I had a similar problem, but in my situation they wanted me to bring proof of identity (2 types) into a branch. Since I was at the time 3500 miles away this wasn't going to fly. In the end, I gave up, and put it an ISA connected to her bank. My recollection was that NS&I were particularly difficult wanting photo ID. This is very hard when the person in question no longer has a driving license, a passport or even a bus pass. This was before I managed to get a blue badge for her, so that might have worked (although from my correspondence, I doubt it).
 

graybags

Registered User
Jun 16, 2010
108
0
Hertfordshire
Yes, very frustrating, it does seem that once you are a permanant resident in a care home you all but cease to exist as far as financial institutions are concerned
 

nitram

Registered User
Apr 6, 2011
30,075
0
Bury
Anybody, even if lacking capacity, living in a care home can, and should , be registered on the Electoral Roll unless they are also a member of the House of Lords and/or a 'person found guilty of certain corrupt or illegal practices'

Section 5
http://www.electoralcommission.org....Part-B-Entitlement-to-register-March-2010.pdf

This will enable financial institutions to check their address.

An application can be made at any time to register

http://local.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedirect/index.jsp?LGSL=364&LGIL=0
 
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