A recent article on the Telegraph mentions how it STILL takes banks a inordinately large amount of time to process Lasting Power of Attorneys.
A quick google of Natwest shows this issue is not a new one. What is slightly more worrying is that Natwest themselves state that this whole process should only take 7 days, and in theory all they need is for a copy to be taken into the branch.
As mentioned in our Lasting Power of Attorney Guide banks freeze accounts if one of the Joint Account holders lose capacity. This putting the other person in a bit of trouble if that is the only account they have. Or if money is going out that needs to be cancelled is not done quickly getting a refund etc is just adding more work.
What we recommend?
1) Always have spare copies (certified) of the Lasting Power of Attorney so you can mail them out / hand them in if required.
2) Specify a time frame to the organisation / verify their time frame and take down the name of the person, date and time of the visit for reference.
3) If the action is then not done in time raise a formal complaint.
Only by pushing them to act will be hopefully get a policy change in place that will result in better training for bank staff for not only Lasting Powers of Attorneys but Deputyships as well.
Have you had a bad experience with banks when using one of the above? let us know below and we’ll see if we can help you out.
