Bank with branches and proper customer service?
Discussion
I spent the best part of an hour on the phone yesterday with HSBC. I was trying to get answers to a relatively straightforward question - what documentation do I need to take to a branch to get lasting power of attorney registered on my aunt's account, and could I just turn up at a branch and do it on the spot?
It's impossible to speak on the phone to anyone at a branch. First call centre monkey "went to check" and hung up. Second one was obviously guessing. After much back and forth, I eventually got an answer re the documentation, but was told I would have to go to the branch and take pot luck as to whether anyone was available to help. Not possible to make an appointment unless I visit the branch.
Until recently, this wouldn't have been too much of an issue, but the local branch has closed. The logistics of getting my mum (who will be administering the account) to the nearest branch means it'll take 3 hours or so. We are hoping to get internet banking set up on aunt's account, in mum's name.
Aunt also has an account with Santander. Fortunately that branch isn't closing for 2 months, so we can sort it out before they leave town.
Mum has banked with HSBC for 50 years, but she's had enough.
We will have 3 banks left in town. Lloyds, Barclays and Natwest. Planning on moving all the accounts to one of those. I bank with Lloyds, not had any problems personally, and they seem the safest bet as far as keeping the branch open - the branch is quite busy.
Will it be possible to set up internet banking on aunt's account, then pop into Lloyds and start the switching process, using LPA? Aunt is unable to attend the branch in person.
It's impossible to speak on the phone to anyone at a branch. First call centre monkey "went to check" and hung up. Second one was obviously guessing. After much back and forth, I eventually got an answer re the documentation, but was told I would have to go to the branch and take pot luck as to whether anyone was available to help. Not possible to make an appointment unless I visit the branch.
Until recently, this wouldn't have been too much of an issue, but the local branch has closed. The logistics of getting my mum (who will be administering the account) to the nearest branch means it'll take 3 hours or so. We are hoping to get internet banking set up on aunt's account, in mum's name.
Aunt also has an account with Santander. Fortunately that branch isn't closing for 2 months, so we can sort it out before they leave town.
Mum has banked with HSBC for 50 years, but she's had enough.
We will have 3 banks left in town. Lloyds, Barclays and Natwest. Planning on moving all the accounts to one of those. I bank with Lloyds, not had any problems personally, and they seem the safest bet as far as keeping the branch open - the branch is quite busy.
Will it be possible to set up internet banking on aunt's account, then pop into Lloyds and start the switching process, using LPA? Aunt is unable to attend the branch in person.
I figured the best way to find out would be to ask in person at Lloyds, so I popped into the local branch just now. They can do a switch, same as for any new customer, as long as the LPA has been registered with HSBC. We just need to get a letter from the care home as proof of my aunt's address, in lieu of a utility bill.
Very helpful staff at Lloyds, so different to HSBC.
Very helpful staff at Lloyds, so different to HSBC.
TartanPaint said:
I know this isn't quite what you had in mind, but don't rule out a bank that doesn't have any branches at all. First Direct are properly geared up to help you over the phone, because that's the only way they deal with you. Calling them is a bizarre experience... no "press 1 for yada yada" You dial, a person answers and they actually HELP you. It's so refreshing! 
Mum is OK with using internet banking, but wants to be able to speak to someone in person on occasion. It's also handy to have a physical bank for paying money in, especially cash.I find it hard to believe that First Direct could be good at telephone banking, when HSBC (same company) are so appalling. Everyone that I have phoned at HSBC over the past 4 months (and I have been on the phone to them A LOT) has been worse than useless. They seem to be either guessing, making it up as they go, or just plain hanging up to get rid of me. It has proved impossible to actually speak to a "supervisor" in their call centres, and they won't even give me a phone number for a branch.
I banked with HSBC (Midland as was) for over 30 years. Their declining customer service is what drove me to switch to Lloyds and HBOS 10 years ago. Probably no coincidence that Midland/HSBC started going downhill when First Direct opened for business.
I can't begin to imagine the potential difficulties when trying to register an LPA or the death of an account holder with a bank that doesn't have a branch network.
Robertj21a said:
Deaths, Probates etc are unlikely to be a problem for any bank, they are a routine activity. Anything to do with Power of Attorney documentation is, comparatively, rare.
In an ideal world more people would appreciate the importance of LPAs (for long term illnesses, stroke etc) - but it's rarely considered until it's too late.
You'd think registering a death would be straightforward, since everyone dies. Mum had problems with HSBC when dad died 4 months ago. They had a joint account, she did all the banking for the last few years. All she wanted to do was put the account into her name. They asked some really dumb questions, and mum had to visit the branch twice. Apparently going in with the death certificate, driving licences and the bank cards, plus a signature check, wasn't enough for them. They wanted proof of her ID, same as you need when opening an account.In an ideal world more people would appreciate the importance of LPAs (for long term illnesses, stroke etc) - but it's rarely considered until it's too late.
Took her a while to convince them that probate wasn't necessary, as she already had access to all the joint funds.
Robertj21a said:
As you say, bank branches give poor, slow, service nowadays. This is fairly deliberate as the bulk of the bank's 'routine' customers are not really profitable. Routine transactions can usually be handled through an ATM, or similar. Those customers that are profitable (mortgages, loans, credit cards etc) won't suffer the same delays as they usually need to make an appointment with a specialist adviser.
It wouldn't be so bad if you could actually phone the branch to make an appointment!The person that Mum saw at HSBC when she registered Dad's death told her that she should've made an appointment. As she pointed out to him, since you can't find a phone number to ring them, how could she make an appointment? He had no answer to that.
LPA registered with HSBC 6 weeks ago. We are trying to switch to Lloyds. A new account has been opened, and a switch started. Current account and ISA.
Lloyds have just phoned me. HSBC have refused the switch.
I am on the phone to the HSBC switcher team, and they say they do not allow a switch to be initiated by an LPA holder, only by the original account holder!
Are they allowed to do this?
As far as Lloyds are concerned, it shouldn't be a problem.
We are no further forward, unable to access my aunt's money to pay her care home fees
Lloyds have just phoned me. HSBC have refused the switch.
I am on the phone to the HSBC switcher team, and they say they do not allow a switch to be initiated by an LPA holder, only by the original account holder!
Are they allowed to do this?
As far as Lloyds are concerned, it shouldn't be a problem.
We are no further forward, unable to access my aunt's money to pay her care home fees
Seems like HSBC customer service and HSBC switching team were both lying to me!
I got another call from Lloyds. The reason that HSBC refused the switch is because the details we gave on the Lloyds switching form don't match their computer records, plus the fact that the form was filled in by the attorneys (me and mum), not the account holder.
They were unhappy with 2 things:
The address we gave Lloyds for my aunt doesn't match their records. We gave the care home address, which is where she is, and is the address noted on the LPA documents. We asked HSBC to change the address when we registered the LPA. They haven't done this, still showing her old LA sheltered housing address. That'll explain why we haven't seen a bank statement for 3 months......
One (or both) of the attorney signatures don't match on the switch form and their records. When we registered the LPA, neither of us were asked to sign anything. The signature they have for mum is probably the one she gave when she opened her own HSBC account well over 40 years ago. They have my signature on file too, from a current account that I opened 42 years ago, and closed 10 years ago.
It's hardly surprising that our signatures have changed in 40 years, is it?
I can't believe the sheer incompetence of HSBC. If they had done what they were supposed to do, and what we asked them to do, when we registered the LPA, we wouldn't be having this problem now.
I wonder if they will close the accounts and give me a carrier bag of cash if I go to a branch? I doubt it, since they haven't sent us a replacement cheque book or debit card - unless they sent them to the stranger who's now living in my aunt's old house.
What a contrast to how Lloyds are doing everything they can. Mum will be moving her account from HSBC to Lloyds as soon as she can. In total, HSBC have lost £60k of business from 2 customers over 5 accounts. It could've been avoided if they had honoured the cheque that my aunt wrote several months ago.
I got another call from Lloyds. The reason that HSBC refused the switch is because the details we gave on the Lloyds switching form don't match their computer records, plus the fact that the form was filled in by the attorneys (me and mum), not the account holder.
They were unhappy with 2 things:
The address we gave Lloyds for my aunt doesn't match their records. We gave the care home address, which is where she is, and is the address noted on the LPA documents. We asked HSBC to change the address when we registered the LPA. They haven't done this, still showing her old LA sheltered housing address. That'll explain why we haven't seen a bank statement for 3 months......
One (or both) of the attorney signatures don't match on the switch form and their records. When we registered the LPA, neither of us were asked to sign anything. The signature they have for mum is probably the one she gave when she opened her own HSBC account well over 40 years ago. They have my signature on file too, from a current account that I opened 42 years ago, and closed 10 years ago.
It's hardly surprising that our signatures have changed in 40 years, is it?
I can't believe the sheer incompetence of HSBC. If they had done what they were supposed to do, and what we asked them to do, when we registered the LPA, we wouldn't be having this problem now.
I wonder if they will close the accounts and give me a carrier bag of cash if I go to a branch? I doubt it, since they haven't sent us a replacement cheque book or debit card - unless they sent them to the stranger who's now living in my aunt's old house.
What a contrast to how Lloyds are doing everything they can. Mum will be moving her account from HSBC to Lloyds as soon as she can. In total, HSBC have lost £60k of business from 2 customers over 5 accounts. It could've been avoided if they had honoured the cheque that my aunt wrote several months ago.
It looks like we've finally got this sorted. I went into HSBC on Thursday, saw the same person as we did when we registered the LPA. I explained that we had received nothing in writing since the previous visit (paper statement, internet banking activation code), and that a switch had been rejected.
The account was still registered at my my aunt's previous address, so all post was going there. I explained that we had informed them that she had moved into the care home in March. The new address was on the LPA paperwork, and we had asked her to change it. Her reply was that she assumed we had changed the address when she actually moved. She got a bit annoyed that we had complied with our obligation to keep the address data up to date.
In very simple words I explained that my aunt couldn't change the address herself, and we couldn't do it since we didn't have LPA. The only person who could've done it was my dad (who had LPA for his sister), but he was dying from leukemia at the time. He passed away 2 weeks after aunt moved.
Aunt's address changed, correspondence address changed to mum's, internet banking set up for me. 2 hours wasted, as all this should've been sorted on our previous visit.
The internet banking activation code still hasn't arrived.
On Monday, mum phoned the Lloyds switcher team to tell them that the address had been changed, and could they try again? Next morning I got a text to say that the switch had been accepted, completion with 7 days.
Mum will be switching her account from HSBC to Lloyds next time she goes into town.
The account was still registered at my my aunt's previous address, so all post was going there. I explained that we had informed them that she had moved into the care home in March. The new address was on the LPA paperwork, and we had asked her to change it. Her reply was that she assumed we had changed the address when she actually moved. She got a bit annoyed that we had complied with our obligation to keep the address data up to date.
In very simple words I explained that my aunt couldn't change the address herself, and we couldn't do it since we didn't have LPA. The only person who could've done it was my dad (who had LPA for his sister), but he was dying from leukemia at the time. He passed away 2 weeks after aunt moved.
Aunt's address changed, correspondence address changed to mum's, internet banking set up for me. 2 hours wasted, as all this should've been sorted on our previous visit.
The internet banking activation code still hasn't arrived.
On Monday, mum phoned the Lloyds switcher team to tell them that the address had been changed, and could they try again? Next morning I got a text to say that the switch had been accepted, completion with 7 days.
Mum will be switching her account from HSBC to Lloyds next time she goes into town.
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