Banks - Job's Worth!

[Landlady]

Obviously also didn't mean to type the last 11  paragraphs in bold and underline 

Have a long rant loming ref HSBC but think that will have to wait until later - you're all probably now shaking your heads and thinking fudge me after this last post - sorry 

[Uncle Mort]

Not at all LL, I hope that sharing such a painful experience helps, if only a little.

My mother is now 86 and in reasonal health, although listening to all her woes you wouldn't think so. My younger brother keeps an eye on her finances but the family has never properly discussed what we should if she ever gets in the situation your father did.

I think we should.

[tel]

LL - did make my eyes hurt on first reading,very bold.

We were relatively lucky in that things happened pretty quickly, problem started in New Year and ended in April. He was in and out of hospital during that time until they diagnosed cancer at the Marsden. They started then stopped treatment and he was returned to local hospital. He was told everything, nothing was hidden from him or us. He was told he would never go home again and he asked us to start clearing his home whilst we also had to find a home for him. We weren't told how bad the situation was but I think we all knew. From the time he entered the home to his death was 5 days. It was painful and disturbing, but inevitable.
I suppose you go through life not thinking that you would have to make these kind of decisions.

[Landlady]

Not at all LL, I hope that sharing such a painful experience helps, if only a little.

My mother is now 86 and in reasonal health, although listening to all her woes you wouldn't think so. My younger brother keeps an eye on her finances but the family has never properly discussed what we should if she ever gets in the situation your father did.

I think we should.

I'm sorry to say but on the financial side of things alone I think you should. If giving someone offiical EPOA isn't an option at least try and convince your Mum that having someone as additional signatory on any bank/building society accounts she has is the first route. However without the EPOA you can't sort out other things that perhaps eventaully need sorting out such as pensions/leccy and gas accounts - but that's ANOTHER massive hurdle I've been through and will post on at some point in the future.

[Pastis]

We went through this a couple of years ago, with both parents... one after the other. Very distressing - I'll spare you the details 

Plus, with reference to the tat thread, clearing their house was a task I hope never to repeat. 

[Landlady]

I suppose you go through life not thinking that you would have to make these kind of decisions.

This is true and I'm sorry that any of us has to!

I have recently also just finished a one year battle on behalf of my Mum with regard to nursing home funding, which if it won't bore anyone too much I will also make a seperate post at some point, so other, hopefully can benefit from another painful and unecessary learning curve I found myself in.

[tel]

Not at all LL, I hope that sharing such a painful experience helps, if only a little.

My mother is now 86 and in reasonal health, although listening to all her woes you wouldn't think so. My younger brother keeps an eye on her finances but the family has never properly discussed what we should if she ever gets in the situation your father did.

I think we should.

I'm sorry to say but on the financial side of things alone I think you should. If giving someone offiical EPOA isn't an option at least try and convince your Mum that having someone as additional signatory on any bank/building society accounts she has is the first route. However without the EPOA you can't sort out other things that perhaps eventaully need sorting out such as pensions/leccy and gas accounts - but that's ANOTHER massive hurdle I've been through and will post on at some point in the future.

Totally agree. We got off fairly lightly with a doctors letter sorting most things although once or twice we got agressive, mainly when you can't speak to the right people and you feel like people are messing you about. No problems with house etc as it was a council place.
There were some strange moments, nothing to with money though. FIL was 88 and had a previous marriage, Mrs Tel found it rather wierd to find divorce papers and solicitors letters etc - this was all back around 1946, so the attitudes were obviously different - comment from solicitor "I have been round to see Mr X who your wife is living with. He is not a very nice man and I advise you not to visit him".
You do need to get things sorted out and that includes wills or it just makes everything worse, even down to finding family papers/photos and not knowing who or what they are.

[tel]

I suppose you go through life not thinking that you would have to make these kind of decisions.

This is true and I'm sorry that any of us has to!

I have recently also just finished a one year battle on behalf of my Mum with regard to nursing home funding, which if it won't bore anyone too much I will also make a seperate post at some point, so other, hopefully can benefit from another painful and unecessary learning curve I found myself in.

With MIL, it was a long process to get the funding and the right home - vascular dementia so constant care - and the funding still gets reviewed every year. We still have to pay part of the costs, it is not 100% funded. I think it can be helpful for other people to learn about this things although it's not something you want to think about it is becoming more common for people to need care etc, maybe long term - with MIL it is about 7 years since diagnosis.

(And it's free in Scotland!)

[Landlady]

Now back to the original moan to banking and an update on the wonderful customer service skills of the HSBC  

Received no response to yesterday's chase up to the customer service centre (and their Premier Associates  ) or my direct email to our Premier Customer Relationship Manager  ) so called again this morning - my call cost from CY to UK obviously  

Told by PA (new one this time obviously) that a note had been sent to our PCRM but if I would hold she would try and contact them for an update................

She came back to say our PCRM was on hold on another line and she would  contact me in a moment but FIRST she had to advised me that as I had just come through to their system using the Internet security codes set up on Mum's accounts there now noted BY THEM a SERIOUS breach in my Mother's account security. Because of this she would HAVE TO immediately close the Internet account access on these security codes and would send me (by post to CY) a new application pack to set up security access codes for me to use. When I had received these and filled them out and returned them signed to their offices they would THEN set up new security codes for ME to use, but she advised me that once they had received the new application this process could take up to FOURTEEN days!!!

I nearly blew a bloody gasket   However I reined myself back in and advised her that if she checked a little more throughly she would be able to note that the Internet banking security codes had only been set up for 1 year and that these had been set up by ME with the full knowledge of the local branch manager so that I could access the accounts from here and that as I had FULL enduring power of attorney (verified and registered with the Court of Protection) there was NO breach of Mum's account security.

Said PA attempted to further debate her point of view with me to which I then CURTLY responded that if my Internet access to any of Mum's accounts was blocked for any point in time I would close ALL and EVERY account with them faster than she could probably blink......................Add in here STUNNED SILENCE from her end  

She then asked me to wait on hold, which I did for another three minutes (now 18 minutes in total) and when she returned advised me she was now putting me through to our PCRM.

Said PCRM duly came on line to which I quickly advised her that I thought the best route now would be for her to call ME back but make it 5 minutes from now because I needed to calm down a bit!!!

Said PCRM called back - oh very chatty and breezy - and first launched into how she could, as a special favour, solve the problem with sorting out sending TT money from Mum's account to my sister in New Zealand. Said that 'normally' the only email instructions they can act on are those given where funds are transferred to other HSBC accounts, or, as I had been doing, were instructions to move funds onto the HSBC funds market. If any instruction needed to be given to move funds out of HSBC's clutches they couldn't do that on email instructions. So basically as long as they kept their grubby mitts on it you can do whatever you like and they will do it QUICKLY.

Her special favour to me in this instance would be to accept my faxed instructions to make this TT, although she did warn me that she would still have to send me, by post to CY, the standard TT form which I need to complete and return (and yes you guess it will probably balls up and action again - well that's my opinion again) so that their official procedure was followed!!!

Of course I was very grateful and thanked her very much for her understanding and help (NOT) and instead asked her why this SF hadn't been proposed TWO days ago - she said that unfortunately she had been a little too busy to think of possible other options up to now (here put in emoticon of me being almost speechless!)

Next I obviously wanted to review with our PCRM the statement made by the PA that my access via Internet banking was going to be blocked and at this she gave an amused small titter (yes I jest you not) and stated that she had asked that branch of HSBC operations not to do that and she felt sure that they 'probably' wouldn't!

Bearing in mind that I am now almost choking on my anger I barely managed to politely re-advise her that if that EVER occurred then total closure of all Mum's HSBC accounts would follow (which will happen anyway now after this last and final debacle) - to which she said she 'understood' as she had a papa currently living in France who was a little poorly and wasn't it difficult trying to sort things out!!!!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr - I'm not normally unsympathetic but I don't need to know her problems, she's being paid to sort out mine and this time I didn't stop myself from retorting that whilst that must be difficult for her it wasn't of any interest to me because the current additional issues I was coping with now appeared to be solely caused by their stupid banking processes/rules and out very stupid mistake of allowing my sister to move to NZ without an HSBC account being set up there!!  

So I have spent more time this morning confirming instructions on the value and where the TT needs to be sent to and pinged that down the lines to said PCRM on facsimile - which I have, of course, remembered to sign  

I will now watch with bated breath (must have been that kebab last night) the outcome and keep you all posted.

And NO I wasn't nasty to them because the painters are in    

Am going out in the jungle (garden) now to brutally prune some plants that I will imagine are HSBC PA's and PCRM's to remove my angst    
          

[Nick]

All thought provoking stuff. One small point. Mrs Nick was talking about wills again the other day (the document not the prince!) and said we should get ours up to date "in case anything happens". I said "You mean, if I die". She said, "Well, yes actually."

So say it then!!

Her Mum does this too, "If anything happens to me the documents are in the top drawer of whatever. " You mean "When I die"?

Stop this silly euphemism!

[Landlady]

Am not out the the jungle yet because just been halted by a call (yes incoming this time) from the PCRM saying (in again chirpy insincere and very annoying voice) 'Hi I have received your fax and I just wanted to confirm with you that you wanted the transfer sent in UK pounds?'
 
Yes PCRM I do - that's why I put the International bank reference of GBP before the transfer figure given and ALSO repeated the figure and the currency to be sent (saying Great British Pounds - not New Zealand Dollars) in words underneath.......

PCRM 'Oh lovely then, I'll get on with it and start the ball rolling'

Yes PCRM you do that  

[Nick]

PCRM?

That doesn't spell "tosser in braces"

[Landlady]

All thought provoking stuff. One small point. Mrs Nick was talking about wills again the other day (the document not the prince!) and said we should get ours up to date "in case anything happens". I said "You mean, if I die". She said, "Well, yes actually."

So say it then!!

Her Mum does this too, "If anything happens to me the documents are in the top drawer of whatever. " You mean "When I die"?

Stop this silly euphemism!

Ostrich technique I think - lots of people do it. Perhaps thinking if its not said using that 'D' word it won't happen

Another one which sometimes annoys me and I do try to avoid using myself if talking about someone who has died in the term of 'losing them' - it's perhaps petty of me but it winds me up because it just sounds as though it was a careless mistake that happened.

[Landlady]

PCRM?

That doesn't spell "tosser in braces"

No it spells out a snickery twittery female of around 30 ish who if she was here in CY would be being smacked by me right now 

[Nick]

All thought provoking stuff. One small point. Mrs Nick was talking about wills again the other day (the document not the prince!) and said we should get ours up to date "in case anything happens". I said "You mean, if I die". She said, "Well, yes actually."

So say it then!!

Her Mum does this too, "If anything happens to me the documents are in the top drawer of whatever. " You mean "When I die"?

Stop this silly euphemism!

Ostrich technique I think - lots of people do it. Perhaps thinking if its not said using that 'D' word it won't happen

Another one which sometimes annoys me and I do try to avoid using myself if talking about someone who has died in the term of 'losing them' - it's perhaps petty of me but it winds me up because it just sounds as though it was a careless mistake that happened.

Sometimes it is. For example, I recall my Aunty Nelly. We delivered her to the home and then .............


Oh, long story.