Just over a year ago my Mum sadly passed
away, and as her only child I had to sort out her estate, her will, and all her
banking related issues. It became very complicated and I experienced several
appalling customer service issues with Barclays Bank who she had several
accounts with.
This obviously came at a really
terrible time for me from a personal point of view. When you are going through
a personal crisis and grieving the loss of your mother, the last thing you need
is to have serious customer service problems with the very bank where all her
money was deposited.
But unfortunately, these type of banking customer
service issues are very common for people in relation to bereavement. And it
therefore didn’t surprise me to discover that another High Street bank, Santander,
has just been fined £32.8 million for serious failings in processing the
accounts and investments of dead customers.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
announced that Santander did not transfer funds totalling more than £183
million to beneficiaries when it should have done.
Santander also failed to disclose
information relating to the issues with the probate and bereavement process to
the FCA after it became aware of them. An incredible 40,428 customers were
directly affected by this.
Mark Steward, executive director of
enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “These failings took too
long to be identified and then far too long to be fixed. To the firm's credit,
once these problems were notified to the board and senior management, they were
fixed properly and promptly. But recognition of the problem took too long.
Firms must be able to identify and respond to problems more quickly especially
when they are causing harm to customers.”
Santander said it has completed a 'comprehensive
tracing exercise' and has transferred the majority of funds in deceased
customers' accounts to their rightful beneficiaries, with compensatory interest
where appropriate.
Santander also claims to have conducted
a major review of its probate and bereavement processes and brought in a raft
of changes.
Nathan Bostock, Santander UK chief
executive, said: “Santander is very sorry for the impact these failings have
had on the families and beneficiaries affected. We accept the FCA's findings
and have fully co-operated with their investigation.”
He continued that: “We have now
transferred the majority of customer funds and made significant improvements to
our whole probate and bereavement process, ensuring we provide both a sensitive
and efficient service to our bereaved customer representatives and those who
are managing the estates of people who have passed away.”
I really hope that he is telling the
truth, and I also hope that this whole incident was just a terrible oversight
by Santander. But a little part of me wonders if Santander had secretly thought
they had got away with £183 million belonging to these deceased people. I guess
it is something we will never know for sure.
But one thing I know for certain; all the
major High Street banks really need to sort out their policies and procedures
when it comes to dealing with the accounts of dead customers, and also the way
they treat grieving family members.
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