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Roderic Ashley

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Review of the Barclays, Current account:

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Acting as an executor of a will

I was executor of a relative's will. as the bank with which she banked (Lloyds) did not offer an Executor's account. Consequently, I approached my own bank, Barclays, where branch staff advised that Barclays also did not offer an Executor's account. I set up an additional electronic account in my name for transferring in the assets of the estate and, once probate had been fully granted, distributing the proceeds to beneficiaries. However, the deceased relative had also had a term bond account set up by her Power of Attorney with Barclays. It was agreed by the relevant parties to allow this account to run its full term. Instructions about how to transfer the maturing amount to my receiving account were given at the same time. Just prior to bond maturity, correspondence was received, addressed to the deceased rather than me, and instructions were requested about payment of the matured sum. As this had already been agreed, I phoned Barclays to confirm the original instructions. I was advised that they could not deal with me as they had no record of me as an executor. Requesting to be transferred to the supervisor, I was immediately identified and confirmed as the executor (Yes, your information is staring me in the face, sir"). I repeated the same instructions to this dedicated account-handling centre and I was assured that they would be followed, with written confirmation sent to me. However, no written confirmation or proceeds were received and it transpired that the instructions had not been actioned. This required numerous visits to a branch to resolve 'as you have allowed the maturity date to pass'. This resulted in me raising an official complaint. The complaints department took the complaint seriously, actioned the instructions promptly and the proceeds were paid with additional interest for the period of the delay. However, I was also advised by branch staff that had I set up an Executor's account, this would have been easier for transfer and they questioned why, as Executor, I had chosen not to set one up. I explained to their great surprise that I had been advised that Barclays offered no such Executor's account and that it had to be in my name. Throughout the entire process, prior to complaint, there was an absence of product knowledge even by those who purported to be specialists in the field. Attempting to deal with the problem by phone, I was advised that it had to be resolved in branch -- ''any branch'. My local branch resolutely denied this and directed me to the city centre branch where 'specialist staff' would be able to advise. They were only able to advise by phoning the bereavement department and parroting to me what they were being told. In essence, Barclays has a long way to go to improve its bereavement dealings and to ensure that staff are fully briefed on aspects for dealing with executors. Had I been a blood relative of the deceased, this could have been a very distressing experience. I would not use Barclays again for such a purpose. When my own mother died some years ago, I experienced sympathetic, entirely problem-free executor account dealings with HSBC. Reviewed on: 20th January 2015

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