Butch Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 Took my Dad to the bank today, first time since the start of the year, he's got an ISA plus a couple of other accounts, but with the rise in interest rates recently, I thought it might be an idea to revisit them . Lucky I did. Two of his accounts were paying just 1% - 2% interest and had not been updated as newer products had come out, but unless you transferred into them, you'd miss out. One of his accounts was an ISA, another regular savings account. Long story short, I arranged for him to transfer his money into another ISA and top that one right up. Result being that he's now £402 pcm better off, Tax free. The income goes into his current account. The ISA rules are restrictive regarding withdrawals, but he has reserve savings to cover that anyway. Come April I'll use his max allowance again. The problem is, my Dad won't do digital banking, so misses out on a few deals, and the closure of local branches means that he only gets to go to the Bank if I take him, which usually involves sitting around waiting for a personal banker to come free. We spent an hour today just waiting. It's a pretty poor show, given that Barclays are making obscene amounts of cash anyway, and all they want to do is cut more costs. 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpuynarak Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Have you considered getting a Power of Attorney on your Dad's accounts ? I did on my UK HSBC account for my son and its proved to be really useful as i'm resident here in Thailand. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Check your bank accounts daily for fraudulent debits. I had a conversation with Bank of Scotland's fraud department yesterday. They have had a huge increase in notifications of fraudulent deductions. Apparently, it is the time of the year. Both my debit and credit cards have been cancelled and in course of being replaced. Two smallish deductions but would have been followed by much larger amounts according to their Fraud Dept. Both payments immediately refunded to me by B of S. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJSP Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Good thread. plenty of folk have savings accounts paying 1% when there are 5% + rates out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butch Posted December 21, 2023 Author Share Posted December 21, 2023 14 hours ago, Pumpuynarak said: Have you considered getting a Power of Attorney on your Dad's accounts ? I did on my UK HSBC account for my son and its proved to be really useful as i'm resident here in Thailand. I already have LPA for Health and Wealth. I did it 2 years ago, but as yet have not needed to actually use it, hopefully I won't either. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillearly Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Maybe worth looking at locking in a fixed rate ... after the latest inflation numbers ....U.K. rates are forecast to start falling in 2024 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krapow Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Each morning when i wake up, my Bank App is the first thing i check, make sure all's okay. Like most, i have had fraudulent activity on my account before, was 3 identical attempts of M&S purchases, 2 went through, 3rd the Bank blocked as was flagged as dodgy. They sent me a text saying did i know and want to approve it, reply yes or no. So as soon as i seen that at 8am when i woke, called them straight away, put through to the fraud department. They said card was compromised, someone had the details. Blocked, new one sent. I asked how did they think that could happen, they said not to stress over it, very common, most likely used it somewhere who's security wasn't great and breached. Anyway, money refunded no problem. And as @Pumpuynarak says, Power of Attorney i will be doing in January, have already spoke to the solicitor. Will put my wife, brother and daughter on it. Basically my younger brother is well clued up in such things, as when my Dad had his stroke, was permanently incapacitated so couldn't communicate and brain damaged, was an absolute nightmare, and a costly nightmare via the Courts at that, to get things sorted. It's like insurance, you pay it and hope you'll never need it, but i don't want my wife to have to try and navigate that minefield with no POI. I also changed my bank account a few months ago, to a better rate, and checked my daughter's child ISA which i pay into each month was back up to a good rate, which it is. Small things like the above you can do, but can save a fair bit over a year, same as haggle over phone/sky/TNT/whatever contracts. 5min phone call can save you £100's over a year. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painter Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 My brother and I have had Power of Attourney for mum for decades, but never used it, until this year when I sorted her banking out for her... yes, she had various accounts that were paying her 0.01%, and now are paying much more. I also sorted PoA for me out... best mate and brother have PoA just incase... The property I now live in took me 16 months to buy. Why? It was being sold by the daughter of an old couple to fund their care. She had PoA for the father, but no the mother, who, in daughter's words was "away with the fairies ". Daughter had to apply for Deputyship through the Court of Protection, which should have taken 6 months, but, because of covid, took 14... 1 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horizondave Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 Checked my bank account just now, something I do everyday like others here. Pretty annoyed as British Airways have paid my pension early. Usually gets paid on the last Thursday of the month but they have paid me today. They believe I need it before Christmas to assist me in paying all those extra payments prior to the bank holiday. Well I don't need it today, although I know, when working for them, they always paid your wages early in December. It really doesn't offer me a benefit, as I budget accordingly, and just bugs me because, for some, it might just mean they spend more at Christmas and then have issues in holding out till the end of January when they pay the pension again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillearly Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 same theme, as @Krapow mentioned Sky packages , a reminder came up on my phone today to give them a call ... 10 mins and have secured, just over £40 of "discounts" per month ... still paying too much but worth the call for £480 a year ... Set another reminder for Dec 24 .. 👍 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butch Posted December 23, 2023 Author Share Posted December 23, 2023 One point regarding LPA for someone else. It's not "instant" by any stretch of the imagination. The process itself takes about 5 weeks, and actually executing it takes a further couple of weeks (According to Barclays anyway). I was given a briefing by my...brief... about it, in the event of using it by basically keep very detailed logs , receipts and ensure that any monies spent are fully accounted for and are spent in the best interest of the person whom you have LPA for. If at any time the Will or you are challenged, then that will be brought into question (for instance, Why, Mr Butch did you feel the need to draw out £3k from your Fathers current account which you have not presented any receipts for?). Hence, if I ever do need to execute the LPA then I've got a couple of folders ready and will be very meticulous. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galenkia Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Just checked my online banking after reading this and it’s all good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krapow Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 4 hours ago, Butch said: One point regarding LPA for someone else. It's not "instant" by any stretch of the imagination. The process itself takes about 5 weeks, and actually executing it takes a further couple of weeks (According to Barclays anyway). I was given a briefing by my...brief... about it, in the event of using it by basically keep very detailed logs , receipts and ensure that any monies spent are fully accounted for and are spent in the best interest of the person whom you have LPA for. If at any time the Will or you are challenged, then that will be brought into question (for instance, Why, Mr Butch did you feel the need to draw out £3k from your Fathers current account which you have not presented any receipts for?). Hence, if I ever do need to execute the LPA then I've got a couple of folders ready and will be very meticulous. Yes, it has to get lodged with the Court, and you know stuff like that takes time to be fully done. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maipenrai Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 I just got a text today inquiring about two questionable charges to my Visa card and and when I replied "No" they blocked it; then I called the card company and got through in only a couple of minutes, surprise surprise, end result being I have a new card coming by rushed mail. I was a little concerned about getting a new card with a new number so close to my departure but then I realized that the airline just wants to see the card you used to book the ticket, they don't check to see if the card is still active or not, so I'll keep the old card until I get overseas. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painter Posted December 24, 2023 Share Posted December 24, 2023 2 hours ago, Krapow said: Yes, it has to get lodged with the Court, and you know stuff like that takes time to be fully done. From filling the forms in, to getting confirmation that mine was registered took me best part of 5 months.... As for using it for someone else, as Butch says, you still have to go through the motions, all understandable, but time consuming. Mum's bank needed a copy, plus proof of my id, plus forms to fill in, which had to go to head office for approval... took a couple of weeks. The GP surgery, however, just wanted eyesight of a copy and put a note on her records on the computer 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts