paying for nursing home

[MereDintofPandiculation]

Just had the first invoice for the nursing home. Ouch!

They accept payment by standing order or BACS transfer direct into account. They won't accept a cheque.

I don't do online banking, and the building society where the money will be coming from charges £25 for a CHAPS transfer.

Does anyone know if I can get a cheque from the building society then pay it into the nursing home account via the post office?

Asking here because I know you won't all berate me for being a luddite.

Is there a standing order sorted out for the rest of the payments? Do you know anyone who does Internet baking that would accept a cheque from you and then when it clears pay the home?

Could you open another current account just for the payments. Open it with a cheque which will cover say 12 months payments from the building society made out to you in branch.
Then set up a standing order from the new current account

The standing order isn't a problem, the BS will do that. But the home want the first payment immediately by bank transfer. So it's just getting that first payment to them.

And I don't want to set up on-line banking a) because I don't want to do it until they check the account name before you make the payment - at the moment if you get a digit wrong you've lost the money and the bank won't repay you b) it's actually my father's money, and he's even more internet finance adverse than I am.

Sounds like if it's a one off you might just have to suck up the CHAPS fee on this occasion if you aren't willing to do it online.

Might not completely solve the problem but if you do a payment for £1 and get the nursing home to confirm receipt you will know you’ve got the account details right before you transfer the rest. That should reduce the risk of error.

As MrsWobble3 suggests, you can entirely manage the risk of sending online payments by setting up the account and then sending 1p. Wait for the person you sent it to to confirm that they have received the penny

Then you are sure that the correct account is set up. In future you select that account rather than type in the details afresh so there is no chance of getting it wrong by one digit

When you ask someone for their account details, warn the person to look out for the initial penny and that you will not pay until they have confirmed receipt.

Honestly, online banking makes running someone else's account so much easier on you.

Honestly, online banking makes running someone else's account so much easier on you. When I first took on PoA, banks wouldn't allow you to use it on on-line accounts. has that changed?

Dint

A BACS transfer won't cost any extra though, it's CHAPS that is charged for

I'm sorry if I'm being thick but isn't that the option you need here?

I think things have improved in recent years regarding online banking and power of attorney. Depends on the bank though.

The reality is that setting up online banking is now mostly an automated process, so particularly the big banks would be unlikely to know whether it was you or your father requesting online access if you decided to set it up.

It's also worth checking with the home how you will be expected to pay for any additional services like haircuts/trips/newspapers etc as you might find this isn't a one off requirement and they will expect other stuff to be paid for by BACS too.

A BACS transfer won't cost any extra though, it's CHAPS that is charged for Yes, I'd like to do a BACS transfer but what the BS offers is a CHAPS transfer, which is £25.

Has anyone tried paying in cheques via the Post Office? From what I can see on their website, they need a "personalised paying in slip" obtainable from the bank or the Post Office - I'm not sure what they mean by that. I could presumably pay it in to their account at a branch of their bank, but I'm not sure where the nearest branch is - certainly not in my town or the next one.

I'm surprised at them not taking cheques - their "service users" are mainly 80+, which means the funders are either partners or children 50+, and we're in an area which still uses cash and cheques. It's only in the last year that some of the market traders have begun to use card readers, and with a mobile phone connection they're very flaky, so really you have to take cash in case.

I am in my mid 50s and I couldn't tell you the last time i wrote a cheque. Must have been many years ago. Internet banking is far easier all round. I guess the care home don't want cheques as banking them is such a hassle and if there are issues with them it is a time consuming bother to rectify things.

My DH has set up internet Banking for his DF who has just gone into a care home. He accesses it when he is with his DF so he is aware of what is being paid. He has POA so it's all above board.

Mere If online banking isn't a route you want to pursue, do you have an adult child that you could use as the intermediary and pay cheques into their account?

Do you have telephone banking, you used to be able to set up BACs payments that way too.

I've spoken to the manager, and it transpires that what they say in their contract is different from what they actually do. They will accept cheques, and will invoice me and suggest cash payments for things like haircuts and chiropody.

No, I don't do telephone banking. Although I'm good at remembering numbers, there is a limit! I'm already remembering 8 separate numbers associated with various security systems and another 3 PINs.

Apollo - I'm a good deal older than you! But not particularly behind the times for this area - my manager for my volunteer work, in his late 50s, has recently learnt how to read a text message on his phone but doesn't know how to write one.

Dint oh that's good

I thought it was a bit strange

I only spoke with 3 care homes but they all said they'd take a cheque. Agree, given the likely market, it seems odd not to.

also seems odd that the building society won't do BACS.

also seems odd that the building society won't do BACS. Well, maybe I'm not asking the right questions, but whenever I ask, I get the response "we charge £25 if it's going outside".