Elderly parent with no ID, bank accounts?

[Peoniesandcats]

Hi all,

My mum has no passport or driving license and I've previously had problems opening bank accounts for her because of this. Now am looking at selling her house and am getting worried about where to put the money if I can't open several accounts to keep the money safe.

Has anyone else tackled this problem? Am looking at getting a financial advisor but wondered if anyone has had this experience.

My mum does receive Attendance Allowance and a state pension.

Thanks!

You also need proof of ID to get the estate agent and solicitor to start the process of selling....

Would your Mum be able to get a provisional driving licence as one proof of ID?
Does she get utility bills? If you can get a phone bill, gas/electricity bill, and a Photographic ID, you should be OK for selling, and I'd hope the bank accounts too.

Good luck!

We just had this with mother-in-law, had to send off for passport just to open bank account

In the grand scheme of things and amount of money involved in selling a house, might it be worth getting her a passport to make things easier?

I googled this and found an online bank that accepts a valid firearms or shotgun licence as proof of ID, but I suggest not going down that particular route!

I would go into a high street bank and explain the problem. You could also try the Age UK advice line and if you have a local charity that supports older people they will almost certainly have encountered this problem before.

Where does her pension currently get paid in? What will happen to the proceeds of sale - is she buying somewhere else? How much is she expecting to receive - how many multiples of £85k?

I think you can use your National Insurance Card or number if you have something with that on. So her Attendance Allowance or pension or anything from the HRMC should be acceptable for proof of who you are.

Does.she have any.photo id like a bus pass. Has she already got a bank account where you could divide the money up. She has a NI number and birth/marriage certs. Do you have poa or can she go to the bank with you

I guess the question is how much, and how long. There’s temporary protection of £1 million for 6 months anyway under the FSA compensation scheme for ‘temporary high balances’

www.fscs.org.uk/making-a-claim/claims-process/temporary-high-balances/

So unless the house sale proceeds are more than that you have some time to sort it out.

I used letters from HMRC and pensions to get mum a passport. It was worth it as you can then easily open and and savings account. I had the same situation as you - but you do need to action early as it all takes a while.

You shouldn't need multiple accounts - even over the 80k limit funds from a house move are protected for ?6 months or a year

Also to add do you have Power of Attorney for your Mum? Both parents have Dementia and I was able to, with the help of an IFA, move my parent's money and set up new ISAs in my their names as I have POA.

I'd just apply for a passport for her there's a bit of a wait atm but you should have one by the time the house sale completes

Thanks all,

Yes I have POA and she’s in a care home with dementia. She has a National Insurance number too.

She’s from Malaysia, married and divorced my dad over 20 years ago and didn’t ever get a British citizenship or UK passport.

Good idea about asking Age UK for help too.

When she got diagnosed with dementia I sent it back to the DVLA and in hindsight I should have just taken and kept it :-(

We're getting my mum a PASS card (the one aimed at teenagers). It claims to be photographic proof of id, and it's good enough f or internal flights. Also quicker, cheaper, and less requirements. Been waiting for DVLA to return licence for 9months already.

Need to wait and see if it works for us, but you could definitely ask the bank if they'd accept that in advance.

We used mother in laws disabled pass (the blue one for car parking) when we sold her house to find her care home as she had no passport or driving licence.

I was going to say this. My dad was compus mentis but housebound. When he decided to change his bank account I could do it because I had PoA.