Is it normal to re-register power of attorney for a new ISA?

[Selford]

Does anyone know if it is normal for a building society to require an attorney to 'reprove' power of attorney when the donor has opened an additional account?

I recently registered my dad's power of attorney with Skipton BS, since then he has opened a new ISA. Skipton (depending on which customer service person I get) sometimes refuse to speak to me about it and have told me I need to fill in a new version of their standard PoA form for the ISA (which means I'll need to reproduce the PoA documentation).

I've raised a complaint with Skipton (not just about this, the ISA transfer process hasn't worked but no-one can tell me why) but that'll take days, and the ISA product 'times out' next week so I'm impatient.

If your dad is managing his finances and has opened a new account, why are you involved at the moment? When dm could not manage and I, with POA, needed to liquidise investments, I sent off the POA for all investments with each bank and savings provider. Some were a struggle (looking at you Aviva!) but others weren’t problematic. So what you are doing seems odd to me and I don’t see why one POA doesn’t cover everything with Skipton.

He technically has capacity but it's declining, plus he's caring for my terminally ill mum so we invoked both powers of attorney at the same time. We're trying to streamline their finances before I fully take over.

Good to know that you think one POA should cover everything - that's my understanding but I'm new to all this.

It feels infuriating how difficult banks make using a PoA. I suppose, grudgingly, I can see why. One document ought to cover everything in these circumstances, yes, but if they really dig their heels in I would go and see them in a branch.

@PermanentTemporary Branches rarely know much! It’s all on line!

I've been dealing similar for both parents - have needed to update each time, tho each bank/BS seems to have different access for LPA attorneys.

Coventry - popped into branch with ID, they sent an email to their LPA team on my behalf to update my viewable accounts. I can view their info online but need to operate them by phone or in branch.

Yorkshire/Chelsea - was registering initial LPA , they also told me I can only use phone/branch banking & would need to update LPA if another ISA/account gets opened.

HSBC - I can operate account fully online, but will need seperate devices to the ones I use for my own accounts & other parents...

I did all DMs banking and account management on line with the LPA. Never went into a branch and didn’t want phone banking alone - although I could have done.

@DayDreamDelerium - that's interesting so it seems Skipton isn't alone in registering PoA against an account, rather than an individual. Although for Skipton it depends on who answers the phone - 50% of the time they'll talk to me, the other 50% they won't. I can't see their ISAs online so I do need to get it resolved officially.

NatWest online banking is easy as it comes under my existing NW login and I have full access, but when I need to pay someone, my payees are mixed in with theirs which is odd (and confusing).

Can’t help on specifics but sympathise - I have POA for a relative and it is infuriating how hard banks can make it. Makes it a huge chore especially when relative has loads of legacy accounts and I can’t tell until registered how much money is in them.

My DM has POA for my DF and I know that it has at times been a real struggle to communicate with banks and building societies - some worse than others.

However, I do think that it definitely complicates things when the person who has a POA dealing with their affairs, then proceeds to open a new account on their own. My DF is completely incapacitated so that couldn't happen, but I did think it was pretty much all or nothing with POA.

@Seeingadistance I definitely agree about some institutions being easier than others

Skipton wouldn't allow me to open an ISA on my dad's behalf - in retrospect not sure if that would have applied if I'd done it in person, but definitely wouldn't let me on the phone. Having said that, I was told a LOT of conflicting information my their call centre staff. They offered me £150 in response to my complaint but I've said I'm still not happy - it's not about the money it's the time/stress- so let's see what they say

Interestingly dh had no problem with Skipton but Santander are being a pita! They have issued him with a debit card and online access to a current account but won’t allow him to set up a savings account to transfer into without an in-branch appointment to go through the poa process again.

@LIZS I sympathise, it's so frustrating, especially when there are so few branches these days

We’ve had the same issues, my PIL have three separate banks with over a dozen accounts. We recently discovered over £300k in one branch! But they still continue to plead poverty and refuse to spend money on anything aside from absolute essentials. Rusty cutlery and shoes with holes in. Depressing. Every bank has had a different procedure and we had to get the LPA’s redone for one BS as they needed a specific stamp on the back page of the document rather than the second to back page. The whole system needs to Be reviewed and streamlined so registering an LPA has the same procedure no matter which organisation you are dealing with.

The PoA forms as they stand at the moment definitely allow for helping someone with their affairs while they still have capacity. It’s not an all or nothing thing. They now discourage you setting the PoA up to come into play ‘when I lose capacity’.

The issue is when, due to so many branches closing, it’s a 70 mile round trip to visit one!

TBH, it's often easier to set up online banking or investing in their names on their behalf and operate it for them using their passwords, if they're willing. I sorted out cash and share ISAs for my mother in this way. When telephone conversation was required, she'd talk to them with me passing her notes if necessary. A lot of the accounts were face- or fingerprint access, so I couldn't do it away from her, but at least I could handle things from her living-room or hospital bed with her iPad or iPhone. I'm sure some people will find this reprehensible or risky, but it's what a lot of my friends ended up doing with elderly parents out of sheer desperation.

I tried to get third-party access to my mother's Barclays account instead of waiting for an old-style power of attorney to be registered, thinking it would be quicker, but my mother was dead long before anything happened.

There's an ageing population with middle-aged people desperately trying to keep their own work going while helping parents with finances and it's not good enough that the system can't cope. And yes, having to write off a half-day's work at a time when you're taking time off to help frail elderly parents just to drive cross-country is a real nuisance.