It was fantastic to get into bed last night realising that this morning would be Sunday and therefore I didn’t have to put the alarm on!! Whoopee!! So, of course, I was wide awake at 7am but then had the luxury of turning over and going back to sleep again.
The main reason for my exhaustion is the stress caused by dealing with Santander. Now, if you’ve ever had the misfortune to ring them you would have heard their smug recorded message:-
“Thank you for calling Santander. We have been voted the World’s Best Bank 2012.”
Well, I don’t know who voted for them; certainly nobody who’s ever had to deal with the Probate Department. The Saga of Santander is too long and complicated to tell you in detail, but to precis:-
1. My mum died 6th July.
2. Three days later I went into the branch to inform them.
3. I was told all I had to do was go back with a copy of the probate and I’d have access to her accounts “within 2 weeks”.
4. I went back with the probate, only to find that it was far more complicated than I’d been led to believe. Forms had to be completed in triplicate – one for each executor – and two forms of ID had to be produced for each executor. I was told we had to keep one account open as we were waiting for a cheque to arrive from the local authority with Mum’s council tax rebate.
5. I then had to make an appointment to see someone.
6. I went back with all the forms duly signed by the other executors and copies of their ID which was copied. I was told that it would all be sent off and I’d be informed when the process had been completed so that I could go back in and withdraw the money.
7. Ten days later I’d heard nothing so I rang Santander. After telling three different people why I was calling I was informed that the paperwork had all been returned to the branch a week earlier as an executor account can only be a savings account, not a current account. They made me an appointment in the branch for three days time, but I decided to go down and see if I could speak to someone, which I could.
8. The paperwork was all changed to keep the savings account open and close the others. The branch had only received the paperwork that day and didn’t know why it had taken so long to reach them. The paperwork was sent off again.
9. A week later – Wednesday 10th – I got a text message telling me that the matter had been “completed” so I went back to the branch to transfer the funds to my brother’s account, only to find the other accounts hadn’t been closed and therefore the money hadn’t all been transferred into the executors’ account.
10 Branch staff rang the Probate Dept to be told that the text saying the matter had been completed didn’t mean that the whole matter had been completed; it only meant that the paperwork had been completed and that it could be another seven days before the money was in the executors’ account.
11 I queried how in an age when we can put a man on Mars at the click of a mouse it would take seven days to transfer money to three internal accounts and logged a complaint
12 Ten minutes later, I received a phonecall from someone on the Probate team saying it wouldn’t take seven days and that the branch shouldn’t have told me that. I pointed out that it had been someone in the Probate team, not the branch, who’d said it. He said he’d look straight into it and that it should be just an “overnight” procedure. Yet, when I said “So it’ll be in the account tomorrow then?” he said, “Probably by close of business on Fiday.”! I said I’d phone on Friday and ask if it had been done and then I’d go and close the accounts. I asked him to confirm that all it needed was me and two forms of ID and he did.
13 On Friday at 2pm I phoned the branch to be told that the money was indeed, all in the executors’ account and that I could go and transfer it to my brother’s account.
14 There were still procedures to follow, including a long form to be completed an then a phoncall had to be made to get a code so that the process could go ahead. And then we hit a brick wall. The branch staff were told that all three executors had to be present.
15 I had an attack of hysteria.
16 The branch manager tried to reason with the probate/fraud department as her screen was showing “either/any executor” could withdraw the money, but they weren’t budging and not only that, weren’t giving a reason why the bank’s policy seemed to have changed so suddenly that even its branch managers weren’t aware of it.
17 The manager suggested I took a cheque instea – which I did and thankfully left the building.
I’d like to point out that the branch staff were very helpful and sympathetic all the way through. I felt sorry for them as they had egg on their face and they were having to deal with me, and I’d been reduced to ranting, raving woman. Given that anyone dealing with probate is recently bereaved Santander certainly don’t make things any easier for them. I could have understood it more if I’d been trying to transfer the money into an account in my own name, but it was to one in my brother’s.
The World’s Best Bank??? Don’t make me laugh!!
On a more positive note – Sweet Lady is in the final editing stage and I’m really excited about that; I had a couple of great messages from people who’ve just enjoyed Singles’ Holiday; Andy Murray beat Federer again yesterday (although he has just lost the final to Djokovic) and tomorrow is my darling daughter’s birthday.
Poor you. Hooray that your book is now in the final stages. I’m looking forward to reading it soon. Keep me posted xxx