Providing ID for care home resident

As my bus pass is currently my only photo ID (I am not going to get a new driving licence just to have my photo on it and currently doesn't have a passport) I am seriously thinking about getting one of the 'I am over 18' identity cards!

A colleague of mine a few years ago was executor for an uncle, and the banks were demanding various ID that she didn't have - she had no driving licence or passport and wasn't about to acquire them just for the banks.
In the nicest possible way she could be quite stroppy - she held her ground, maintaining that since there was no,legal requirement for her to hold either pp or DL, they could not demand them.
They gave in in the end - I forget what they did eventually accept, though.

In the OPs circs I think I'd contact their head office/customer services, AND one of those money-problem pages, like in the Sunday Times or Telegraph. As someone else has said, it's probably often a case of staff afraid to use common sense and thus maybe get into trouble when the computer is insisting on boxes being ticked.

But this is not exactly an unknown problem, and banks really should be a bit flexible in such circs. However it's not unknown for bank staff to be pretty clueless at branch lever even about power of attorney and executor-ship - training seemingly sadly lacking all too often.

My husband had a similar issue last week when he bought a car. It was cash so no credit was required but they still wanted proof of ID including photo ID. The driving licence he produced turned out to be his out of date one so began the frantic 4 hour search for the new one and his passport both of which were missing! We eventually found them under the scanner!

I dealt with my parents bank account and house sale when they were in care and did have some issues even with PoA in place. They both had dementia so would not have been able to understand questions or even sign paperwork. I hope you manage to help your dad sort out his accounts - a visit to the bank in person if that's possible with your own ID might help.

Online statements do not usually have an address on them and in my experience online statements are often not acceptable for ID purposes

I have used statements I printed from the Bank site.

I could print statements off even though I did mum's banking on line.

Also, the bank offered to send someone out to see mum and open an account for her. They eventually did it without that because we had used the same bank for over 30 years.

Many junior staff make the legal requirements more stringent than they need to be. There are usually procedures for dealing with problems like people in care, those with learning disabilities etc etc but staff do not know them and make no effort to find out.

A family member has learning disabilities and therefore does not drive, have utility bills etc. His parents have constant problems with those dealing with him expecting him to meet criteria devised for those capable of dealing with their own affairs. When pushed, it is always found that their are legal procedures for dealing with the affairs of people like him, but staff are badly trained and over cautious.

All financial institutions have to carry out these checks because of money-laundering rules. Maybe the tick-box requirements are too stringent, but that's the law.

I think a lot of these demands for documents are completely unnecessary. People who have taken this up with the senior management (CEO/Chairmen) of these financial institutions or approached the CAB have found that a lot of these demands are being made by junior jobsworths, who are scared of using their common sense in cases like this and hide behind rules and regulations, usually ones they have imagined.

I was thinking of starting a thread on this subject, asking for help along the same lines.
My driving license is out of date and I have not renewed it as I havn't driven for so many years and don't want to start again.

The Halifax bank wanted proof of identity for me to move (my own!) money.

They would not accept the out of date driving license, nor would they accept my passport alone.

So I had to take a whole bundle of documents with me (third trip) in order to prove that I was who I said I was.

Does anyone know if there is some sort of identity card that I could get, to carry in my purse? As it seems that my driving license is not acceptable to the computer.

I find that it's possible to ask for a paper statement even when your banking is online.
I wouldn't be happy with birth certificates as they are very easily obtained and frauds would be easier to perpetrate.

Part of the problem is that you are frequently dealing with a computer rather than a human being and if the ID you provide doesn`t exactly "tick the box" it is automatically rejected. In this instance a birth certificate is not listed as being acceptable. If all else fails I will email the provider (online only!) and ask if they will accept alternatives.
I just wondered how other people managed. We are in the process of selling his house and likely to be needing to open several accounts - I`m dreading it!

I had this problem, some years ago with a relation who was in a care home. The Building Society, where he had banked since the age of 18 demanded all kinds of proof of identity fir him and for me and my sister, who held activated PoAs. In the end they agreed that if we proved our identity that was sufficient.

Check with a solicitor or the CAB but it should be possible for you to activate the PoA, even though your father continues to manage his own affairs and you could use the POA to provide proof of identity for him. When my relation sold his house the solicitor dealt only with him as he wished to give my sister and I some of the proceeds so we both stepped right back in case we were suspected of exercising undue influence on his decision. This was when we both held and used the PoA.

Maybe talk with the bank and see if they cannot provide some other sort of documentary evidence for you. Will his birth certificate not help? Presumably you have spoken to the ISA seller - try going higher up the chain?