Enduring Power of Attorney Survey

We asked the major banks and building societies whether there were any savings accounts which somebody holding a legitimate Enduring Power of Attorney could not open.

NO ACCOUNTS AVAILABLE

cahoot
Someone holding EPA cannot open any account with cahoot.

cahoot told Money Box "Our current accounts operate under the same Consumer Credit Agreement as our credit cards in order to minimise administration for our customers. Legally we are required to obtain the signature of the account holder only and as such, cahoot cannot offer accounts to an Enduring Power of Attorney."

SOME ACCOUNTS AVAILABLE

Alliance and Leicester
Someone with EPA cannot open Alliance and Leicester accounts which have a cash card and PINs. This includes the EasySaver and Cashcard accounts.

Alliance and Leicester told Money Box "We consider the issue of cards with PINs to have security implications which do not exist when cheque books/passbooks are concerned and counter transactions rather than ATM transactions are the norm. This situation may change in the future but we have no immediate plans to allow access to these kind of accounts"

Barclays
Someone holding EPA cannot open a Barclays e-savings account.

Barclays told Money Box "This is because of difficulties verifying the identity of the holder of Power of Attorney when dealing with customers on a non face to face basis. We are currently investigating whether we can make online accounts accessible to third parties whilst also maintaining security"

Bristol and West
Someone holding EPA cannot open any of Bristol and West's direct accounts - ie those operated by post or telephone. Direct accounts include Direct Rate Tracker, Call One, Postal Saver and Easy Access Plus.

Bristol and West told Money Box "Bristol & West's direct accounts are designed to offer enhanced rates to those who want to deal via the post or telephone and are prepared accept a fairly basic account structure. EPA is one of the services we have decided not to offer on these accounts, as it involves a higher degree of administration and is available through our network of 131 branches. We are sorry that this effectively means that people seeking EPA are not able to access these rates, but this was a decision aimed at providing the maximum benefit for the greatest number of customers possible"

First Direct
Someone holding EPA can only open an account with First Direct if either they or the donor are an existing customer. If the attorney is an existing customer then an account opened with EPA can be operated by telephone. But if the attorney is not an existing customer then First Direct will only accept written instructions.

First Direct told Money Box "We are probably different from other banks, because we have certain security measures in place for telephone banking, that branch banking won't require. This is why we ask for a pre-existing relationship to be in place. We have to be sure of the identity of the person with the EPA. We do this through a set of specific security questions that all customers have, with each being unique to them."

HSBC
In theory HSBC says there is no reason why someone who holds EPA could not open any of its accounts. However if neither the attorney nor the donor is an existing customer then the attorney's identity and address would be subject to verification checks. HSBC stresses that each case is assessed on its own merits.

Nationwide
Someone who holds EPA can open all of Nationwide's savings accounts but he or she cannot have a cash card facility on any account ie Cashbuilder or InvestDirect.

Nationwide told Money Box "It is Nationwide's policy not to allow a cash card facility on savings accounts opened with an Enduring Power of Attorney. This is due to a number of factors including security and confidentially issue regarding the disclosure of a PIN number to a third party. A savings account operated under a Power of Attorney should not require frequent cash withdrawals and the Society does not believe that the ability to operate the account is greatly impeded by not offering a cash card facility."

ALL ACCOUNTS AVAILABLE

The following banks and building societies have told Money Box there are no restrictions on which accounts can be opened by someone holding EPA. However when Money Box contacted them posing as customers in a few cases we were told that there were restrictions, so don't be put off if at first you are told you cannot open a certain account.

Abbey National
Bank of Scotland
Britannia
Co-operative
Halifax
Leeds and Holbeck
Lloyds TSB
Nat West
Royal Bank of Scotland
Portman
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