Santander berevment torture

[andyinlondon 1]

Hi all

 

This is the story of how Santander treats not only their own customers but also the bereaved relatives of one of their customers.

 

My mother passed away back in January 2009 and I was named the sole beneficiary in her will and the executor of her estate.

All in all an upsetting time, with lots of paperwork to do, people and organizations to inform, arrangements and claims to make ect, ect.

All the organizations I had to contact were very helpful and sympathetic and tried to make things as easy as possible to resolve, insurance companies the pensions office and the local branch of the Santander where my mother did her banking.

 

 

However the nice chap at the local branch of Santander was not able to do anything with regard to my mother’s accounts or even the Santander shares that she held from the Santander take over of the abbey.

 

 

He asked for her documents and copied them all, death cert, marriage cert will and my id,

 

 

He photocopied them all and said that he would have to send them to the probate department to be processed.

 

 

He said it would take 7 to 10 days but it was a strait forward case and would be quickly dealt with.

 

 

It went downhill from there!

 

 

I left it for two weeks trusting that what I had been told was correct but having not heard anything I thought I would check on the progress.

I called the local branch and spoke to the account rep who said he had sent the paper work in and was surprised I had not had any reply.

He then spoke to the probate dept who asked him to resubmit the paperwork and that they would then deal with it.

Another week goes by and the same thing happens again ... paperwork resubmitted yet again and calls made to the probate dept by the account rep.

 

 

This time the probate dept are getting snotty with the account rep but he resubmits the paperwork as they request.

 

 

Another week and still nothing so I chase it up and the account rep tries to call the probate dept who hang up on him, so he calls the manager of the probate dept and complains about what has happened.

The manager promises to look into it and call him back. Of course this does not happen.

 

 

So further calls are made and the bank manager gets involved and eventually some of my mother’s accounts are closed. The probate dept then sends out a series of cheques from these accounts most of which were for a few pounds each.

 

 

At last I think a light at the end of the tunnel it has taken some 7 weeks but finally a resolution.

 

 

But of course it is not at all finished.

 

 

Another couple ofweeks go by and nothing further from Santander so I call the account rep again who tries to chase it up but gets nowhere.

At this point he tells me that the shares have to be resolved separately and to contact Santander directly to get the claim form.

 

 

So 3 calls to the Santander shareholders helpline over three weeks produces no claim form

 

 

So I had to call to Santander complaints line to even get a claim form sent out and I am sure this will be another epic battle. (still not resolved some 3 years later)

Back to the rest of the accounts and another week goes by so I call the complaints dept to complain and I am told they cannot do anything as the branch are dealing with it.

 

 

So I call the branch who tell me, no the complaints dept are now dealing withit. So I give it a few days and call complaints again who insist that no the branch is dealing with it and they cannot touch it until the branch writes tome and tells me they have failed to resolve it.

 

 

So I call the branch again and they tell me they are sending me this letter. At which point I lose it,

 

 

I call the chairman’s office and lodge an official complaint with them, this is supposed to be the top level complaint in the whole organization.

 

 

I speak to a polite lady who expresses concern and says that they will take over the complaint at head office and resolve it quickly.

 

 

So I leave it another week and hear nothing so I call them again and am told that they have sent out an acknowledgment letter and someone will be assigned to investigate my complaint.

 

 

So in other words they have done nothing for yet another week!

I have had to deal with the death of my mother and all the pain and trauma that that has caused but I am not even been allowed to try and begin the healing process because Santander are forcing me to confront her death on a daily basis and rubbing my face in it buy making me fight and chase them every day now.

 

 

Santander were unlawfully holding my mother’s money with no excuse, they cannot explain why.They claim there is no problem but refuse to process the paperwork

 

And to cap it all........ The best bit now!

 

I got a letter from their debt recovery department demanding that I, as the executor of her estate clear a small overdraft that was left on her current account.

 

 

This despite the fact that Santander are holding over ten times that amount still in her other accounts.

 

 

And of course the probate department are supposed to clear any debts or overdrafts ECT as part of the process of closing the accounts before they release any funds to the estate.

 

When I first went into the branch to formally inform them of my mothers death and give them all the paper work they had requested, they had print outs of all my mother's accounts with balances and totals.

 

I was given this information but alas not the actual documents

so that I could do the required probate steps and make all the arrangements.The final figure paid from Santander was £5000 less than this amount. With no explanation as to why.

 

And the complaint to the chairman’s office

 

well after a few weeks of, you guessed it no contact or information I got a garbled phone call saying that they had investigated and yes it had not gone a sit should and lessons had been learned, no disciplinary action at the probate dept, denial of the missing £5000 and an offer of £500 compensation.

 

My reply to that was unprintable.

 

At that point I pretty much gave up as I could not take the stress and upset any more

 

 

 

Now jump forward to 2012 and the saga continues.

 

I am now getting threatening letters from the German government and the solicitors they have hired in London because once again Santander lied to me and have stolen money again from my late mother.

 

When I reported her death to Santander and went through the whole horrible process I described above, I was told that all of my mother’s accounts were closed and all activity was suspended on them,

not so!

 

I find out from the German government who have been paying a pension to my late mother and this pension has been happily taken by Santander and kept by them.

 

No mention to me about it and into a supposedly closed account.

 

Naturally the German government want this over paid money back and Santander are refusing to return it either to the pension provider or to me so I could return it.

 

So let this saga be a warning to you all………. If you think you may die one day and if you have relatives who will have to deal with things after you are gone........ Then make sure you do not bank with Santander

 

Andy

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2012 by citizenB
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[citizenB 10,172]

Yes, a dreadful story and one that we see time and time again in respect of Santander.

 

I think perhaps you should start the complaint process again. In letter form - you need to provide the entire saga in bullet point fashion and send to the Head Honcho at Santander.

 

You should make this a Formal Complaint - they have 8 weeks to resolve or provide you with a Final response letter. This will allow you to take your complaint to the the Financial Ombudsman.

 

I am sure there will be others reading your story, who will also offer advice that will be useful.

[rebel11 2,997]

Write aFormal Letter of Complaint mark it as such, explain whats happened, how they have let you down and what you want them to do.

 

Send it to:-

 

Ana Patricia Botin, Chief Executive

ceo@santander.co.uk

 

Some tips:- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1242161/How--write-letter-complaint.html

[cerberusalert 6,327]

Contact;

 

John Gazal

Head Of Complaints Management

Executive Complaints Team

Santander House

201 Grafton Gate East

Milton Keynes

MK9 1AN

 

Tel: 01908 344955

[andyinlondon 1]

thanks for the replies guys i will give the two above a try but i dont hold out much hope it will resolve anything.

 

i am almost inclined to let the germans take me to court for the pension money and use that to publicise it but i would probably get stuck with the costs and lose as well

[rebel11 2,997]

Hi andy

 

Please let us know how your problem has been resolved, it could help fellow Caggers.

[andyinlondon 1]

A bit of an update on my case,

 

like an idiot I thought I would give them one last chance to resolve the issuesI have with them and contacted them on the 15th of august, I suggested they have a look at the above thread and told them I was giving them one last chance to resolve it.

 

I got a lot of ooh we agree it is terrible and we have let you downs along with we will treat this with the utmost urgency and we promise to resolve it quickly ect ect, we will put our best investigator on it strait away.

so a week goes by and .......... yup you guessed it nothing had been done, not even assigned to an investigator to look at.

when I called them again I was told it would be a different investigator and not the (best) one I had been promised, then I got a call from them the next day and it was the (best) one after all that was going to investigate and yes it would be prompt!.

Another week goes by and I get a call saying that she is still investigating and to be patient.

 

two more weeks go by and I hear nothing so I call them again today and get more fobbing off with no progress and am told the investigator is going on holiday on Wednesday (in two days time)

 

but not to worry as they really are taking my complaint seriously honest!

 

so I let rip a little and got the usual empty promises apologies and excuses

 

I was told "I don’t have full access to the records and have to ask for them from the various departments involved but some of them have not replied to repeated requests"

I asked, if as a supposed senior investigator in their "special investigations" department does she not have any authority to insist on or force cooperation when conducting an investigation?

I was told not really.

I asked her if she thought that refusing to cooperate with an investigation regarding missing money in a bank was an acceptable response to an investigator of said missing money, she would not answer that.

And I asked her if she thought that the refusal to cooperate was perhaps a sign of guilt once again I got no answer.

 

So all in all, about what I expected from Santander but yes I was stupid enough to cling to a glimmer of hope that they might eventually do something right.

 

I was promised an update by Wednesday before she goes on holiday, so once again it is wait and see.

 

 

I got a second phone call this afternoon from them, even more confusing now.

 

Apparently my mother had an Isa that was renewed for another year in April of 2009 but they are not sure if it was included in the probate dept settlement ofaccounts.

( from that you can pretty much guarantee it was not but will they admit it )

 

the even more confusing thing is that my mother died in January three months before and could not have authorised the Isa renewal which apparently is needed for it to be renewed according to santander.

It should have been suspended and closed in January and not even been still running let alone renewed in April.

 

And the best bit is they don’t know if it is still running now or closed or where the money from it is or where it went to!!!

 

 

 

that latest bit of info was more than a little concerning though, an investment account still showing as open with money in it but the investment department claiming it is closed but they have not bothered to update their records

(in three years!)

some thing definatly fishy there

 

but now the investigator has gone on holiday and I am not allowed to know when or if she will be back and maybe someone else will continue the investigation (rugsweep) or maybe not

 

Andy

 

[cerberusalert 6,327]

Have you made a complaint to both FOS & the ICO?

[andyinlondon 1]

Have you made a complaint to both FOS & the ICO?

 

Not much point going to the FOS

 

have a look at the rip off britain report here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01myg76

[cerberusalert 6,327]

It's still worth making a complaint.... another nail etc.

 

I've personally had a run-in with Santander and know they are a total PITA to deal with. They are typical Spaniards with a Mañana attitude.

[andyinlondon 1]

Well as you probably guessed it was a waste of time trying to get the grave robbers (santander) to look at my complaint and see reason.

i got a very off hand phone call from a ryan in their complaints department who admitted that they had taken 9 months of pension payments after my mother had died but said "that is the pension providers fault not ours and you cannot have the money back"

 

he also said there is no trace of the missing £5000 so it must have been a branch error !!!

 

He then went on to offer £200 in compensation for all of the above

 

my thoughts on them are unprintable

 

so next steps

 

i think a SAR to get all the records of my mothers and my dealings with them, but how do i word a SAR for my mothers information,

 

as the executor of her estate do i have the rights to request this or should i do it in her name and see if they notice?

 

thanks

 

Andy

[cerberusalert 6,327]

Typical Santander drivel, it doesn't matter whether it was a branch error or not it is still their corporate liability.

 

You really need to get the FOS involved, it doesn't matter whether you agree with their decision you don't have to abide by it but Santander would. The point is to exhaust all the complaints procedures & possibly sue Santander. Even though this could drag on for a year interest is still accruing at the Statutory 8%.

 

i think a SAR to get all the records of my mothers and my dealings with them, but how do i word a SAR for my mothers information,

I don't think you can obtain this information, but you could check with the ICO to see.

[Andyorch 10,463]

Rights under the Data Protection Act apply only to living persons. However there may be concerns that the family have about services to their relative. Please remember that there are still issues of confidentiality surrounding access to information about a person who has died. The person may have consented or clearly refused consent to disclosure of the information while they were alive. The executor of the deceased person's estate or their next of kin will inherit their right to confidentiality. However access to their information may be given at the discretion of the Creditor.

 

Regards

 

Andy