HSBC put the cat among our pigeons after closing account

I AM secretary of my local pigeon racing club and our account has been closed by HSBC without reason.

The bank asked for additional information for ‘ know your customer’ compliance, which I supplied at our local branch.

It has now sent a cheque for the £1,473.10 we had in our account. But the cheque is made out to the same account so we cannot cash it, and I am unable to open a new one under that title.

This leaves us unable to pay our fees to the Royal Pigeon Racing Association. I wrote to HSBC but have not had a reply.

A. D., Waterlooville, Hants. I receIved a response from HSBc in which it mentioned the need for ‘ know your customer’ checks to prevent financial crime. But it didn’t explain why a pigeon racing club with £1,400 assets should have its account closed, especially after you visited a branch twice.

It says an initial letter regarding the ‘know your customer’ checks was sent to you on November 28, 2019, plus reminders and an extension to keep the account open until September 20 last year.

The good news is that your cheque has now been reissued and HSBc has arranged for the account to be reopened. The bank is paying you £200 in compensation, too. MY 87-YEAR-OLD grandmother has advanced Alzheimer’s and I am her only next of kin. I visit her almost daily, do her shopping and deal with all of her finances.

She has taken to ringing the 123 number (the speaking clock) many times each day.

Last year, she rang it 330 times, even though her telephone is no more than 12 in away from a normal clock. Last month alone she rang the number more than 100 times.

I have asked Virgin Media, her landline provider, to block these calls or release her from the contract.

Last year they cost her £107 — nearly equivalent to a week of her pension.

R. W., Caterham, Surrey. WHaT a wonderful granddaughter you are. Those who have relatives with alzheimer’s will understand the extreme pain of watching someone you love fading, while having to cope with their obsessive behaviours.

virgin Media at first appeared to respond well when I highlighted your plight, and refunded the £192.77 your grandmother had spent on the calls.

The firm also added a premiumrate call-barring service free of charge, and applied a month’s worth of services at no extra cost. But then you told me that your grandmother was still able to call 123, and the company said it could not block this number.

When you requested that the contract be cancelled, virgin Media initially demanded a £200 disconnection fee, but a more senior person agreed to you giving a month’s notice instead.

Meanwhile, your grandmother could still make these 123 calls. So I went back to virgin, which agreed to refund any 123 call charges your grandmother incurs until the account is closed.

Now for the good news. I asked BT if it could help. You told me a ‘charming lady from customer service’ called you to arrange a transfer to BT, which will block the 123 number.

She also provided you with her direct line and email address in case of problems. Now that’s what I call service.

BT can come in for a lot of criticism, but on this occasion it wins all the accolades. MY SON was born in 2002 and received a Child Trust Fund cheque for £250.

We are an Army family and were posted to Germany, so I never had the opportunity to cash the cheque. I recall receiving a letter which said the money was automatically put in an account with RBS.

Last week, a friend dropped off old mail from nearly 15 years ago, which had been left in the post room at the camp in Germany. This included some information about the Child Trust Fund money.

Could you find out what became of his cash and bank account?

A. R., Co. Waterford. I receIved your letter in November last year. as you know, this has involved quite a bit of detective work, but diligent rBS staff have finally found your son’s account. So well done to them.

Now we come to the next hurdle. although the account matches your son’s date of birth and is linked to the barracks address in Germany, rBS requires his National Insurance number.

However, your son left the UK with you when he was 12 so did not receive his NI number ahead of his 16th birthday.

rBS has supplied a number for him to call so he can discuss how to gain access to his money.