Post Office doesn’t want my £250k

Would you kindly throw your weight behind my current problem with the Post Office?

I obtained the details of its Online Saver account and submitted the required evidence and my cheque for £250,000.

It then claimed that the copy of my wife’s passport and our joint bank account statement, both authenticated by my accountant, were not acceptable.

After three abortive phone calls, I wrote again. KEITH RAWLINGS, KENT

This was to be a joint account, yet it seemed that the Post Office did not want your money.

Post Office Money said the documentation was not what was required. It said: “Identity and address proof certification was not acceptable for Mrs Susan Rawlings. This means we can’t open your Online Saver account yet. So we’ve returned your deposit cheque, along with the original documents you sent.”

Your calls got you nowhere. Post Office Money did not reply to your second letter. It was only after my involvement that a Post Office spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to Mr Rawlings for the error we made on this occasion, not processing his funds and documents.”

It contacted you and paid the interest you would have received. It also sent £100 for goodwill.

You used to be an independent financial adviser and wonder how any firm, let alone one as prominent as the Post Office, can treat a prospective customer like this and reject them in such a cavalier fashion.

You have now put £100,000 into the account rather than the higher sum you originally intended. The rest has gone to another bank. in the previous six weeks. You had supplied certified copies of your current year’s council tax demand and a letter from the Pension Service notifying you of your Winter Fuel Payment. You are disabled and recovering from a cancer operation.

HSBC has now offered a home visit after you receive your HMRC letter or benefits notification in April. It said someone would photograph the documents on an HSBC BlackBerry, and then update them on its systems. It has given you £50 for goodwill, which doesn’t seem overly generous.

Meanwhile, I doubt I can change HSBC for you. Its record-keeping and communications between different parts of the business sometimes leave something to be desired and, like several of its counterparts, it tends to make too many careless mistakes.