Banks fail the grieving

BANKS are failing bereaved families with unacceptable mistakes and long delays, Which? has found.

Some have lost death certificates or failed to close the accounts of people who have died, says the consumer group.

The pandemic has made problems worse, its findings suggest.

Which? surveyed 1,600 members who had acted as an executor within the past two years.

Some 17% said they had laboured over the process of closing loved ones’ accounts for more than three months before the first lockdown.

But that shot up to 37% for those who started probate before March 2020 and carried on afterwards.

Jenny Ross of Which? said: “Our research has exposed unacceptable mis- takes by banks cropping up again and again.”

THE Royal Mint is marking the switch to decimal currency which took place 50 years ago today.

Projects include “museums in a box” that contain coins, posters and charts.

They are being taken to care homes to bring back childhood memories for people with dementia.