Barclays lost track of late partner’s Isa

Since my civil partner passed away three months ago I have been dealing with the Barclays bereavement team to resolve the accounts he held. After registering his death, his current account was closed and the balance appeared in my current account. I had no idea where the money had come from so had to go to my local branch to find out.

A few days later I got a letter saying the bank had closed the deceased’s account and passed the funds to mine. Since then I have contacted the bank again about the status of my civil partner’s Isa, which was not accounted for. I received no reply and have tried repeatedly to contact someone at Barclays who can tell me whether this account is still open.

I am passed from the bereavement team to the

Your late civil partner, for whom you are executor, had been a Barclays customer for many years.

You knew he had had an Isa with Barclays and recalled that he had spoken to you last summer about moving it to another provider. You were not sure whether he had done this and, if so, where the £50,000 was now.

You approached Barclays and received a letter addressed to your late civil partner. It enclosed a £20,000 cheque made out to Barclays by a completely different customer, drawn on an account with a bank your civil partner had not had an account with.

When you asked if the mysterious cheque had been your late civil partner’s contribution to the last tax year’s Isa, Barclays wrote, rather casually, I felt: “The cheque was meant to go to another client.”

The word “shambles” comes to mind here.

You also report that you were disappointed to find Barclays pushing its probate service, which you definitely did not want. After all, the core of the work with probate is gathering information, for which an individual executor is usually better equipped than a third party such as a bank or a law firm.

The individual also has more control over the estate if they act as executor themselves, and this way is more cost-effective, too.

Further to my involvement, the Isa was located and you have the valuation for probate. Barclays has apologised to you for the extra trouble it has put you to and agreed a £200 payment.

My impression from all this is that Barclays needs to spruce up its bereavement services. The section’s remit should also be broadened to answering questions about all the accounts a deceased person may have had, not just the current accounts.