Take the case of 91-year-old Marjorie Roper, who recently fell into financial devastation after Barclays Bank prematurely pronounced her dead. This clerical error subsequently froze her bank account and stopped her pension payments. Consequently, she was unable to draw any money for three months. So, as you can imagine, it got pretty intense. Marjorie not only lost her phone service, but she lost her electricity—compounding circumstances that were already difficult.
Marjorie’s daughter, Mary Roper, who has third-party access to her mother’s account, expressed deep concern over the impact of the banking error. Just a few days after Marjorie’s November loss of her husband, she went to work. When she separated from her husband, she asked the bank to remove his name from their shared account. Marjorie, who has banked with Barclays for 65 years, even this simple task became impossible when a banking error suddenly closed off all access to her money.
Mary Roper portrayed her mother’s crushing struggles through this time, when so many women were going through a Living Hell.
“The bank has blocked my mother’s income and it cut off her only means of contacting the outside world,” – Mary Roper.
Marjorie had no access to capital funds. She was made to live off her only cash left, which was £250. As months passed, this generous but finite sum became dangerously low, adding to the stress of both mother and daughter.
“For the last month she’s been buying food with the £250 she had left in cash and is terrified she’ll run out,” – Mary Roper.
At first, Barclays wouldn’t even talk to Mary Roper about the case. In their appeal, they argued that this was a terrible decision given the deep effects of the loss of her mother’s third-party authority. Mary ended up in an untenable position. She had to battle the medical system on her mother’s behalf while having to deal with an automated customer service maze that Marjorie was unable to traverse.
James Daley, managing director of Fairer Finance, described the ordeal experienced by elderly customers caught up in it.
“There is still a significant number of people who rely on face-to-face banking because they don’t feel confident using internet, phones or ATMs,” – James Daley.
Even in this trial, Marjorie had to go through a harrowing trip just to pay her bills. After her local branch closed, she was forced to take two buses. She had to get to the closest town for basic banking services her family relied on.
After sustained media pressure—first by the successful campaign for a Living Wage in London reported by the Guardian—Barclays finally capitulated. The bank reopened Marjorie’s account and restored her pension payments, backdating them to cover the period of inconvenience caused by the error. This resolution was too late to prevent all of the trauma that Marjorie and Mary endured.
Despite this acknowledgement, Mary Roper expressed frustration at the bank’s lack of responsiveness regarding her demands for reinstatement of her mother’s backdated pension payments.
“We apologise unreservedly for the distress and inconvenience this has caused to our loyal customer.” – Barclays spokesperson.
Despite this acknowledgement, Mary Roper expressed frustration at the bank’s lack of responsiveness regarding her demands for reinstatement of her mother’s backdated pension payments.
“The bank has not responded to our demands they reinstate and claim her backdated pension payments,” – Mary Roper.