Does any bank provide a service for those with mild learning difficulties?

[Cornish-Dad]

I have a 40 year old son who has mild to middling learning difficulties. He lives independently and is employed at ASDA, but he is hopeless with money. I have managed to help him, by opening a joint current account into which his salary is paid and a linked Saving account into which I release money on a weekly basis. Also I leave about £50 per month in the joint account to cover unexpected bills / holidays / Christmas etc. This has worked well for nearly 10 years and his 'savings' have grown considerably. Unfortunately, he has acquired a bank card for the joint account, discovered the savings pot and is running through like a dose of salts.

Although taking his card from him would act as a temporary solution, there would be nothing stopping him getting another one. What I am really asking is, does anyone out there know of a bank or building society which provides whereby an account which can be overseen by a responsible adult but which allows the holder to have some autonomy? I know many do this for children up to the age of 16, do any do it for those with learning disabilities?

[Picklebum]

Mine is 19 I am appointee for her pip and savings acc But she has a current acc which her UC goes in this she has a card for and I don’t manage or know number etc for this acc so she will learn how to budget if she had access to her other acc s on her own she wld blow it !

[Cornish-Dad in reply to Picklebum]

Dear Picklebum

Many thanks for replying. That is helpful and gives me thought for a different approach.

A couple of points - my son is no longer statemented , nor in receipt of benefits so I doubt that I could be formally appointed to supervise his accounts. Also, if she has a card for her current account how do you stop her going into the red and incurring horrendous bank charges? Finally, could you let me know which bank / building society you are dealing with?

Kind regards

Cornish-Dad

[Picklebum in reply to Cornish-Dad]

Hi I understand mine has pip and you can be an appointee if yr son agrees and in receipt of it

[Sarah_Mencap]

Hello there

This is a tricky one. Here are few ideas (sorry if you have seen these before):

* dosh.org/content/uploads/20...

* arcuk.org.uk/wp-content/upl...

* webarchive.nationalarchives...

* essexlocaloffer.org.uk/mone...

* bild.org.uk/resources/easy-... - the Barclay's one at the top is good.

Another idea would be to consider a credit union if there is one near you.

Best wishes

Sarah

[Cornish-Dad in reply to Sarah_Mencap]

Thanks Sarah,

Really useful, I will work through these websites and hopefully find something of value. Interestingly, my daughter-in-law works for a credit union - but in Surrey, not near us. Nevertheless, I will talk it through with her.

[Alain64]

Hi Cornish Dad,

I'm not sure if this will help(or if you've received it already) but have a look this link when you can.

Good luck.

dosh.org/get-support-with-m...

[NorthernDad]

I do not know if there is one in your area but Yorkshire Bank have an account that does not allow overdrafts, but you need to ensure that the person using the account does not do something like go in to a restaurant and order a meal, only to find they cannot pay for it

[Cornish-Dad]

Many thanks, Northern Dad. I do, actually, still have an account with YB from many years in Yorkshire later this week and will bob in and see them.

Maybe not being able to pay for a meal might be a salutary lesson!

Best wishes Cornish-Dad

[LDAutie]

Cornish-Dad hi Cornish dad the company who run this place/support me act as my appointee, they are classed as a corporate appointee.

Each council run an appointee service but it costs a lot of money I’ve heard off support staff.

My service gave me a Equals MasterCard top up card during lockdown,it’s registered to both me and the company name so I can buy things contactless as lots of shops were refusing proper money,but it also made me a bit impulsive online as I now had the WWW to access.

However,they had put a special function in,so when you buy from lots of websites,it sends a text to a person in the finance department of my support company, telling her I’m trying to buy whatever,and to type in the code they sent her if she allows it,but it not failsafe there are ways around it so I’ve found out-for example, I bought a domain name from namecheap (American based) instead of ionos (UK based), Etsy and amazon don’t bring up the ‘pass code needed’ window.

However,my appointee only puts on it the amount of money I get per week,so I can’t spend all my money,my staff lock it away in a tin and make me show what I want to buy before buying it.

It’s worth a try,using a pay card like equals for him as It woud give him the feel of independence whilst still having some safety in there that he can’t blow his whole account.