Apologies for this but I need some advice for my partner and this site has quite a few subjective, intelligent individuals regularly use it. My partner is seriously ill, housebound and no longer working. We both live off my salary and all the bills are in my name. She has £40k in a savings account which, for one reason or another, she forgot to update the address on (she was in hospital when we moved and has been ill since). She has had to surrender her driving licence because of her illness.

As the account had been inactive, the Post Office have moved it to dormant status. When she rang to update the address, they informed her that the account was dormant and she had to prove who she was before they would reactivate it which is fair enough. She had to send three forms of ID. The one we are having problems with is list 1 which is a driving licence, passport or letter from the DWP. The passport has the old address, the driving licence is now with DVLA and the only correspondence we have from the tax office to this address only shows her initials and surname. They rejected the DWP letter because it didn't show her full name. Her bank similarly only shows her initials. The other document I sent was our council tax bill which shows her name in full. I have tried ringing the DWP and have written to them but couldn't get through/they didn't respond. I would hate to be someone on benefits in this country, 2 hours waiting on the phone and still not getting through to them is not funny.

The Post Office have been absolutely useless w***ers and refuse to accept anything not on their list. Their solution was to send a new security code to our old address where we could knock on the door and politely ask the new owners for it. I refused to allow her to do that. My feeling was if the number went awry and someone accessed the account we would have no legal recourse at all. I appreciate security is important, but are banks obliged to offer some form of help/actually do something to allow you to access your own money? Any advice would be much appreciated because this has now been going on for three months. I submitted an official complaint about the service to the post office and, two weeks later, got a letter back saying we had later contacted them to confirm we were now happy and the complaint had been closed

Could you ask the bank for a letter of some sort that confirms her identity as opposed to only showing initials? Perhaps a complaint to the ombudsman would help in light of the way your official complaint was dismissed. Could the local council assist with some form of correspondence from the electoral role to confirm identity?

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/about/index.html

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

Passports don't show your address.

Hi Doctor-many thanks for that. I suggested both those options and the customer services adviser dismissed both as not being on the list. I also suggested they look at the re-direction history for her with Royal Mail as each time we have moved I've used it for at least 3 months. Again, it's not on their list. Nightmare organisation. I spoke to both the Ombudsman and FCA. Both can't comment on specific cases until we complain to them. I think I have no choice though now.

You are quite right about the address and passports-I hadn't thought of that (just had a look at mine!). That must be used for proof of name rather than address. She hates flying so has only had the temporary card passports. I don't even know if they still do them now. We have had dogs since I have known her so all our holidays have been UK based so we can take the dog.

I have found that if I ask my bank to print a statement in the branch, it contains more details, such as full names, than the posted statements.

Might be worth a shot. FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - so many issues
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Pretty essential to seek legal advice either from your solicitor or, if you don't have one, from the local Citizens Advice. You can pop your postcode into their home page to get the address:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

PS Don't overlook asking your local bank manager for assistance. 2008 Freelander 2 i6 Alaska White - current
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Escalate to a manager rather than a customer service adviser who is following procedure. I would ask if a letter of confirmation/affidavit from a notary public would suffice but you MUST speak to a decision maker at the PO. Be polite but firm in your insistence. MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

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Re your driving licence. Do you have a note of your partner's driver number? If so, this might help?

https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence

Many thanks for your suggestions. I think the best route may be to insist on speaking to a manager. I rather hoped the complaint would do that but sadly not! Thanks again for taking the time to offer advice.