Big banks aren’t letting customers ask the right questions says Wake Smith

IF you didn’t know, the Wills and Probate Service that HSBC offered their customers is now longer under the bank’s banner and Andrew Vidler, director of wills and probate at Wake Smith in Sheffield is concerned about the lack of regulation involved.

Though he said that there’s “nothing unusual” in HSBC moving its wills and probate service to private contractor Simplify, it is the way the bank has gone about it that is cause for concern.

“The issues are to do with the way they’ve gone about it.” Mr Vidler said. “They are pushing customers towards a business partner – yes it provides probate services but it is not regulated in the same way as banks or solicitors. There is no indemnity insurance if they get it wrong.”

One of the main issues Mr Vidler and many in the sector have with the move by HSBC is that Simplify, the company to which HSBC is transferring its existing wills and probate customers, is a private company.

Founded in 2012, there is little information about the company out there to a “relatively anonymous” organisation, according to the firm, which says it is likely to be a central digitised facility, with no face-to-face dealings.

Mr Vidler said: “I’d say think carefully about your estate. Having a bank as an executor can be a good thing, they are regulated and well known, otherwise your family will be dealing with a private organisation rather than an individual at the bank or a solicitors.”

He said: “The bank isn’t giving the customers the opportunity to ask the question: do I want this unknown body to be executor of my will?

“Many people don’t have a full understanding of the legal process, but we’re used to dealing with it and take a pinch of salt with it.”

“They have made it so the easiest course of action is to fill in the forms – so Simplify will gain a lot of business without much trouble. There’s an agreement between the bank and Simplify and seem to be doing everything they can to appoint Simplify as executors.

“It’s perfectly legitimate to sell this part of the business, but the bank has done this in a way that prevents customers thinking they should or need to take advice on it.

“A customer might think it’s easy, and cut and dried, but there are clear issues in appointing a bank as regulator, versus a private company.

As Mr Vidler said, banks are regulated by the FInancial Conduct Authority, which governs the way banks deal with these services, “in the same way solicitors are governed by SRA” he said.

If a solicitor should get it wrong then clients can complain to the legal ombudsman, are subject to heavy regulations and are insured to protect clients. But the same doesn’t apply to a private company such as Simplify which has only been around since 2012.

“It’s a case of banks looking after their own commercial interests rather than their customers.”