In 2024, Chloe went to the branch herself, along with a friend, who was given access to her accounts, including her internet banking. Brett went to the branch, was again refused access, and later was issued with a trespass notice. Brett tried to move Chloe’s accounts to another bank, but again the bank blocked him, saying he should get legal advice. Brett complained that the bank’s actions were unjustified and meant Chloe was unable to access her funds for daily expenses.

Our investigation

We obtained copies of the bank’s internal contact notes and communications. These showed branch staff were concerned Brett might be financially abusing Chloe and on that basis refused to act on his enduring power of attorney. The bank told us it had asked Brett three times for a copy of the enduring power of attorney, and that he had refused to provide it. However, the contact notes showed Brett had presented a copy to a branch in December 2023, and that staff had refused to act on it. We concluded that from December 2023 onwards, the bank was aware that Brett had a legitimate enduring power of attorney over Chloe’s finances. We also found that the bank gave the friend unauthorised access to Chloe’s banking because she had no legal authority to be added to the account.

In addition, we considered there was no basis for the bank’s concern that Brett was financially abusing Chloe. The transactions on Chloe’s account in fact showed the opposite: they were mostly for living expenses, and account balances were stable, if not growing. There had also been no transfer of money into Brett’s accounts and no evidence he was using her money for his own benefit. The bank argued Chloe had appeared at a branch “with signs of difficulty, distress, and cognitive decline”, we said this was the very reason she had an enduring power of attorney, and was no reason to refuse to act on it. The bank agreed to Brett’s enduring power of attorney and pay Brett’s legal costs.

Outcome

Brett accepted the bank’s offer to act on the enduring power of attorney and pay his legal costs, which totalled $6,150.