Statement of behalf of disabled mother??

Hi,
My mum is in hospital because of a broken hip. She cannot travel. I need a statement of account for the fair deal scheme from her CU but they won't give me one. Mum on the phone couldn't order one. Mum on the phone couldn't nominate me to act for her. They said if she cannot attend in person then they need a solicitor's letter!!!

It sounds like my mother is being seriously discriminated against because of an injury/disability. Able-bodied people don't face this issue.

Is there any way around this?

I found the Administrator in the hospital to be very helpful so you could try asking for their advice as this type of thing must happen on a regular basis.

Citizens Information also gives the following info:

Where to apply for the Fair Deal​

You can download an application form (pdf). Forms are also available from any healthcare setting in your area, including your Local Health Office and hospitals. Send the completed form with the documents listed on the application form to your Local Nursing Homes Support Office.
If you have any questions, contact your local Nursing Homes Support Office or contact the HSE Live team on 1800 85 1500 or on 01 240 8787. If calling from outside Ireland, phone +353 1 240 8787.

Were living in a world awash with scams.

They are actually protecting your mother. Nothing discriminatory about it at all.

LS400 said:

Were living in a world awash with scams.

They are actually protecting your mother. Nothing discriminatory about it at all.

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Just amazing that I was able to order state savings statements over the phone no problem

In our case credit union were willing to post statement to home address.
Balance of privacy v access seemed fair.
Other state agencies did similar like LPT "I can't tell you over the phone but I will repost the Lpt letter to your fathers home address"

FWIW,

Most places will only deal with the account holder, if I'm helping my dad out, I assume his identity, its a case of having his basic details in front of me.
Now I wouldn't get away with doing the same for my Mother!! Unless she was a 40 a day smoker

I wonder if you had called as your "Mum" would there have been an issue? Its just being creative, ,

It was several years ago, but I made an appointment with the branch manager of A N Other Bank where my (by then hospitalised) relative had their account for 30 years; a round trip of almost 6 hours for me.

Brought all my documentation, passport, confirmation of address x 2, PPS etc., the branch manager even had access to their datasets to confirm my details.

At that 1:1 meeting, I asked that a bank statement be printed and posted to my relatives address. Wasn't asking for a print out, a balance, or any other data. Just print and post a statement please; standard operating procedure for any bank.

It took almost a full hour of discussion before I could get agreement.

In fairness to the CU, how do they establish that your mother is who she says she is and it's not someone pretending to be her?. There has been a number of cases of carers and family members cleaning out peoples bank accounts in recent years

Now is the time to consider how you deal with these issues in the future. For example, is the pension paid into her bank account electronically or does it have to be collected at the PO?. Are her bills paid via direct debit?. Do you have permission/authority to operate all her accounts for her and do you need a Power of Attorney to be in place? Has your mam signed up for online banking for the CU or via their app (if they have one)?

Walked in your shoes 6 years ago and having all of those things in place made life a lot easier for all of us. Ulster Bank (sadly gone ) and Bank of Ireland were very helpful as they have specific teams in place for dealing with vulnerable customers, although it also sadly depends on what people you get in the branches if you have to go into them.

Sounds fair enough tbh, but she should be able to ask for a statement in the post. Can she write to them? You could drop a letter in maybe? Ask them to send a current statement.
Also either get added as a second name on all accounts now or look for power of attorney.