‘What did HSBC do with £1,000 stairlift deposit?’
One reader was left out of pocket when HSBC failed to register a £1,000 refund on their deceased father’s bank account. Our customer specialist investigates 
My father passed away four months ago, which was ten days following he had paid a £1,000 deposit on a stairlift. I contacted the company and they provided to refund the deposit in full on receipt of a death certificate and explained that it would take 20 days or so.
Meanwhile, I had informed HSBC, my father’s financial institution, of my father’s demise and asked them to suspend his account till such time as we had a death certificate and probate. I also informed them that there would be automated credits due to the account.
Final month I inquired with the stairlift company as to when they would credit the £1,000. I was informed that they had some time in the past paid the funds back to the HSBC debit card quantity employed to pay out the deposit and they confirmed the final 4 digits. They had been quite beneficial.
Seeking at the statements offered by HSBC there was no evidence of the credit so I contacted the HSBC bereavement staff as soon as more.
This has still not been sorted out so can you please stage in.
RL, Somerset
The bereavement crew at first mentioned there was no payment, and then said it was “un-statemented” and the credit score had been held since the account was now closed.
HSBC advised me that the payment was sent to a holding account for evaluation or return. It mentioned it started the process of finding the payment but this could take some time. In fact it was not until virtually 3 months soon after the credit had been manufactured that it was positioned and paid into the executor’s account you had opened. This was just just before I contacted the financial institution.
HSBC stated: “We are at the moment in the method of shifting the freeze we place on deceased customers’ accounts to let credits to continue to pass to the account and then into a nominated financial institution account.
“We’re sorry that this process was not completely explained to Mr L when he made inquiries with us.”
More to my involvement HSBC sent you a hamper.
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