In 2014 my wife and I moved back to the UK after 20 years living and working in Belgium. I have a Belgian state pension which for the past eight years has been paid monthly into a Barclays international bank account.
In August last year Barclays wrote to say that it was closing this account and all our joint banking would be transferred to a new kind of account, with no explanation. This new account became effective on December 5 and we were told that any transactions to the old one would be transferred for three months. It said we should give any organisations that regularly sent us funds the new account’s details.
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It took several emails and letters (they do not answer the telephone!) to the Federal Pensions Service in Brussels before we got the necessary form, which required a section to be completed by our bank. It arrived just before our departure to Australia where we spent February. Our return was delayed due to the situation in the Middle East but on our return on March 10, I made a trip to Canary Wharf to have Barclays sign and stamp the required section. But I was told this could not be done there, and to go to a local branch which, in our case, is in Hammersmith. Sadly a visit there was also fruitless.
Despite calls to Barclays and a letter to customer services since, we have had no response. Meanwhile we are missing three months of pension payments which we depend upon for living expenses. If you could help us break through the brick wall of Barclays’ refusal to sign the form to satisfy the bureaucracy of Belgium it would be of immense help to our finances — and our marital calm.
Andrew, London
Holly Thomas writes
While having your account closed was very inconvenient, it wasn’t personal. It was part of a general move by Barclays to close its international banking service for UK customers at home and abroad.
While Barclays offered support with the change, including help on how to download a list of your regular outgoing payments, it didn’t help to address the matter of informing those companies that pay you. Namely, in your case, the Belgian pension service. You and your wife moved back to the UK 12 years ago and when you reached the Belgian state pension age of 66 in 2018, you started receiving a pension accrued during your career working in logistics.
All went like clockwork until Barclays threw a spanner in the works, but happily, it has now agreed to go the extra mile and help to restart your payments. The Bank explained that it was not standard practice to stamp third‑party documents, which is why you had no luck in your request, but a one‑off dispensation has now been granted.
The form, signed and stamped by a branch, was sent by recorded delivery to the Belgian pensions office and you didn’t have to wait long for a backdated payment of €4,699 (about £4,070) to arrive in your account. Barclays also paid you £100 as a gesture of goodwill.
You said: “Who knew a change of bank account could unleash such issues. Thank you so much for your help, we could not have done it without you.”
Barclays said: “We’re very sorry for the difficulties experienced. We have now worked with all parties, and the issue has been fully resolved.”
A sudden bank account closure can be problematic, as many readers and small local organisations have found in the past when they have unwittingly fallen foul of new regulations or procedures. Banks should be more willing to help, and if they are not, you should raise a formal complaint, highlighting that income has been lost as a result of the change. It might take time, but it should spur a bank into action.
My father-in-law’s life policy is in trouble after 77 years
In 1949, on my father-in-law’s 16th birthday, his parents took out an endowment policy for him with the Birmingham financial firm Wesleyan. He diligently paid the nominal premium of 20p a month for his whole life until in 2022 he was hospitalised.
During this time his premium (which he paid annually) became due. I was looking after his financial affairs, but without power of attorney. He asked me to make sure that it was paid, not because the policy was worth much but because it was of sentimental value given that his parents had bought it for him.
I called Wesleyan in 2022 and asked to pay any back premiums due on the policy. I was told that this was not possible, but that the policy would remain live and my father-in-law could pay any overdue premiums when he was better. Unfortunately, his health deteriorated and in 2024 he went into permanent residential care.
In 2025 my wife obtained power of attorney over his financial affairs and asked Wesleyan if she could now pay the overdue premiums. They came back with forms for her father to sign. She explained that he could no longer hold a pen and was almost blind. Once again Wesleyan said it would look into it. In February 2026, we were sent the same forms. My wife raised the issue in March by email with Wesleyan’s complaints department and is still awaiting a reply. Please can you help us put my father-in-law’s mind at rest that this has been sorted out?
Dwight, Epsom
Holly Thomas writes
Endowment policies are are a type of life insurance that pay out a tax-free lump sum at maturity. They were traditionally used to pay off a mortgage, but they can be set to pay out on the holder’s death.
The one that your father-in-law’s parents took out in 1949 was a standard with-profits life policy, typical of the time. As long as premiums are paid throughout the term, the sum assured on death is paid out. Additional to this, but not guaranteed, is a bonus, which is added over time depending on the performance of the insurer’s investments. Bonuses (once declared) are usually locked in, but a final bonus may also be added at the end of the policy, which can vary and is not guaranteed.
The endowment belonging to your father-in-law has a value at death of £676.94 and a surrender value of £627.93 if you wanted to cash it in now, including an estimated £533.56 final bonus.
Over the 77 years your father has paid about £185 in premiums, so he can expect a 266 per cent return. Over all that time, however, this is less impressive than it sounds. Endowment policies often provide poor investment returns and have disappointed savers far and wide thanks to high charges and over-optimistic investment growth projections that failed. With-profits funds, which were at the centre of scandals, having been widely mis-sold in the 1980s and 90s, and other endowment policies are still available, although not common and typically require going through a financial adviser.
For your father-in-law, now 93, the policy isn’t really about the money, but the sentimental value the policy holds as a gift. As a former insurance collector, which he did to make ends meet when he had a young family — as a second job on top of his lifelong work as a printer — he also believes in the importance of keeping up a policy.
Within 24 hours of my contacting Wesleyan, you and your wife had a call to say that you could settle the outstanding £7.60 premium which would bring the policy up to date. Wesleyan also offered you £300 compensation, which you have accepted, and which effectively boosts the rather paltry return by almost 50 per cent.
Your wife said: “It’s amazing what one phone call from you can do. I told my father about the welcome outcome to this case. While he has diminished mental capacity, he clearly understood what we were telling him and he smiled and said thank you.”
Wesleyan said: “We’re very sorry for the inconvenience and frustration our processing error has caused. We have been in contact and the matter is now resolved, bringing the policy up to date.”
If you miss a payment on a with-profits life policy, you can usually pay the missed premiums to keep the policy active and maintain all benefits.
There is no regulatory rule that says life policyholders can only miss a set number of premiums before a policy can no longer be reinstated. It depends on the individual policy terms and the insurer. The general standard is that policies can typically be reinstated and missed premiums repaid within 12 months. However, insurers may exercise discretion to allow reinstatement beyond this period, which is what Wesleyan did in this case.
If the payouts stop, the policy stays in place but with a lower payout at maturity. One of many overriding concerns with endowment policies is that the lump sum isn’t guaranteed if investment performance isn’t as expected. The poor returns on UK endowment policies, leading to significant shortfalls, routinely came with high initial charges and commissions front-loaded in the early years that severely reduced the capital available for investment. Proceed with caution.
£1,026,476 — the amount Your Money Matters has won back for readers so far this year
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