GEORGE HEAGNEY/Things
Tungia Kaihau with her family, from left, Maewa, Hinetu, Tainui and Grace outside TSB Bank in Palmerston North.
A family accuses TSB Bank of lack of compassion in dealing with their dying mother.
Tungia Kaihau, 75, is ill with lung cancer and is in palliative care in Ōtaki, expected to be in her last days. She is on constant pain medication, is in a wheelchair and is becoming less and less active.
She was recently separated from her husband, but they had been joint account holders for a long time. She’d been trying to see her bank statements to get her affairs in order.
Her husband was in control of their bank accounts.
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Daughter Maewa said the money was frozen and her mother just wanted to know what was in her accounts.
The family said the bank would only accept ID from Tungia if she traveled from Ōtaki to a bank branch. The nearest branches were in Palmerston North and Wellington.
The bank said it had a duty of care to ensure it was properly authorized and identified anyone who had access to their account to protect customers and their funds.
The Kaihau whānau brought Tungia to TSB in Palmerston North on Thursday for the brief verification process.
Maewa said she had been going back and forth with the bank for about a week to verify her mother’s identity.
“I have [enduring power of attorney] because she was physically unable to take care of her own business, she is terminally ill. She’s in a hospice.”
Maewa said the bank was unable to verify Tungia’s identity via video because the bank was concerned about the audiovisual link and Tungia’s mental capacity.
“Every time she has to go through this legal hassle, she is in a lot of pain,” said daughter Hinetu. “It’s not a nice way to spend your last days.”
Maewa said that when they called TSB, the bank asked Tungia about transactions in an account she had no control over, so she couldn’t answer to verify her identity.
They sent the bank a letter asking for bank statements, but the bank needed verification.
Maewa was frustrated that she had to take her sick mother to Palmerston North.
“Mommy could die any minute. Every day is a gift to us. Doing this to our mother is reprehensible.
“They have done nothing to make this process easier for her.”
Hinetu said what happened was the opposite of the TSB values they saw on the wall: people first, one team, integrity and keep it simple.
She said the whole process had been “inhumane” as they had to drag her mother “off her deathbed”.
“It’s a terrible situation. I believe they have no human compassion for a dying woman.”
Maewa said an employee of the Palmerston North branch had told them he could have driven to Ōtaki to do the verification, but that he was not aware of their situation.
“It’s a slap in the face.”
MARION VAN DIJK/Stuff
The bank said it had a duty of care to ensure it was properly authorized and identified anyone who had access to their account to protect customers and their funds (file photo).
A spokesperson for the bank said they could not comment on the Kaihau situation without privacy statements from both account holders.
They said that a power of attorney requires the bank to verify the client’s and attorney’s identities and that any mandate is given freely and properly documented.
This can be a challenge to do over phone or video, so they may have to do it in person.
The spokesperson said that in most cases they could help customers over the phone or access the accounts themselves digitally or via an ATM from anywhere.
“In cases where we are aware that a customer may want to prepare a power of attorney and are unable to go to a branch for health reasons, for verification of the power of attorney, our branch employees have visited customers at their homes.”