Dear LPG,

I am not sure if you have covered this subject before but I don’t think that anyone will be any worse off for being reminded.

No one knows what will happen tomorrow.  The fact that you are well and walking around and getting on with your life today, while tomorrow, your health could alter temporarily, or permanently, because of an accident or illness which forces you to spend a little time in your bed.   Things could be worse than that but that would be bad enough.

Imagine being stuck and wanting to pay a bill or transfer some money and realising that the only way that you can do this is by asking someone to do it for you.  Who would you choose and trust to do this for you?  It would involve having to give them your password or pin number and trusting them with all the money in your bank account. 

I like to think that I can trust my children but I know a few people who have found themselves in this situation, trusted a son or daughter and learned later that they have ‘borrowed’ a bit for themselves.  Even worse; Imagine what would happen if you had to rely on a carer to do this for you.  I am not saying that all carers are untrustworthy but we have heard the stories.

One thing that we can do to protect ourselves a little is to set up ‘telephone banking’.  This means arranging to have a security code or two which will enable you to talk to the bank and tell them what you want to do via the telephone.

Can I ask all those readers who don’t feel equipped to play about with their money online, and who have not done this, to have a word with their bank the next time they visit and get it sorted?  You never know when having that code could come in handy.

The only other thing to mention is, once you have set it up, even if only to find out what your current bank balance is or order a new cheque book, use the service every now and then so that you remember how. 

 LM, Brockley