As of: February 9, 2024, 11:07 a.m
By: Frank Lahme
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Four siblings experience an odyssey after their mother's death.
You are having enormous problems with an account at Postbank.
Hamm - Holders of seizure protection accounts (P accounts) at Postbank have massive and widespread problems.
1,410 euros must remain with account holders, most of whom are heavily indebted, for life and must not be taken up by creditors.
A legally stipulated rule that apparently doesn't work at Postbank.
No access to the inheritance: Postbank does not release the account
The North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Center and the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) have responded to “the significant disruptions in the processing of customer business” and appointed a special representative for the parent company, Deutsche Bank AG, at the end of September 2023.
But the abysses aren't just opening up in Postbank's P accounts.
BaFin also publicly criticizes long processing times for estate matters as well as for closing accounts and repaying savings deposits.
A case from Hamm now clearly demonstrates the deficiencies, as wa.de reports.
No access to the inheritance: Postbank does not release the account.
© Oliver Berg / dpa
For months, the surviving relatives of a woman from Hamm who died in 2022 were unable to access the savings they inherited.
There was no progress, neither in writing nor through personal appearances at the “Yellow Post” or through telephone calls.
It wasn't until the
WA
got involved in the matter that everything suddenly happened very quickly.
Within a few days, the money – at least a good 60,000 euros – was with the survivors.
The case of Eva T.: Children cannot access their mother's estate at Postbank
Eva T. was 78 years old.
The woman from Hamm died at the beginning of December 2022 and, as the obituary says, led a modest life.
She left her savings to her four children - three sons and a daughter.
The money was in savings accounts at the Sparkasse and the Postbank in Hamm.
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In the summer of 2023 the time had come to take care of the estate.
The siblings had all the documents together, including the inheritance certificate, and made their way to the banks.
While everything went smoothly at Sparkasse and the savings were with the heirs within a few days, the project at Postbank turned out to be an odyssey.
On July 19, 2023, the three brothers - the sister lives in southern Germany - drove to the post office and canceled the savings account.
The next visit followed a month later, on August 23rd.
A postal employee checked the system.
Everything was done correctly and requested.
The process is “in progress” and could take up to four months.
Starting in November, the siblings went to Postbank at least nine times or tried to do so over the phone.
Sometimes there was no one responsible, sometimes it was said that it would take another 14 days, sometimes that a call back would be made about the matter (which didn't happen).
Complaints were lodged - but that didn't change anything.
On January 11th the
family turned to
wa.de.
“It now has a bitter aftertaste and makes you angry.
“We are not paid for our property,” the siblings said in an email to the editors.
Mother's savings account at Postbank: children do not receive the inheritance
On January 22nd (at noon), wa.de presented Postbank with a power of attorney from the siblings and asked the press about Eva T.'s estate. Three days later, a Postbank spokeswoman replied: “I have good news for your readers.
We closed Ms. T.'s savings account on January 22, 2024.
The credit amounting to EUR 64,073.27 was transferred to the co-heirs of the community of heirs in proportion to one quarter each.
We apologized to Ms. W. (note: the daughter) for the delay.”
Our editorial team's question about what was wrong in the previous months and whether the family did something wrong is not answered specifically.
“As a result of the move to Deutsche Bank’s IT systems, Postbank has recorded an increased volume of inquiries and orders from customers.
In some cases this has led to an increase in processing times.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused to affected customers,” said the Postbank press office.
All backlogs will be processed at the beginning of 2024.
Did you have a similar problem with Postbank?
Have you already had bad experiences with Postbank?
Have you had a similar case?
Then contact us and tell your story - please send an email to internet@wa.de.