I’m not aware there is any legislation that gives you the power to insist on retaining scanned copies of her bank statements. But you do, of course, need a sufficient audit trail tio satisfy any auditor that you did see the originals and verified the capital held (I’m presuming you are asking for the statements for that reason, and I’m assuming she is not ‘passported’).
Is she afraid of someone having access to her bank account number? You probably need to have a little sit down chat with her, explain that you need some form of evidence of her capital, explain how you keep access to benefit recors securely, explain oc retention and destrucion policy,and try and persuade her. Failing that, I would say it would be acceptable for you to write down the details yourself on a separate piece of paper/statement/whatever, and note it that you have verified the detail from the original statements.And then you sign it, as an officer of the council. If she is still worried about someone knowing her full account number tell her you will record it something like this:
Nat West bank account statement seen and verified, sort code 11-11-11, acount number ending 1234 (don’t state the full number),
then give as much or as little detail as you see fit, in the circumstances. If you are just looking to confirm curent capital holding, just put the most recent date on the statement.
I’m sure someone will disagree with me on this , and it is extra work for you, but it’s jut a case of using common-sense really. And not getting embroiled in a fruitless argument with the customer. If there IS any legislation that allows us to INSIST on copying and retaining bank statements, aI’d like to know what is is too!
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