Speaking on my behalf

If you’re experiencing poor mental health, you might not feel up to talking to your bank, utility suppliers or a debt collection agency over the phone. Normally, organisations like these will only speak to someone else about your financial matters on the telephone if you first give them verbal permission and then pass the phone over to the person you want to speak on your behalf.

This means you will have to speak to the company and provide some details about yourself first so they can check they are talking to the account holder.

To help you prepare, write down what you want to say and read this out to them. If the organisation approves your request, this will mean the person speaking on your behalf will be able to gather information such as the balances of your account and your contact details. Normally, the carer, friend or relative speaking on your behalf will not be able to make any changes to your account or contact the organisation on an on-going basis.

However, if you think you need someone to speak more regularly to an organisation on your behalf or to operate your account, you can give written permission. This is known as a letter of authority. 

Some organisations have different policies for dealing with 3^rd party authority and some may not accept a general letter of authority. If this is the case you should ask the organisation for a ‘3^rd party mandate form’. A 3^rd party mandate will allow someone to operate your account in the same way as a letter of authority.

As there are different policies for dealing with third parties it may be best to contact the organisation first to find out the best way to proceed.