Vulnerable client lack of bank account

Hi there..I am working with a client who had a number learning disabilities and quite rightly frustrated with their current situation.

Clt was in a relationship, but have now separated. Clt has never had their own bank account, the claim in being paid to ex partners uncles bank account.

They explain they do not have the ID documents to open their own bank account - I will attempt to get letter from JCP and Council to overcome this barrier.

The clt does not have an email address and manages her claim via telephone - so I have not been able to log into their journal and get a goof picture of what the situation is!

A couple of things that I want to check:

1) Opening a bank account is going to take some time,  is there an exemption service to get payments directly to the clt until a bank account be sorted, and if so how do we go about this?

2) Client lives in a rural area. Is there any basic accounts you know of that would allow her to apply online without the need for an email address or a form we can fill out and post along with ID docs?

Random I know, I just want to help this clt out as they I know they have been struggling with this for quite some time.

From our Universal Credit factsheet

If you are unable to open or manage a bank account, you can use the Payment Exception Service which allows you to withdraw money from PayPoint outlets. If you are unable to use any of these methods of payment, contact the DWP. UC can be paid to an appointee or someone with power of attorney if you are not able to act for yourself.

On your other question, you might want to look at section 9 of our factsheet Arranging for someone to make decisions on your behalf

for some options that might be available to your client in terms of managing their money whilst they have capacity but have problems , although it doesn’t directly deal with opening bank accounts I’m afraid. Some are what s possible when an account has been set up however which might be helpful.

For help with banks there’s a lot of good information on https://www.dosh.org/resources/ . Focused on learning disabilities but useful for many groups.