A daughter claimed she was blocked from accessing her elderly father’s bank account despite having legal authority to manage his finances.

Her frustration with the process has sparked outrage online, with many questioning the Big Four bank’s policies.

Andrea Fox said she had spent more than four years managing her father’s finances, including paying bills and rates, after he suffered a severe stroke.

She told social media that NAB had cut her access to his account, leaving her unable to pay essential expenses.

'They locked me out of net banking and they put a hold on my dad's account which means that I cannot access his net banking at all,' she said.

'I cannot access his funds, which means I can't pay his bills for him.'

Daughter blocked from father’s account despite authority. Image source: Pexels/Vlada Karpovich
Disclaimer: This is a stock image used for illustrative purposes only and does not depict the actual person, item, or event described.

Ms Fox explained that her access had been flagged by NAB’s fraud department, prompting hours of frustrating phone calls.

'I spent an hour and a half on the phone with the bank. They basically treated me like a criminal, like I was trying to scam my father's money,' she said.

After the phone call, she was told she would need to attend a branch in-person to resolve the matter.

However, even after verifying her identity and presenting her enduring power of attorney documents, the bank appeared reluctant to restore access.

'They said they couldn't do anything about the bank block because the fraud department had put a hold on the account and stopped me from accessing that money,' Ms Fox said.

'They said it could be up to 30 days before they reinstate my access to dad's account.’

'But guess what? I just got his pharmacy bill for his medication from the nursing home. I just got his rates notice.’

'What did they say? "You can go into the bank branch and have that bill paid for you because we won't be reinstating your bank access".'

She described the emotional toll of trying to manage a simple financial task.

'To say that I'm frustrated is beyond it. I went into that bank, trying to get something really simple sorted out, and walked out with tears in my eyes, a bright red face, feeling like I was a criminal.'

In an update on Friday, Ms Fox revealed that NAB’s fraud department had temporarily blocked her access while it reprocessed the enduring power of attorney documents.

'Their reasoning was to make sure I wasn't defrauding my father of his money, even though I was going into the bank account to pay one of his bills,' she said.

'I had to go into the NAB today, stand in the line for all that time, explain the situation again and I had to go through a process to get out cash to then walk down to the post office to pay my dad's rates.’

'That's just rubbish.'

Ms Fox concluded her post by demanding clarity from NAB’s fraud department.

'I cannot call up and inquire as to the progress of this. The bank cannot call up and inquire. All I can do is send an email, which they may respond to within 30 days, and that is not okay,' she said.

'It drives me crazy. It really does.’

'The banking overreach, the protecting people's money, which is literally holding people's money hostage.’

'I'm not okay with it. If my dad could actually speak for himself, he would not be okay with it either.'

Source: TikTok/theandreafox

Several social media users suggested she contact the banking ombudsman if access was not restored soon.

Commenters were divided over the long block versus the bank’s attempt to protect the father’s money.

'Put a complaint in at the bank, then put a complaint in at the ombudsman,' one wrote.

'They make it hard for us to look after our aging parents,' another added.

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Others provided context for why the bank may have acted as it did.

'Unfortunately this is a legislation issue, banks are required to periodically refresh everyone's ID,' one wrote.

'I think the bank is doing the right thing to protect your father's account,' another said.

'It's every bank following elder abuse legislation,' one comment read.

'I'd rather them be over-cautious than do nothing. At least you will get access back with no money taken. Imagine how many people are defrauded,' another wrote.

NAB has been contacted for comment.

If you’re worried about who can access your money when you’re unwell, it helps to see how these situations can play out in real life.

Some families have faced tension and confusion when adult children assumed they had automatic rights to a parent’s finances, even without formal arrangements in place.

Learning from these experiences can highlight the importance of clear legal protections and communication before problems arise.

Read more: ‘It’s my inheritance!’: What happens when adult kids feel entitled to your money

Key Takeaways

• Andrea Fox claimed she was blocked from accessing her father’s NAB account despite holding an enduring power of attorney.
• The bank’s fraud department temporarily froze the account to reprocess legal documents.
• Ms Fox described the situation as emotionally distressing and compared herself to a criminal.
• Commenters were split between supporting the bank’s caution and criticising the delay in access.

Have you ever faced a situation where bureaucracy made managing a loved one’s finances feel impossible?

 

[Haitch1$]

We’re just experienced a very similar situation that eventually resulted in an application to QCAT
Fortunately it was resolved in our favour but it was very stressful for the family and the banks had no sense of direction in trying to resolve the situation

 

[EILEEN W]

I had exactly this problem with NAB when I had enduring power of attorney for my mother which she had established before she was in a nursing home with increasing dementia.
The bank made me feel like I was trying to rob my mother and humiliated me in front of other customers. I had to pay every bill myself and then put in a claim to be reimbursed. I tried to talk with Higher Personel but was told they were protecting my mother.
Our lawyer and my mother’s medical team complained to NAB who then demanded I appoint it as POA for my mother.
I approached the ANZ Bank where my mother also had a smaller account. Through them and our lawyer (who had drawn up the POA legal documents) the NAB account was closed and everything transferred to ANZ. Every bill I presented was paid immediately, even though I personally was not a customer.
When Mum died I was allowed to get bills paid until I was declared the inheritor of the account according to the will. I transferred all my accounts to the ANZ and still bank with them and have never had a problem.

 

[Charlie52]

Absolutely go to the Ombudsman! I've had to do that either South East Water here in Victoria. It's the only way.

 

[Benny's Light]

Taking away real people from the bank customer service and branches and with everything being electronic run from overseas call centres and through AI and computer monitoring I think it will become even harder to deal with banks. Getting rid of branches and the face to face has caused so many issues into accessing our money. When my mother took ill a year before she died our local Westpac branch was so good at helping us manage our mother's affairs. I had been banking here for over 30 years and was a known customer something that does not happen now. My mother back then did not trust banks and hid money all over the house in very unusual places. When we cleared out her house we found over forty thousand dollars hidden everywhere. There could have been more. Maybe this is what we will need to do again hide small amounts of money in the house! When talking banks I get so angry when I compare how it used to be.

 

[Leenie]

My daughter has Enduring power of attorney,and also joint partner of saving account , and term deposits, so any time access is needed won’t be any problem . She has the power and the Bank doesn’t.
.

 

[Leenie]

My daughter has Enduring power of attorney,and also joint partner of saving account , and term deposits, so any time access is needed won’t be any problem . She has the power and the Bank doesn’t.
.

 

[Koda]

Surely if she has power of attorney she should be able to pay and access his accounts if not power of attorney what else do you need guardian ship perhaps ?

 

[anni63]

I have had power of attorney for my father and there was no problem because we actually went into the bank with the legal document and our ID BEFORE we started to access his account and they set us up legally to do his business with our own access numbers and passwords. They also kept a copy of the power of attorney on file. Same for my husband with his parent. I daresay if we made any unusual transactions on his account that might look suspicious it would have triggered an automatic block. Such as what happens when unusual transactions occur on our own bank account. But we did not. I am not sure we are being told the full story here.

 

[maggiej]

This seems to be a problem not only with banks. I recently wanted to make an enquiry about my gas our gas bill but I was denied by Alinta gas as I was not listed on the gas account. such a simple thing when I do all the business and have done for over 69 years. I was so annoyed and then had to find my husband outside to come in and give them authority to speak with me on the matter.