Proof of address for dormant bank account

mayoman1973

We have decided to move back to Ireland permanently after a period abroad and have just discovered my bank card would not allow me withdraw money. I have used it regularly when home so it's not like I just decided to try it one day out of the blue.
I enquired at BOI and was told the account is dormant !!! Pity I told them that no one told me that when I lodged $15,000 at christmas.
Anyways asked how do I rectify this.
Just send us proof of address. I said I don't have any as I am just moving back to the country again ( I lived here till I was 30 and moved away for 5 yrs although I never officially left. I have voted several times over past few years here )
You don't have any utility bill? I said no, I live in my original homestead, but Electricity is Pay As you go, mobile is Pay as you go ..... So no utility bills. The lady could not understand this !!! Can you get a bill transferred over to your name? I said no, I don't own the house, I just live here as I have done for 30 years prior to this. I tried setting up a phone contract but .... you guessed it, they need a bank account with my name on it which is active, so the perfect catch 22 if ever there was one. And why should I have to do that. I have a passport, no drivers licence, nothing with proof of address. So basically I can't prove I am alive , and this will hinder me moving back to Ireland. I can't even go into the BOI branch with my Passport as they need proof of address and a letter from the Electoral register will not suffice. So I can vote for what happens to yer sorry a$$es in Ireland lol, but I cannot activate a bank account that I have $15,000 in and have had in my name for 20 years. What should I do before I lose interest in crossing the pond again?

Lux23

You used to be able to get some form filled out by the Guards, could you try that? I can't remember the name of of it right now.

phormium

An ML10 form, I don't know if the guards are doing them anymore and I think also there were some banks who stopped accepting them.

How is your account deemed dormant when there was a transaction only a few months ago?

Ask the bank to send you out a statement on the account if they will and that would then become address id. I used the same procedure lately to reactivate a PTSB account. But interestingly I dealt with two branches, the first branch send me off searching for address id in addition to the statement (which I couldn't find) so I went into another branch as I just happened to be in another town and they said the statement should have been sufficient for the first branch.

Don't believe everything you are told at a bank counter, look for the boss and see if you can get any joy.

Nervous Wreck

Assuming your account is still registered at the family home,a sk bank to issue statement/letter to confirm account is dormant. Bring letter to branch. Boom; there's your proof of address. Sounds stupid but they will accept.

Carawaystick

A Data protection request for a copy of data on the dormant account posted out to you will have the info too, costs 6.35

Trish56

OP - you mentioned that you made a lodgement to this account at Christmas and you have been away for only 5 years.

A Bank account is classified as a Dormant account if the account has had no customer-initiated transactions for 15 years so I think I would be contacting the manager of your branch and seeking an explanation.