Some autism families say they were "locked out" of their bank accounts after depositing Ontario Autism Program funding cheques — an experience they said was "demoralizing" and made more difficult by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
These families are calling on the provincial government to reach out to banks to notify them of the $5,000 or $20,000 cheques that families across the province are receiving through the OAP. And one bank is encouraging the use of direct deposit instead of cheques, where possible.
Ashley Hobbs, who has a five-year-old son with autism, said she took the $20,000 "childhood budget" cheque she received in the mail to a teller at a Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) branch on May 23.
"She didn’t recognize it as a government cheque," said Hobbs, who lives in Simcoe in Norfolk County and said she explained to the teller what the money was for. The cheque was deposited into her savings account and Hobbs returned home.
When she tried to sign in to her online banking system two days later, Hobbs said she was "completely locked out."
"I wasn’t just locked out of the account that I put the cheque in, I was locked out of all my accounts, I didn’t have access to any of my money," she said.
"I called them and they said, 'Well we’ve flagged it for suspicious activity and we need you to go into the branch,'" Hobbs said, adding that this was understandable given that she doesn't typically deposit $20,ooo cheques.
She spent a couple hours at the branch, but the issue wasn't resolved by the time the bank closed so she returned the following day. The same thing happened and so she went back to the branch on the third day, which is when the bank was able to restore access to her accounts.
Hobbs said the cheque "just didn’t look like a government cheque."
"It looked fake, so I’m not even surprised and I probably would have put a hold on it, and that would have been perfectly fine, but freezing all of my bank accounts and accusing me of counterfeiting was not what I was expecting."
"It was a huge ordeal," said Hobbs. "I can’t take my kids out, so then it’s like I would have to have someone watch them and I wasn’t expecting to be at the bank for hours."
Another issue for Hobbs was just having to go into a bank so many times during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hobbs usually does her banking online and since the spread of the novel coronavirus through Ontario, has tried to reduce her outings — limiting grocery shopping to every two weeks, for example.
"The (other) part that kind of bothered me is being accused of counterfeiting, it’s not a good feeling, like when you know this is legit, you’re not in the wrong here...no one really wants to be accused of something like that," she said.
In response to Hobbs' experience, RBC said "we apologize for the delay she experienced while we verified her funds, and for requiring her to come to the branch to resolve the matter."
"We understand that this has been a difficult situation for our clients and we appreciate how important these funds are to them," wrote Edith Galinaitis, director of communications for RBC's personal and commercial banking division, in a June 1 email to QP Briefing.
She said the bank might place a temporary hold on deposited cheques so that they can verify the source of the funds. This, Galinaitis said, is to protect clients from fraud and because "cheques are more prone to fraud than direct deposits."
"While the funds are being verified, clients do have access to their accounts and other funds, unless there is unusual or unauthorized activity suspected, in which case we may take further action to protect their accounts from potential fraud by putting a temporary hold on their account," she continued. "Where possible, we actively encourage clients to select direct deposit of funds to avoid holds and provide faster access to funds."
Galinaitis did not indicate whether the provincial government had reached out to the bank about the experiences of some families or to inform the bank about the funding that was being provided through the OAP. TD Canada Trust and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce did not respond to questions before publication about their processes or whether the province has reached out to them regarding the OAP.
Genevieve Oger, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, said the ministry is "aware that a small number of clients have expressed concerns about how banks are treating the cheques received as part of the Ontario Autism Program and has looked into the matter."
"The ministry is reviewing all reported incidents on a case-by-case basis and is working directly with impacted families and financial institutions to find a resolution as quickly as possible," said Oger, adding that the the ministry "has not changed the cheques families receive as part of the Ontario Autism Program" and pointing to bank policies instead.
"The issue is not related to the program, but to bank procedures implemented as a preventative measure," she said, adding that families experiencing difficulties should contact the OAP's central intake and registration team.
Lily, who has two children with autism and asked QP Briefing not to publish her last name because of fear of repercussions, said the "bank itself made some remarks about the cheque...the paper’s quite thin."
Also, the word "Road" on the cheque she received for one of her children was missing the letter 'd,' she said.
"So again (it) looks suspicious for a $5,000 government cheque," she said. "I don’t question the bank going 'hmm,' I question that the bank locked down every single account in my name," Lily added.
Lily said she deposited the cheque using a mobile banking app last week, but when she tried to log into her accounts a few hours later, she was "locked out" and was told to go into a branch.
"You can’t lock me out during a pandemic of my own checking account while you figure out if this government cheque is valid."
"Just the prospect of going to the bank on a normal day, non-COVID, is a nightmare, which we don’t do, but we had to drive to three different branches because they all had line ups of 15 people outside," said Lily, adding that this was necessary because she had to bring both her children with her — one of whom needed to be in a wheelchair. She also noted that while in the bank, she had to try to make sure her other child would "not wander around the bank and lick everything and...keep your mask on."
"I’ve managed to keep my children out of social environments for three months, but I’m forced to stand in a bank for four hours?" Lily said, adding that while there was still a hold on the cheque when she left the branch, she was able to view her accounts online again.
She called her experience "excruciating, demoralizing and embarrassing and stressful."
It was "very demoralizing as a parent of small children to have other bank people come through the bank hearing me defend this cheque as if I’m some kind of fraudster in front of my children," she said.
Hobbs said it would be helpful if there was some information or a letter accompanying the cheques that families could show to their bank branch managers. She said she contacted the ministry — which told her the bank could call them to confirm the validity of the cheque — to let them know that this was happening, even though she had resolved the issue on her end.
Hobbs said she would also like the government to reach out to banks, "letting them know that these are coming and these are what they look like, they’re not counterfeit."
Lily called for the same.
"It would take the minister all of, what, 15 minutes to shoot off five emails to the major banks explaining what the cheque looks like and that families will be depositing this, and if there’s any concern please call this 1-800 number," she said.
Lily said she's concerned about other parents who might be put in the same position.
"As uncomfortable as I was, as close to a panic attack as I was, I have a lot of resources available to me to figure this out, five years ago I might not have with younger children and with less experience," said Lily, also pointing to her ability to drive and access a wheelchair.
"I am very privileged in this situation to be able to manage what just happened," she said. "At this point I’m worried about the next mom...with the next influx of cheques that come out."
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