How to close bank account without additional cardholders permission?

pauli

Hello,
This is a bit complex and I don't quite fully understand it myself but:

My boyfriends ex-girlfriend received money from her ex-husband for her share of the house when they divorced, but instead of paying it back to Lloyds who they had the mortgage with she spent it and lost the house.

She was still liable for £30,000+ though and Lloyds agreed to accept about £40 a month by standing order. She was unable to get a bank account so my boyfriend added her on to his account as an additional cardholder (not joint account) and signed paperwork with Lloyds agreeing for her to use his bank account to pay the standing order, so he is now (through this account) associated with this debt.

since they split two years ago she has since got an account elsewhere and is paying the debt herself, but she refuses to sign the paperwork so that Abbey bank can remove her as an additional cardholder - meaning that he is still financially linked to her and also meaning that if she ever stopped paying Lloyds they could go back to his account and start taking it from there again.

He also has been told he can't even close the account down without her signature (apparently it's to do with her owing th emoney to another bank) even though it's his account.

Apparently the only way it can be closed is if he doesn't use the account for 12 months then the bank will close it anyway.

we want to move in together but I don't wish to get embroiled in all this and it also means he can't even get a tenancy anywhere without his mum being guarantor etc

I have got him a form for a Halifax Easycash account which don't appear to do credit checks on people, so hopefully he'll get accepted for it, and can then make a start on not using his Abbey account for a year but we don't really want to wait that long - is there anything he can do? (He's been in to the bank and the CAB but they say nothing can be done until she either signs the forms or it's not used for a year)

Sorry such a long post.

**Amy**

HIya

If the CAB are saying thats the only way, then it probably is, unfortunately.

Has he tried contacting National Debtline? They may be able to offer some more advice? http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/

It sounds like he needs to change bank accounts ASAP though.

Sorry i couldnt be more help.

x

Jacobs_Bunny

Hi Pauli,

I had a similar problem with an ex-friend, when I bought a house with them and unfortunately the only legal way is to threaten court action via a solicitor and if required to take them to court to get a ruling made.

Luckily for me the threat was enough to get them to agree.

Good luck,
JB x

CLAPTON

somewhat strange... I've never heard of an additional card holder on a current account... joint account of course but additional card holder .. maybe that special to Abbey?

Also I can't see why any paperwork would need to be signed authorising her to pay a standing order... surely he would simply set up a standing order in the normal way with Abbey....why would Lloyds care who pays aslong as someone is.

And the argument that Abbey won't close it becasue of a debt to another bank seems nonsense too... surely the standing order has been stopped now anyway.

And I can't see what waiting a year will achieve either..


Are you absolutely sure this isn't simply a joint account... what names are on the monthly statement?

pauli

Hi Clapton,
Yes I agree with everything you are saying and this is where it all gets confusing, I said he must be mistaken and that he'd signed her up as a joint account person but the statements are solely in his name and she does simply had a cashcard, which is why i don't understand how she has so much control over what he can and can't do with his account. he took the card off her when he left and she's never used the account since.

The way he's explained it is, that he made an agreement with Lloyds that they could use his account to take the monthly payments for her debt; which is why if she now stopped paying it, they could take the funds from his account instead. (Which is probably why she's refusing to take her name off)

He's been trying to get this sorted for 2 years and seems to got advice from all the right places, I just thought there might be something else that could be done, unfortunately I think the only way is to get him this Halifax account, so he can stop using the Abbey one then in 12 months time they will close it anyway due to lack of activity.

Thanks for taking the time to look at my post, I'm just so frustrated, we ended up falling out over it last night, i wouldn't mind so much if it was his own debt, but it's not, he was just stupid enough to get involved with it, thinking at the time he was doing a good thing and not realising what an impact it would have on himself in the years to come! :mad:

RAS

Which bank is he with? He should be able to cancel a standing order without her consent and then the issue of Lloyds is no longer relevant. Or was a DD?

Alternatively has BF tried the Financial Ombudsman?

pauli

Hi Ras,
he's with Abbey. Unfortunately he can't cancel the SO/DD (not sure which it is) as he's signed something with Lloyds meaning they can take money out of his account whenever they want if it hasn't been paid, that's what the whole problem is really. The onyl way he can get out of it is if that account doesn't exist anymore or her names took off.

Didn't think of the Ombudsman - will try that!

Thanks very much

RAS

pauli

If he signed something with Lloyds, then it is a direct debit not a SO. The SO would have been signed with Abbey.

The problem for Abbey seems to be that he authorised Lloyds to collect money and this is still valid.

Based on what you are saying, Lloyds are not collecting the money from this account, so somehow he needs to get hold of Lloyds and get something that convinces Abbey that there is no chance of Lloyds trying to collect money after the account is closed.

I would be inclined to suggest a formal complaint to Abbey, reminding them that Lloyds have not taken any money for X period of time and asking what exactly Abbey need as evidence that they will not take money in the future.

pauli

Thanks Ras, that's good advice, will see if he can get hold of Lloyds and approach it from that angle and in the meantime do a complaint letter to Abbey. Fingers crossed!

Jinos

Hi Pauli,

You said your boyfriend had 'signed paperwork with Lloyds agreeing for her to use his bank account to pay the standing order'. Is he sure he didn't actually sign something to say he was acting as a guarantor? Seems bizarre otherwsie that he can't close a standing order from his own account... good luck!
J