Help please re. Money taken from bank aco!!!!.

lisa.T_2

Cleosmum wrote: »

Has she checked with the ex that he didnt authorise it? As a joint account holder he could have given the bank details for them to take the payment...

She has had no contact with him since he left years ago - doesnt have contact details so cannot ask.

Cleosmum

lisa.T wrote: »

She has had no contact with him since he left years ago - doesnt have contact details so cannot ask.

The problem is, they could have contacted him, said that they knew there was £3000 in the account (as part of halifax Im sure they could find out), and asked him to pay, which he could have done as joint account holder. Does she think hes the sort of person that would have OK'd this knowing it wasnt his money?

My first step would be to find out where he is and ask if he authorised the payment, if he didnt then I would be reporting the missing money to the police as theft.

lisa.T_2

Thanks, she didn't think he was the sort of person - but then he did leave her for someone he met on the internet. The problem with finding out where he is, is thta he went to live in America so pretty hard to trace

rayday2

I would encourage her to speak to the national debtline they are really kind and know there stuff re law and finances.

GeorgeUK

I think Rayday has already nailed what has happened - just need to work out what can be done about it.

Halifax can take funds from an account without notice if a debt is owed to them by the account holder.
As Blair Oliver & scott are part of the Halifax group, they are basically Halifax and took the money owed to them from an account with funds in it.

She was given bad advice by the Halifax when told that it did not matter that the account was a joint account even though she was no longer with her partner. This is the point that will decide what can be done to rectify the situation as this is where the problem initially arose.

I suggest your friend talk to the bank about what has happened and why it has happened. They should take some responsability for what has happened. If they wanted to pay it into a Halifax account, why did they not just open a new account for her?

If they will not talk to her, she can put a formal complaint in writing to the bank. If this does not achieve anything, she may want to try taking it up with the OFT or Financial Ombudsman.

lisa.T_2

Hi all, Just wanted to let you all know that my friend wrote a letter of complaint and threatened the bank with the financial ombudsman after receiving advice from the National debtline.

The bank rang the other day, were very apologetic and have repaid the money plus the back dated interest:beer: Thank you all for taking the time to respond to my post.

rayday2

Glad to hear she got a result - hope she closes the account now banks need money at the moment!

Merlot

Excellent news. Get your friend to close the joint account or at least open a new account solely in her name.

Merlot.x.