moving direct debit payments

wazza

i have two bank accounts with halifax. one solely in my name and the other as joint account. all direct debit/standing order etc is on the joint account. wife left me last year. i have all the bank cards for the joint account and she has reassured me she wont touch a penny in the account. i cant seem to get her to sign a form which removes her name from the account. i have considered moving direct debit etc to my own account. is it straight forward and hassle free by calling each company up and telling them of the change or will there be trouble in sorting it out.

derbylady

trust me i was in the same position as u, he never has touched anything, but he as opened another account with the same branch and he got into a mess and they took money out of my account(the joint 1) to repay his own (account in just his name) i lost over £50 and being a single mum on benefits i rang the bank in tears but there was nothing they could do, trust me close it down or cancel everything then put a hold on it cause they wont let u close it unless u both agree.

Bossyboots

Agree with derbylady, you need a stop put on the joint account immediately. Why don't you ask Halifax if they will transfer the direct debits for you. They do that for new accounts but I don't know if they will on an existing one.

Why can you not get your wife to sign the form? From the way you word it seems that she won't sign. Does that not ring alarm bells? Aside from her being able to take money, as derbylady pointed out Halifax will take money from the account if she goes into the red on another account with them.

JanCee

I will just echo what others have already told you. Instruct the Halifax to transfer all D/Ds and S/Os over to your sole account, transfer the balance leaving your joint account with a nil balance and then tell the Halifax to freeze the account.

You should do this as soon as you possibly can as they may well want something in writing. Better to be safe than sorry.

wazza

thanks for the replires. i had already asked halifax to transfer the DD details to my sole account but their reply was only the companies can change the direct debit details. will pressurise my ex to sign documents. there is about 7 companies that are paid by DD.

Caped_Avenger

Halifax's reply is either a pack of lies, or they're useless. Where i work, it's an absolute piece of cake to change the account from which a DD debits.

And don't trust anyone. If any debt whatsoever is run up against that joint account, you are liable for half, irrespective of who has done the spending. If you're even slightly worried your joint partner will abuse the account, get a freeze on it, post haste!

Bossyboots

Caped_Avenger wrote:

Halifax's reply is either a pack of lies, or they're useless. Where i work, it's an absolute piece of cake to change the account from which a DD debits.

And don't trust anyone. If any debt whatsoever is run up against that joint account, you are liable for half, irrespective of who has done the spending. If you're even slightly worried your joint partner will abuse the account, get a freeze on it, post haste!

He is actually responsible for it all on a joint account. Halifax could choose to simply clear it by transferring money from the other account.