HBOS ARE A DISGRACE. Please read this item, as we all can learn from the experience.

JoeBloggs001

Thankfully the business is with HSBC.

The current accounts are with HBOS. Just not been wise with the selection of my personal account :-)

I am going to move the personal account to HSBC simply because that bank will know where our money is coming from.

DesG

JoeBloggs001 wrote: »

I am going to move the personal account to HSBC simply because that bank will know where our money is coming from.

First Direct are owned by HSBC so that shouldn't be an issue!

Cheers, Des.

lesley1960

I have often transferred large sums of money from business accounts to private accounts and had no problems .But Barclays once froze a business account with no warning because we had made what they thought was a lot of transactions..........yes very odd for a business to pay their suppliers !!

withnell

Disadvantage with having all eggs in HSBC will be if they pull a similar trick - then you have Zero access to any cash!

hippey

JoeBloggs001 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies; without them I would have made a fool of myself today at the local HBOS branch but instead I kept my control.

I got it wrong in my first post. I mentioned I'd spoken with the Branch Manager. I am not sure why I had assumed that. Today, I did get to meet the Branch Manager. I just want to make sure that give exact details as 1) HBOS are not here to defend for themselves and 2) if this does end up in court, I don't want to weaken our position by them using this post to come at us :-)

It appears there are specific transactions that the HBOS want to see the source of. These transactions ( 2 of them ) date back approx 10 days ago.
We went to our business bank today and got a print out of all business transactions for the last 2 weeks. This list of transactions includes the 2 "suspicious" transactions but also shows all the other transactions that go with business: paying creditors, paying for office space, paying for liability insurance, invoices being paid by those that owe us money. The 2 suspicious transactions are the monthly pay transactions ( my pay and my other halves pay ).

The Branch Manager mentioned that the Bank was aiming to turn around the investigation within 48 hours. So we are going to hold them to that but we have seen on other forums that it can take as long as it takes.

Our general impression is the HBOS just don't do their homework though. We have provided them with compenhensive information now and still the account remains locked.

I was able to take money out of our business account, so the mad panic is over but admittedly, I am going to need access to some of the money in the HBOS account as we get closer to the end of the month. So I am going to keep the pressure on HBOS.

I really hope this doesn't happen to legit others out there because it's anything but pleasant.

Worth noting that HBOS did not treat us like criminals today. I think they are beginning to come to their senses :-)

Like anything in life, some people make a meal of things and I have often seen all sorts of bank staff react in strange ways when accounts are flagged 'suspect fraud'

The law clearly states that banks (and others) must know the source of funds entering and leaving accounts, if you don't provide this then I suspect your account will be closed.

It could be your spending and earning habits just don't follow the 'norm' but I would seriously consider moving your account elsewhere, as if this is how you are dealt with now, imagine if it was much more serious!

JoeBloggs001

Going to email the Retail Banking Director of Lloyds TSB this evening. Someone kindl provided an email detail.

Totally agree, highest priority now to get new accounts set up with 2 banks so as to play it safe. Also going to make sure I have funds in more than 1 place in future.

Lesley1960 - Business account locked! I would be in absolute despair if that happened to us. How long did it take Barclay's to sort themselves out?

Phatmouse

jamespir wrote: »

i have some discrepansies with your psot ok
1) you withdrew 300 pounds last saturday you cnat buy two weeks worth of food and nappies . when all i get is after essentaill bills about 150£ to do the same thing dont make me laugh

2)you say you have combined salaries of 200k a year thats roughly 20k a month what jobs have you got to earn that much and youre complainong thats the halifax didnt let you spend 650 quid again what utter rubbish

3) you state you with drew a further £350 pounds in the last week why did you not buy nappies and stuff for the child then surley that would be the most sensible thing to do ..... and now your gonna bring another child into the world and youre gonna be in the same situation
my advice is go back to whatever little cloud you came off and start talking some sense

How rude, unecessary, unhelpfull and frankly none of your business.

If they want to withdraw their money to spend on a boat load on bananas they can, you may have to survive on £150 a fortnight, I also do, but they do not, good for them.

OP - Glad you got it sorted to some degree.

lesley1960

withnell wrote: »

Disadvantage with having all eggs in HSBC will be if they pull a similar trick - then you have Zero access to any cash!

I agree ,we have 2 business accounts with different banks ,and a personal account elsewhere and it has at times paid off ,especially with the limits on daily transactions with some banks

Snooze

This Money Laundering bollox is frankly just that - a load of bollox. What people fail to realise is that the banks don't actually give a toss where the money is coming from or going to, it's the HMRC that wants the info to stop people being paid cash in hand and avoiding tax... And if you believe otherwise then I'm afraid you're deluded.

In my experience of moving largish (£5k+) amounts of money around through personal accounts, they tend to leave you alone when you are withdrawing it, but of course in order to withdraw it you have to deposit it and that's usually where the problems start. If the money hasn't come from somewhere 'normal' like a salary, savings account, insurance payout, credit card transfer (Egg/MBNA) etc, and is over £5k then expect some problems further down the line when you come to move it, spend it or withdraw it - even more so if it was a cash deposit, personal account cheque deposit or a BACS transfer from another account.

It really has gone beyond a joke now because legit people such as the OP and myself are getting caught up in the "catch-all" system through no fault of our own and have to endure the hassle that comes with it. Personally, I don't think the OPs problems with be over by moving elsewhere. The ML regs apply to all banks and I can tell you that my brother has fairly recently had major problems with HSBC over the exact same thing and he has both his business and personal accounts with them. :mad:

My advice to you on moving the money would be to make it in smaller amounts and spread them out a bit. Although I've no evidence to back-up that the ML "sniff" level is £5k (I actually thought it was £10k ), £5k seems to be the 'trigger' where the Q&A session starts, so keep the transfer amounts under this and see how it goes. Personally speaking I've not had any further issues since keeping all my transfers under this amount and I've also been with my bank for decades.

As that HSBC employee seems to be reading this thread I would be interested for his/her input on what the official line is for personal account money transfers and what stuff and limit raises the flags, if only for future 'hassle' prevention. Feel free to PM if you'd rather not say in public.

Rob

1984ReturnsForReal_2

jamespir wrote: »

i have some discrepansies with your psot ok
2)you say you have combined salaries of 200k a year thats roughly 20k a month what jobs have you got to earn that much and youre complainong thats the halifax didnt let you spend 650 quid again what utter rubbish

After tax its not anywhere near £20k.