Frozen Account-access???

kiwichick

Hi All,

Firstly, sorry if this is the wrong forum, any BG's feel free to move the post if there is a better place for it.

Am after some advice if any of you can help? My neighbours husband of 5 years has still got a current acc in joint names with his ex wife (split 10 years ago), dont ask me why on earth they still have the acc, I havent asked them either.

Anyway, though its in both names the ex wifes name was frozen some years ago. They were told this would mean she would have no access to the acc and she has had nothing to do with it for the last 10 years anyway. So yesterday my neighbour finds out that his ex wife has closed the account and taken the money from it. Shes used it as a deposit on a holiday while it was meant for their rent which they now cannot pay.

Were Abbey right to have let this happen bearing in mind the "frozen" status she had??? Is there any way in which the bank is liable and will have to pay the money back??

Any help appreciated. We want to have them armed and ready for the manager when they get a meeting booked.

Al.

regularsaver1

By means of frozen i think Abbey were in the wrong, but if it was real then surely her name would have been fully removed???

johnmoney05

sue his ex-wife....

Bossyboots

She shouldn't have been able to close the account without both of them signing their agreement to do so. Accounts are normally totally frozen, I have never heard of just one party not having access. I think someone at abbey has told your neighbour the wrong thing and that she had access to the account all the time. Either that, or she has told abbey that they should not have frozen her out and they have reinstated her position. She was as entitled the money in the account as her ex, legally if not morally.

Your neighbour needs to find out from abbey firstly whether it is actually possible for them to block one person from a joint account and then, if so, how she has been able to access it and take money.

If they say it is not possible, then he needs to ask why he was told that is what had been done.

He then needs to ask on what authority they closed the account on the say so of only one account holder.

kiwichick

Thanks to all for your replies. I will definately ask her to speak to Abbey tomorrow to ask about one person being frozen. If she wont ring them then I will!!!

jonesMUFCforever

kiwichick wrote:

Thanks to all for your replies. I will definately ask her to speak to Abbey tomorrow to ask about one person being frozen. If she wont ring them then I will!!!

Don't waste the price of a call they won't speak to you.
Sorry to be blunt but it is none of your business.
If she wants to take this up with Abbey she will have to do it herself.

Bossyboots

ejones999 wrote:

Don't waste the price of a call they won't speak to you.
Sorry to be blunt but it is none of your business.
If she wants to take this up with Abbey she will have to do it herself.

She can authorise abbey to speak to him on her behalf.

He can also ask hypothetically whether it is possible to do this on an account, without discussing individual accounts.

regularsaver1

if it was a bank account then - one person can withdrawn funds without other person

Bossyboots

regularsaver1 wrote:

if it was a bank account then - one person can withdrawn funds without other person

The other party to the account appear to have been led to believe that the ex-wife's access to the account was frozen. I would be surprised if that were true but someone could have got hold of the wrong end of the stick.

liuhut

This really depends on the mandate that was set up on the account as to who can take money out - some are two to sign, some just one. It sounds like they have been misinformed as whats the point in 'freezing' some one - why not just take them off the account. Somewhere along the line someone has mixed up here

kit

I have just frozen the account i have with my ex husband as he wont give permission for my name to be removed. It cant be frozen to one person and not to the other tho.

I dont think an account can be closed with joint permission either.

I think he was foolish to carry on using an account that was in joint names with his ex. I have just opened a new one to use instead - not allowed a switch card tho