Santander 'dormant' account

jojojez

I have several accounts with Abbey/Santander some of which are over 30 years old. I hold the passbooks to all but the cheque account.
In 1992 I left the UK to work in Italy for a few months, leaving behind two accounts with a total of about £2000, this was to be my safety net on returning to the UK.
However I then went to France for a seasonal job so never touched the accounts. Two others were transferred into a 'Not Ordinarily Resident' account, but the other two I left as the interest rate was higher.
In 2008 I tried accessing these accounts to be told that they no longer existed'.I contested this as I had never closed the accounts nor accessed them since leaving the UK. I took my case to the Financial Ombudsman and hoped that I would receive satisfaction.
However they upheld Santander's argument that I had used the monies from the dormant accounts to open the NOR account. This I was finally able to prove as I sent the used and closed accounts books.
Santander could find no information on my two accounts and decided that as they had changed to an automated system the passbooks were invalid and that I had closed the accounts. They offered no proof whatsoever to uphold their argument other than their incomplete records.
I should also add that concerning the cheque account, which I've had for over 30 years, my personal details were incorrect. At some point in the past someone within Abbey/Santander changed my dob to an incorrect date causing me severe problems.This took several months to rectify.
I now find myself in the situation of the Ombudsman upholding Santander's argument despite them having no proof whilst I have my passbooks and statements dating back over the years.
I no longer know where to turn as £2000 plus accrued interest is a lot of money to just turn my back on and forget.
Does anyone have any idea where I can take this?
Many thanks

Lith

show them proof you own these accounts

papers/documents sort codes and account number do a trace on this and dont give up i would simply not walk away from this knowing £2000+ is lost...

also try and contact or talk to the branch managers don't waste your time on the bank advisors. even tho these accounts are old and had £2000 Abby/santander should never of closed them... hmmm

(somehting isn't right)

jonesMUFCforever

If it has gone as far as the ombudsman then taking it further has to mean legal action - do you have the funds to do this?

Naf

Ombudsman wouldn't have upheld it with just Santander's word; would have required statements and your customer records to make a decision.
It is in the T&Cs that accounts unused for 6 years or more can be closed and a cheque posted to the registered address; I have known this to happen. Generally anything older than 6 years is only available on microfiche and there would be a charge to retrieve these records, I believe.

jonesMUFCforever

Naf wrote: »

Ombudsman wouldn't have upheld it with just Santander's word; would have required statements and your customer records to make a decision.
It is in the T&Cs that accounts unused for 6 years or more can be closed and a cheque posted to the registered address; I have known this to happen. Generally anything older than 6 years is only available on microfiche and there would be a charge to retrieve these records, I believe.

Sorry NAF but I have to disagree with you once more - no sane bank would send out a cheque to a registered address if gone dormant.
The account would either be held in a dormant state at the bank or swept to a head office account - I have never heard of them closing an account (without authority) in this way.

Is this in your training manual as well?

Naf

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Sorry NAF but I have to disagree with you once more - no sane bank would send out a cheque to a registered address if gone dormant.
The account would either be held in a dormant state at the bank or swept to a head office account - I have never heard of them closing an account (without authority) in this way.

Is this in your training manual as well?

I've had customers come in with accounts this had been done to. Rather the balance gradually dwindled with dormancy fees?

AbbeyDhabi

Naf wrote: »

Ombudsman wouldn't have upheld it with just Santander's word; would have required statements and your customer records to make a decision.
It is in the T&Cs that accounts unused for 6 years or more can be closed and a cheque posted to the registered address; I have known this to happen. Generally anything older than 6 years is only available on microfiche and there would be a charge to retrieve these records, I believe.

Perhaps you can point to the part of the terms and conditions which would allow this, or even, as you seem to be saying, making it routine.

That would be most helpful in clearing the matter up.

jojojez

I have shown proof to both Santander and the Ombudsman, I sent copies of all the passbooks, including those which were closed by myself. Santander claim that as their accounting system was changed the passbooks do not count as proof as I would have received annual statements from them concerning my accounts. This I pointed out to the Ombudsman was false as I had never received such statements concerning the other accounts, apart from my cheque account.
Santander also claimed that the accounts were closed by me, again this is false as had I closed them I would have kept the cancelled passbooks as I did with the other two. Also I was out of the country, and still am, and those monies were my safety net to be used on my return to the UK.
I never received any correspondence from Santander about these accounts, they never contacted me to close them either. At the time I also had an account with NatWest they decided that my account was dormant therefore they closed it and sent me a letter asking me to collect the balance from my local branch along with proof of ID. Nothing of the kind was done by Santander.
If I wish to take legal action what would be my best option as I am out of the UK so finding a lawyer is complicated....
Many thanks

Wallhart

The accounbt is likely sitting in dormant. I have recently close many old accounts dating back to 1982. The only problem I received was that they required identity checks.

alanq

New hope?

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-2235962/Santander-manages-lost-passbook-accounts.html

marathon_man_3

I was in a Santander branch, just last week, to open a deposit account as a new customer. I casually mentioned that I recall having about £7 in a very old Leicester Building Society passbook account many years ago but had long lost the passbook.
The guy in the branch said not to worry and he was able to search the records to discover that I opened the account some 30 years previously and the last transaction was some 28 years ago when I was living hundreds of miles away from where I live now. He said that it was dormant so he re-activated it and I was able to draw the money out, without a passbook being present, by signing a piece of paper as a receipt for the money.
I thought that was brilliant service from Santander.