Mine/sons bank account? who's is it legally?

huckleberryfin

Years ago I "gave" my son the full use of an old Portman building society book account, that I did not use anymore, I authorised his name on it so he could take money out, but it is in my name and address.
This was because he was having debt problems and was being pursued by an un official money lender, My son is grown up, unmarried, and does not live at my address, and I am unsure about his financial dealings and did not want to know at the time, as I said, this was years ago.
I wanted my sons wages protected, so he could always pay his rent and bills just incase these bad guys got hold of his current account, (not sure about what money lenders can or cant do) I did it as a motherly thing, and 8/9 years have passed without problem, and as my son has the book I do not get regular statements, and had not given it a second thought until 2 weeks ago,
WHY?

Two weeks ago I was called for an appointment out of the blue by a compliance officer at DWP wanting to check all details up to date, and so no problem, I attended as I was in receipt of Income Support because of incapacity Benefit,
I was not worried in the slightest, as I am not claiming fraudulently or anything, the Officer was very nice, but queried abount my bank account I had to show them statements for 6 months, they asked several times about was this my only account, and I said it was, as I had genuinely forgot about the old Portman book,
(by the way, where has Portman gone anyway?)
I signed a legal declaration that I only had the one bank account, and that was that.

Yesterday my son visited for supper, and we discussed the last few weeks activity,
I told him I had this meeting, and mentioned the officer repeating about was this my only bank account several times like a broken record,
My son then said casually, Dont forget the one I have had all these years! and he said he still has his wages paid in to it,

So basically I am frantic with worry, is it technically MY account, or my Sons account, Can I genuinely explain that the wages in it are definitely NOT MINE, surely this can be proven, if the DWP come back to me?
I am frightened of going to prison, can anyone give any advice.

jonesMUFCforever

If it is in your name then it is your account.

Presumably he has been able to get electronic credits into (and out of) the account because there is no checking of entries against account numbers.
This could get very messy for you!!

I would stop this arrangement straight away and get your son to open a basic account at any bank.

Personally I don't think they have made a connection yet but I would put a stop to this now.

huckleberryfin

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

If it is in your name then it is your account.

Presumably he has been able to get electronic credits into (and out of) the account because there is no checking of entries against account numbers.
This could get very messy for you!!

I would stop this arrangement straight away and get your son to open a basic account at any bank.

Personally I don't think they have made a connection yet but I would put a stop to this now.

Thanks for your reply,

Yes it is in my name and address, it is a basic book account and my son has his wages paid in to it, and takes book to the counter and takes cash out to pay his landlord and cash out for groceries.

You are right, I will tell him to make other arrangements, I am too worried about the consequences.

I just was unsure about the legal status as it was definitely his money for his sole use, especially as this had been the case for about 9 years.

I am more worried about if the DWP think I was working on the side for all these years and sending me to prison for fraud.

I will tell them 100% truth if they want another meeting, and hope they believe me, but there again, I might be driving myself senseless for nothing.

concerned43

The DWP do look at bank accounts by doing a full sweep of the banks to ensure there are no 'secret' bank accounts in your name. in this instance however it can be explained away as your son's wages will have a paper trail.
I would call up the DWP and tell them basically what you have told us. As long as it can be proved that you son is the only user then I do not see a problem with the DWP, however, I don't know what the bank will make of it!

EarthBoy

huckleberryfin wrote: »

(by the way, where has Portman gone anyway?)

Portman was taken over by the Nationwide several years ago. If the account had your address on it at the time, you would have had letters from them explaining this.

huckleberryfin

EarthBoy wrote: »

Portman was taken over by the Nationwide several years ago. If the account had your address on it at the time, you would have had letters from them explaining this.

I expect I did, but was ill at the time and my daughter sorted out letters...but thats nice to know anyway.

pmduk

The quicker you tell them about the mistake the better in my opinion. If they are already aware of the other account it may avoid problems in the future.