Lloyds tsb

ashton02

my husband had a joint account with ex wife an never took his name off it when they separated! It has now defaulted an he knew nothing about this but his ex wife was over the overdraft by double a few times an had made attempts to pay it back but then charges and return of dds etc were added an it snowballed til it reached over £1k now the bank is coming after my husband for the money and we have 3 kids an only he has a part time job on low income! I have written to the bank several times an they obviously just want their money but we dont have it so im taking it to the ombudsman do you think i have a case to get the debt wiped off an default lifted? dont want to claim any money just want it gone from hanging over our heads an the default lifted from my husbands name

ashton02

must add we nothing about this till he applied for a mobile phone in august last year an it defaulted on feb 2010

ashton02

anybody have any advice?

dunstonh

so im taking it to the ombudsman do you think i have a case to get the debt wiped off an default lifted?

Always difficult to guess some complaint outcomes but on paper you shouldnt succeed. Your husband is jointly liable for any debt built up on that account. The bank has every right to come after him for payment as it is a debt HE has built up (he may not have actually spent the money himself but he allowed his ex to). That is how joint debts work in law.

Even if the bank agree to reduce some of the debt down (which is a possibility), there is no reason to wipe off the default because that is a factual event that has happened. It wasnt an error. If it was an error by the bank then it should be removed but it was error by your husband.

ashton02

we know he is liable but its the charges that went way over the overdraft limit that i want to know why this was allowed to happen and if theres a reason why although its states at the top of each statement 250.00 overdraft limit it was allowed to go over by double and ex wife was allowed to still draw money out this is what i am complaining about so do you think we have a good case?

MonkeyMad

Not particularly - OD limit isn't there to stop you accruing charges. It also doesn't necessarily stop you withdrawing money.

dunstonh

but its the charges that went way over the overdraft limit that i want to know why this was allowed to happen

It happened because he didnt clear the debt and didnt close the account when he should have. Having an overdraft facility does not stop interest and charges and when you go over the limit, you get hit with unauthorised fees.

and if theres a reason why although its states at the top of each statement 250.00 overdraft limit it was allowed to go over by double and ex wife was allowed to still draw money out this is what i am complaining about so do you think we have a good case?

no. You dont have a good case. Whilst an account may have an authorised limit, it does not prevent the account holder taking it over. For example, she may have had a cheque guarantee card of £100 and a cheque book of 30 cheques. So, she could draw £3000 without the bank being able to stop her. Or she could have used her debit card at places under the floor limit or had the checks made when there was a balance. Or, the bank may have had to make a quick decision on whether to pay an item or bounce it and chose to pay it as the account had a good history.

The bank is not there to control the spending habits of the account holders. When you have a joint account, that is the risk you take.

roonaldo

its a very weak case you have, like whats already been said, the debt is jointly his. im not sure what the ombudsman are going to do for you as the bank are not in the wrong.