Halifax took all my savings!! £600's worth of money!

amandathepanda

Technically the account was your mothers. It would be opened in her name "re" you, you would not have been able to make any withdrawals. In the bank's eyes the money was hers, even though it doesn't seem right.

Moonbeam

I think although the account is opened in trust, because your mother was the responsible adult (in the eyes of the bank) the funds were classed as hers too...You would have been under 16 at the time they took the funds. It is normal practice to take funds out of existing accounts if there is a non-payment of an account or it gets into arrears - most common example I've seen of this is with credit cards....

So I'm not sure the bank have done anything wrong...although I agree the principle should be that the money was in fact yours. Have you spoken to your mother about this - as the original debt that the bank have repaid must have been hers..... technically it is your mum that owes you the money!

Dumyat

I think the title of the account says it all. "young savers" I think you would have a very good case. It may have been in your mother's name but it wasnt "her" account. I would speak with the bank...better still put it in writing.
I think if she had taken the money that would have been different - but the bank did so that is a different scenario.

edit if it was christmas and birthday money you would be able to show by the dates the money was deposited that this was your money not her's

helen_caslass

it sounds similar to an account i had when i was younger, my mum signed for everything that was withdrawn until i was about 14 when we had to go into the bank to change the signatures over all they did was take off mum's and put on mine.

Generali

It is true that whether the Halifax have rights over the money depends on the exact structure of the account.

However, if your mother was a trustee on the account they definitely have no rights to it. That her name was 'on' the account has absolutely no bearing on anything.

If you can show that the money in there was yours (for example, cheques paid in were in your name not your mother's) then that strengthens your case. Don't let them fob you off and don't let people on this site put you off when they answer your query having no clue what they are talking about.

If you want some help with this then feel free to PM me and I can give you my contact details. It annoys me when banks pull this sort of sht to vulnerable customers and think they can just stonewall or bully them into giving up their rights.

wyebird

Generali wrote:

It is true that whether the Halifax have rights over the money depends on the exact structure of the account.

However, if your mother was a trustee on the account they definitely have no rights to it. That her name was 'on' the account has absolutely no bearing on anything.

If you can show that the money in there was yours (for example, cheques paid in were in your name not your mother's) then that strengthens your case. Don't let them fob you off and don't let people on this site put you off when they answer your query having no clue what they are talking about.

If you want some help with this then feel free to PM me and I can give you my contact details. It annoys me when banks pull this sort of sht to vulnerable customers and think they can just stonewall or bully them into giving up their rights.

Yes, I would agree with this. When I worked for Halifax, a few years ago granted, there was always a distinction between trustee and in re accounts. In re accounts were technically "owned" by the adult whereas with trustee accounts the money is held in trust, and is therefore not the property of the adult. I don't know how you will go about getting the money transferred to your name though before you are 18?

Generali

wyebird wrote:

Yes, I would agree with this. When I worked for Halifax, a few years ago granted, there was always a distinction between trustee and in re accounts. In re accounts were technically "owned" by the adult whereas with trustee accounts the money is held in trust, and is therefore not the property of the adult. I don't know how you will go about getting the money transferred to your name though before you are 18?

It depends on the terms that the trust have been set up under. It may well be that you can't access the cash until you're a certain age but that doesn't make the money the Halifax's!

regularsaver1

the child can not access this money at all without the parents sig

System

i would certainly approach the bank, and with your brother (get him to attach a letter with yours)

Indicate that you don't see what basis they have to take YOUR money in payment for your mothers debt. As I understand it, a trustee manages the account on your behalf, but doesn't own the contents.

What they have done is offset her debt with your money. Advise them that you consider this to be unfair.

There was a decision by the financial ombudsman which found against a bank where they took money out of someones account to pay someone else's debt.

PBA

Money in a trustee account is owned by the beneficiary (the child), but the account is set up and operated by the trustee. This is usually because the child is too young when the account is opened to set it up themselves.

As the money belongs to the child, the bank cannot normally access it to pay off debts belonging to the trustee. However there are exceptions to this. If the bank believes the trustee was actually putting their own money in the account, either to avoid tax or to intentionally avoid paying back debt, then they can take the money. Also, and I know this sounds a bit harsh, but if the trustee was saving for the child the bank can take the money, as the trustee shouldn't have been saving while he had debts to pay. However if the money was christmas and birthday money given to the trustee by other people, then the money definitely belongs to the trustee and the bank cannot take it.

I would ask the bank for a copy of their terms & conditions relating to trustee accounts. This should tell you the exact circumstances in which they could seize funds from trustee accounts. If it turns out they have broken their own rules then you have a good case for getting the money refunded from them.