£360 a year - Natwest won't freeze a/c in dispute

Yackm

Hi everyone,

I'll just set the scene...

So my girlfriend and her ex-husband split apart at the end of 2010. They had a joint account with Natwest, and the lovely fellow took the full overdraft £2,000 and disappeared.

She wrote a letter to the bank about 3 months ago asking them to freeze the account, or at the very least, freeze the account as soon as she paid off the debt, so that he wouldn't be able to do the same again (we have recently found out he is back in the UK, where, we do not know)

For 3 months, the bank did not contact her once, and we have had to go to the branch a half dozen times. We know it is in their complaints system, as it has bounced around every few days, the branch manager letting us see how many different people, departments the letter has gone around, each one passing the buck to someone else.

Today we went again, and Natwest basically said, nope sorry we can't do a thing, please set up a £30 quid a month standing order to pay off the monthly interest (after of course she paid off £500 in accrued charges on the account) and do so until you find the man and get him to close the account with you. Thus the £360 a year charge just to keep the account in £2000 overdraft.

It will cost at LEAST that much to hire an investigator, and on the banks advice, we went to see a solicitor. They said, there is basically no point, as you won't be able to guarantee finding him will do anything.

Now what I am !!!!ed about, excuse the French, is that Natwest will not even freeze the account or put a stop-operations marker on it EVEN IF we pay off the debt, put it to zero (and fix her credit rating) so that the ex cannot do exactly the same. By the way, they initially did put on a stop-operation market, but then removed it as it is a joint account. This is an account in dispute and the charter explicitly states, that accounts in dispute will be frozen.

Should I go to the financial ombudsman? We really cannot afford thousands of pounds in investigation fees to find him.

Thanks

p.s My girlfriend, is not comfortable writing about such issues, as English is not her native language, but I sincerely attest to the validity of the above

Yackm

And yeap, I told them that their own charter states they will freeze an account in dispute, I pointed this out to them, but they say "oh no, we need both parties to close the account"

Do you think going to a different branch would help?

thumshie

Sorry i deleted my post as i thought you hadn't got the initial 'account in dispute', so my point was mute.. not sure why they took that marker off?

I would go back and challenge that there is still a dispute between the two parties and it should be frozen as your concerned about possible actions on the account - though this doesn't 'freeze' charges??. As for the ultimate goal of closing the account - or conversion into a single name once debt cleared - i don't know.

Yackm

Its not so much that we are worried about the charges, is the fact that if we pay off the total overdraft, it is still open so the ex could do it again.

Instead we have to pay off £30 of interest a month, with no way to close the account, and her credit rating suffering. They took the marker off because it is a joint account and needs both parties (WHAT IS THE POINT THEN?????!!!!!) I'm so frustrated, i want to bloody scream.

Looks like the best way to go is just change bank accounts and disappear like her ex-husband. I mean, come on Natwest, use some common sense..we WANT to pay off the debt, ALL we want is to make sure that it is frozen afterwards so he can't do it AGAIN!

xylophone

Can the overdraft facility not be cancelled by the bank?
http://www.moneyexpertise.co.uk/how-can-i-close-our-joint-account.html
might be of interest.

innovate

Definitely a case for the FOS if your girlfriend's complaint has been unresolved for at least 8 weeks. Good luck!

antrobus

Yackm wrote: »

....Should I go to the financial ombudsman? ...

Yes, is the answer I believe.

The FOS has this to say on the matter of 'disputed transactions where joint account holders do not agree' :-
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/disputed-transactions.htm#9

The overall FOS attitude seems to be 'it depends', but it does seem to suggest that they would expect the bank to actually do something when they have been advised of the dispute.

madgagoo

Yackm wrote: »

Do you think going to a different branch would help?

Yes, I would try another branch. The t&c of the account say that Natwest can (and generally do) stop the account when they are informed of a dispute. Certainly in my area, if one party comes in and informs us that they are splitting up, we'll put a stop on the account.

When the stop is put on then you can only pay in over the counter and this will need authorising by a manager each time, faster payments in will be rejected. The account will not be unfrozen until both parties sign. This would also mean once the overdraft was repaid then your girlfriend would not be able to close the account without the ex's signature.

If you leave the account unfrozen then your girlfriend will be able to close it once the overdraft is repaid, without her ex partner signing. Obviously this would leave the risk that he could withdraw funds from it in the meantime though. She could reduce the overdraft each time a payment was made in to reduce this risk - however she would be credit scored each time, which could reduce the chances of obtaining credit elsewhere (this may not be a problem, I don't know the full situation).

Feel free to PM me if you want any more info.

Agricolae

I'm not sure what the full story is here but it looks like someone at NatWest has made mistakes. The bank's policy is, as far as I know, to freeze an account immediately if one of the parties advises of a marital dispute. I do not know why they would have unfrozen it. Also, there are circumstances where only one signatory needs to sign in order to close a joint account.

There are several departments of the bank who would need to be consulted given that the issue has become more complex:
1. Mandates/Customer Records
2. Lending
3. Collections

This may be why the complaint keeps being passed around. Even so, that is not excusable.

If you have received a letter stating your Financial Ombudsman Referral rights then you are free to go to them for their independent adjudication.

However, it may be advisable to try getting Group Customer Relations on the case. Have you heard of executive complaints?

pmduk

Agricolae wrote: »

If you have received a letter stating your Financial Ombudsman Referral rights then you are free to go to them for their independent adjudication.

Remember you can also refer the matter to the Ombudsman should the complaint bounce around Natwest for 8 weeks without resolution.

stclair

Yackm wrote: »

And yeap, I told them that their own charter states they will freeze an account in dispute, I pointed this out to them, but they say "oh no, we need both parties to close the account"

Do you think going to a different branch would help?

Which number of the charter is that out of interest.

You need to get on the blower and call 023 8022 6443 press option 2 then option 4.

Advise them of the circumstances and they will be able to put a "No Operations Marker" on the account. It also might be worth while arranging for any credits into the account to go elsewhere.