Barkley Bank account closed- without reason

r.zandi

Hi everyone
Help desperately needed, would appreciate any comments
Ok here is the situation, I received a letter from Barkley few weeks ago asking for all of my personal details from passport number to date of birth and copy of the passport. Because the letter looked very dodgy I didn't respond to them, instead I called the bank and they told me they didn't send this letter. Couple of weeks after that I received another letter again asking for my details but this time threatening me that if I don't send them the details, they will close my bank account. So I called the bank again and they said they have not sent such a letter. It was till last week that I received another letter from Barkley asking me to close my bank account within a month. I called the bank and this time they said yes, we have sent a letter and we do not have to give you any reasons for closing your bank account, so have to close your account. I asked them again about those two previous letters but they said they didn't send them. Cause I was really upset I decided to close my account anyway not to bother to argue with them. So I started to transfer my money to a different bank but today I found out that they have closed my account and blocked my money! I received a call today from the bank that I can not access my money and since it is confidential they can not discuss these matters on the phone and I have to send them a letter and explain the situation. By the way if it is worth mentioning the sort code on those initial letters was wrong but the account number and everything else was right.
Sorry if it is too long but I tried to explain the situation as clear as possible.
I would appreciate any help from anyone, to be honest I'm an engineer and I do not know anything regarding banking and my rights. Any help is appreciated extremely.
Thanks everyone.

jonesMUFCforever

Are we talking about a recently open account here?
They may have not completed their ID &V checks when you opened the account.
By simply ignoring the first 2 letters you placed yourself in the position whereby they issued a closure notice.

It's not clear whether you closed the ACCOUNT within the one month timescale but if they have closed the account they would have sent you a cheque surely?

r.zandi

Thanks for the reply. I've had the account for 6 years. As for the account I wanted to close the account so I transfered some of the money one week after notice to a different account (cause of direct debits and stuff) I wanted to transfer the rest of the money when I found out today that bank has taken all of my money from my account and the account balance is zero. I called them and they told me the money is blocked but we can not tell you the reason till you write to us which is exactley what I'm doing. I haven't received any cheques of what so ever. I checked the online bank statement and the money is gone as miscellaneous costs by Barkley's.
thanks again for the help. I'll go to my bank branch on monday to see what's happening. I'll keep you update. Meanwhile any suggestions is appreciated.

jonesMUFCforever

Have you used this account at all - could it have gone dormant?

dunstonh

Certainly sounds like a dormant account and that would explain the request for ID. It may also explain why the letter didnt show up. It may also explain the sort code difference as a number of branches have merged and become sub branches of a larger branch.

jamesd

Were direct debits or standing orders coming out of this account and money going in, at least once in the last few years?

Refusing to discuss the reasons suggests money laundering or fraud issues and if they suspect money laundering it's a crime to say so. That wouldn't explain why they denied sending the letters but it's possible that one part didn't know what the other part was doing.

Some banks have voluntarily been ID checks of existing customers. It's possible that if one part didn't know what the other part was doing they interpreted your following their advice that they didn't send the letters as an inability to provide the information and concluded money laundering.

It may be of use to take your passport and other id they have requested (something else to prove your address, like a council tax bill in your name) to the branch and show it to them so that they clearly know that you are who you say you are and can communicate this internally. Unlike the postal case you can be sure it really is the bank you're providing it to this way.

Barclays seem to have screwed up so losing your business does appear to be the correct result, just as it was for me leaving Britannia after they acquired my Bristol and West account and screwed up what I assume was a voluntary (on their part, not mine) ID check.

r.zandi

Thanks everyone for the responses. I went to a barkley branch and asked them about my situation. It seems that the two first letters are for real but they forgot to record them, so no one except the person who sent them knew about them!! It seems that its more like what james says, since I have been using my account on everyday basis. I don't know, it all seems a bit crazy! I sent the letters to Barkley yesterday so I gotta wait for the responses. Even if they tell me it has been a mistake I'll anyway close my account

dunstonh

I have to say it. It is Barclays Bank. Not Barkley.

jonesMUFCforever

r.zandi wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the responses. I went to a barkley branch and asked them about my situation. It seems that the two first letters are for real but they forgot to record them, so no one except the person who sent them knew about them!! It seems that its more like what james says, since I have been using my account on everyday basis. I don't know, it all seems a bit crazy! I sent the letters to Barkley yesterday so I gotta wait for the responses. Even if they tell me it has been a mistake I'll anyway close my account

Yeah you do that BUT just remember if you open a new account at another bank they will require to see the information that Barclays have requested now!