Legal Advice Needed Bank Account Blocked

grumbler

Well, even in this case there would be no reason for arrogantly blocking the account for indefinite time and refusing to give any explanation.

maas

Most likely the wide ranging ML triggers have kicked in.

Large deposits from paypal or abroad etc and then the computer blocks the account and you have to sit and wait until someone in the fraud team gets around to looking at you account. In the meantime no one can tell you anything.

BMN

If it's got to the point where access to your account has been blocked then the bank has probably already done it's own investigations and has reported the suspect transaction(s) to the NCA.

There's nothing arrogant about this, they're just fulfilling their legal obligations and are awaiting consent from the NCA.

OP, chances are that everything will be back to normal in 7 working days from when your access was first blocked.

grumbler

BMN wrote: »

If it's got to the point where access to your account has been blocked then the bank has probably already done it's own investigations and has reported the suspect transaction(s) to the NCA.

There's nothing arrogant about this, they're just fulfilling their legal obligations and are awaiting consent from the NCA.

Well, if you refer to my post, then in this thread I used the word 'arrogantly' for the suggested scenario when the personal account was used for business. In this case there is no anything to report to NCA and no reasons for waiting for any concent.

OP, chances are that everything will be back to normal in 7 working days from when your access was first blocked.

Where do these '7 days' come from?

maas

7 days is the SOCA response time

grumbler

Any time limit for the bank to submit their 'findings' to the SOCA after blocking the account?

ross14

Thanks for the comments.

It is a business bank account which i have had for over 18 months without any problems before this matter. Has now been nearly 2 weeks with no word from the bank at all as to what is happening.

Zkr65

If a personal account is used for business purpose against the T&Cs of an account a 'No withdrawal' flag is instantly put on to prevent further breach, then something in writing is issued (SLA for this varies between provider)

If they are refusing to give you information, then this would usually indicate a fraud or Money Laundering investigation as in essence when you call up and access the account it will be stamped all over saying " Fraud investigation, do not give any details to customer -refer to fraud dept" so that you don't.. jump ship..

Other common 'no withdrawal' indications on a account are if post has been returned (An Address No Trace block) but that would be relatively easy to see.. or if details on name etc don't match..

Third party factors can also come into play, HMRC and court orders can freeze accounts.. common with tax disputes and the latter is common in messy divorce proceedings..

Also (less common) if it is a joint account, the other account holder can manually request a freeze.

Other that "system/IT" problems or debt collection, they are the only real reasons for a bank freeze..

The interesting point is the complaint, if you logged a formal complaint this will need to be resolved through the Financial Industry Standard ICP (Internal Complaints Procedure) and they have strict timelines from the FCA and FOS to get back to you.. even if the account is being investigated in some way, they will be obliged to contact you in reference to the complaint.. Chase it up.

P.S there are other freezes, such as Home Office, CPS for cases under the proceeds of crime act.. but I think you'd be aware it is was to do with this..

Zkr65

Ah - Also, solicitors are a huge huge money drain, rarely doing things in your interest.. best avoided. If a complaint is not resolved you can escalate to FOS whom will have more power to get a real resolution than any solicitor..

grumbler

The only 'small' problem with FOS is that they give banks 8 weeks to drag their feet, do nothing and keep silence before they can look into your case.
I think that it's absolutely unrealistic to assume that all people and busnisses can relax waiting for 2 months with their account blocked.

The good thing is that they promise to "help by contacting the business for you, and telling them about your complaint". So it's worth complaining rather sooner than later to force the bank's Pinkertons to move their fat asses faster.

I agree about solicitors though. They will suck as much money from you as they can even if they know from the start that they can do nothing real to help.