Santander have froze my account

Goldmann1004

I wasn't given a choice, and to be honest I never thought to ask as I didn't realise putting an HRMC cheque would cause all this. I have emailed the CEO, I will let you know his response.

colsten

Goldmann, looking at your nick, is it possible you had other transactions that you didn't tell us about that could have triggered a block on your account? It is highly unusual for a bank to give a reason for suddenly blocking an account as they'd most likely break AML laws doing so.

How long have you held this account? How usual are cheque deposits of several thousand pounds into your account? What were you other transactions over the last 3-4 weeks?

10pence

Goldmann1004 wrote: »

That's my feeling, they are suggesting ive done something untoward. Once this is cleared im closing my account down. I'm concerned that money due to go in next week won't, and direct debits won't be honoured.

Bank I use to work for would allow incoming and outgoing transactions even if locked due to fraud marker; outgoing would only be allowed from cleared 'normal' funds, so in your case anything other than the cheque. It wasn't Santander so cannot comment on their process.

I do find it disgusting that the bank staff couldn't get the fraud marker removed temporarily with the fraud team's consent and allow a withdrawal from cleared funds: this is something I have done with customer's in the past.

As long as there has been no other questionable transactions on the account then a compliant should be filed.

Someone mentioned cheque fraud bring one of the oldest forms of fraud, it is. Add the bank holiday weekend - a period notorious for clearing cycle fraud - bank's AML/Fraud departments will be on high alert.

Ed-1 wrote: »

A friend of mine was put on CIFAS by Lloyds and had his accounts frozen and then closed for simply shifting his own money between two of his own accounts to double up on interest over a few weeks. Lloyds deemed the activity suspicious and acted on their suspicions to the extent that they believed it was fraudulent but had no proof it was so it was unbelievable they registered him on CIFAS. I think that case is now with the ombudsman as Lloyds wouldn't budge on their decision. Who do banks think they are?

Some banks and I know from experience will/could view this as an abuse of facilities and close the account.
Use to get it all the time friends would transfer money between accounts to improve their internal score with the bank for lending; accounts were all closed and reported.

Goldmann1004

Just to state my account has never been involved in anything suspicious. I have had this account 10 years and the amount is relatively small compared to what they have frozen.

Ed-1

10pence wrote: »

Bank I use to work for would allow incoming and outgoing transactions even if locked due to fraud marker; outgoing would only be allowed from cleared 'normal' funds, so in your case anything other than the cheque. It wasn't Santander so cannot comment on their process.

I do find it disgusting that the bank staff couldn't get the fraud marker removed temporarily with the fraud team's consent and allow a withdrawal from cleared funds: this is something I have done with customer's in the past.

As long as there has been no other questionable transactions on the account then a compliant should be filed.

Someone mentioned cheque fraud bring one of the oldest forms of fraud, it is. Add the bank holiday weekend - a period notorious for clearing cycle fraud - bank's AML/Fraud departments will be on high alert.



Some banks and I know from experience will/could view this as an abuse of facilities and close the account.
Use to get it all the time friends would transfer money between accounts to improve their internal score with the bank for lending; accounts were all closed and reported.

Which bank did you used to work for? I'm guessing Natwest or Lloyds.

10pence

Ed-1 wrote: »

Which bank did you used to work for? I'm guessing Natwest or Lloyds.

Nope another High Street Banking Company

Goldmann1004

Just to give an update, yesterday I received a call from the 'executive' complaints at Santander, apologising for the chain of events and that all blocks would be lifted. 2 hours later I received another phone call saying they were satisfied my cheque was genuine and that I could draw against it today, as well as access my original funds however the blocks wouldn't be lifted until the person dealing with my case returned to work today.So 9.30am I arrived in branch with all my Id just in case and attempted to withdraw some funds. I was told my account was still frozen and no notes had been put on the system. The cashier called the security department and they originally tried to deny anyone had called me then when they realised someone had called me and that the call had been recorded, that they were still investigating. To be fair to the staff at the branch they were fantastic in helping me however I was still unable to withdraw any money.
The executive who was meant to call me hasnt, I can say this is the worst bank I have dealt with.

SeduLOUs

Wow. I've recently been recommending Santander 1-2-3 account to friends on the basis of the cashback and impeccable customer service I have had to date, and this story is concerning.

Ultimately I think all of these big companies are capable of catastrophic screw ups, but all we can do is pick one and hope that we aren't the ones who get caught in the firing line.

I hope you get it sorted very soon.

katejo

I have been put off Santander by previous complaints read on MSE but this one caps the lot. Are you going to switch your account once this has been sorted? For customer services I recommend FD. Prior to now I have only ever had 1 current account. I have just opened a 2nd one with TSB. I think that this is perhaps a better idea just to have access to money should my account ever be frozen for any reason.

Archi_Bald

I hope you immediately sent the CEO another email, thanking him for getting an Exec contact to deal with your case but unfortunately falling on the first hurdle as the lower charges decided to ignore him/her. The CEO must be made aware of the failures in his organisation. Be forceful, and don't forget to ask for compensation for the tremendous hassle.

To those people who now jump on the "OMG Santander is awful" band waggon: yes, the OP's case is unacceptable but no, this is no reason at all for condemning the whole of Santander UK. There are millions of 123 account holders who are very happy. I agree, having at least one 2nd account with a different organisation is always a good idea - - - that's been obvious since the Natwest/RBS/Ulster meltdown.

OP, I would now also consider taking the case to a paper, e.g. Telegraph Personal Finance. Try Nicole Blackmore http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/nicole-blackmore/