Closing an old joint account with Santander.

blueoceans1971

Hi there,

Wanted to know if anyone out there can help me.

Looking to cancel an old joint bank account, held with Santander.

It's in my name, and old girlfriends name, who I split up with back in 2010.

My ex-girlfriend wants nothing to do with the account, and neither do I. Can I go into a branch, and cancel the account on my own??

Or does my ex-girlfriend need to cancel it as well?

Thanks in advance for your comments...

grumbler

Most likely incompetent branch staff will try giving you runaround by telling you that both account holders are needed to close the account.

Quote them their T&C (page 30) that say:

we can take instructions to close the joint account from either account holder

The account has to be in credit or have zero balance.

Archi_Bald

grumbler wrote: »

Most likely incompetent branch staff will try giving you runaround by telling you that both account holders are needed to close the account.

Glass half empty again today, grumbler? Believe it or not, chances that people find competent people in branches (of any bank) are considerably higher than finding the inevitable duff one.

Thanks to your assistance, the OP now has an answer to his Q, and hopefully now knows that checking T&Cs is always a good start.

grumbler

Want a bet?
OP, go to a branch and don't tell them anything about the T&C first.
Then report back, please.

I'll be happy to stand corrected if I am wrong, although I did say 'most likely'.

It's a pity that customers have to check the T&C, but the staff often don't know them and CBA to check.

Archi_Bald

grumbler wrote: »

It's a pity that customers have to check the T&C

I would say it is a pity that so many customers think checking T&Cs is unnecessary.

audigex

There are definitely staff who stick with the "both are needed" line, I encountered one in a similar situation only to find out a little later only one was needed.

And in my case I did read the T&Cs on opening the account, but couldn't remember the detail and had no reason to doubt what seemed like a fairly sensible policy...

colsten

audigex wrote: »

There are definitely staff who stick with the "both are needed" line, I encountered one in a similar situation only to find out a little later only one was needed.

Some banks / accounts require both account holders to agree, others don't.

benjus

My experience (with Nationwide, not Santander) is that you have to try a few times before you find a staff member that will let you close a joint account without the other account holder's consent. Telephone customer service and staff in one branch both told me it was not possible.