Can a bank account be transferred to another person so it doesn't mess up my credit?

Voyager2002

DCFC79 wrote: »

Talk to the bank and tell them someone else has had access ( been compromised) to your account details/login details and they need to be reset.

Yes: do this in today.

Visit the bank with some proof of identity, and insist that they change all the passwords and change the address to your address.

And I suggest you write to him stating that he did not have your permission to borrow money from your bank account, and asking him to return the money immediately. You might mention that his actions, legally, are fraud.

stclair

The bank may question how they got access to the account.

It's against the terms and conditions to knowingly share your bank details etc.

elsien

You share bank details every time you give someone a cheque. He will have known her DOB. So setting up the online banking wouldn't have needed her to give any more information, he'd have made the rest up.
Although she was complicit because she agreed to it and allowed him to carry on doing it.

stclair

elsien wrote: »

You share bank details every time you give someone a cheque. He will have known her DOB. So setting up the online banking wouldn't have needed her to give any more information, he'd have made the rest up.
Although she was complicit because she agreed to it and allowed him to carry on doing it.

It would still be a breach of the banks terms and conditions if they provided the details to use the account. Also when I say bank details I was making reference to security details please accept my apologies for not being clearer in the first instance. In this instance the OP has been grossly negligent. Sharing your PIN or security details will be in breach of your account terms and conditions.

VintageBelle

stclair wrote: »

It would still be a breach of the banks terms and conditions if they provided the details to use the account. Also when I say bank details I was making reference to security details please accept my apologies for not being clearer in the first instance. In this instance the OP has been grossly negligent. Sharing your PIN or security details will be in breach of your account terms and conditions.

So where would that leave me? Screwed whatever I do?

VintageBelle

(the account was set up when I was 11 so I wouldn't have bothered reading t&c's and it's not something I would have even thought about in later years).

Candyapple

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Yes, but since the OP gave him the bank details she is still liable for the money.

OP in your situation you would be wise to not say a word to the bank about the overdraft and figure out a way to clear the balance yourself and then chase your ex privately, although it wouldn't surprise me if he told you to whistle for it - he knew what he was doing all along and has just been stringing you along feeding you lies so that you would keep the account open.

Regardless of the debt not being yours - you allowed your ex to do this by giving him access to your account so you are 100% liable for the debt - not him.

If you complain to the bank about it, be prepared for them to hit you with a CIFAS fraud marker and wave goodbye to obtaining any credit, loan, mortgage applications etc. for the next 6 years and also any cards and bank accounts you do currently have - for them to contact you and close your accounts down with them due to the marker. It is very serious.

Do you have any old paperwork relating to this bank account at all which would have the account number on it?

Have you ever made a payment to it from one of your other bank accounts? It might be in your stored payee details.

If you don't have any idea about the account number, you may have to lie to your ex and get the details off him, make up some excuse about wanting to pay some money in or something, whatever you need to do, because otherwise you are screwed. If you called up the bank and asked them to cancel your card/re-send online access details, first you would need to enter your debit card number or they will want to know your account number/sort code. After you have failed that and you get through to a human, they will run through a different way of verifying your ID; they would want to know things such as what DD's do you have on the account, what was the date/amount of last transaction etc. and then what are you going to say? If you walked into a branch it would be the same situation.

Actually, thinking some more about it, I still think you will be screwed because even if your ex did give you the account number and sort code, when you called up, you would still fail the other security questions and then you risk the CS agent on the phone locking the account and asking you to go into a branch with ID and then you'll have to explain in person why you have no idea what transactions you have made or what DD's you have on the account and why you don't have a debit card and your address doesn't match that on the account etc.

I think you may have to have a sit down with the ex and ask him nicely for the card back and also any online access codes/passwords/address changes and then perhaps later agree to a repayment plan for him to pay you separately to clear the overdraft, but this is not a given. You need the card and those details as a priority above everything.

So your choices are:

1. Come clean to the bank
a) Get CIFAS marker
b) Account will be closed
c) £4k overdraft will become instantly repayable
d) If you can't repay, be prepared for a default / CCJ down the line
e) The good news is, if you have a CIFAS marker, the default won't make a blind bit of difference!
f) No credit for next 6 years and also other cards/accounts you have will one by one start to be closed, causing you further trouble especially if you work as you won't have a bank account to pay your salary into
g) Being forced to use places such as this for the next 6 years: http://www.thinkmoney.co.uk/account/fees/

2. Get your bank card/online access details/address details etc. back from the ex
a) Contact the bank and change all details
b) Budget and repay the £4k overdraft yourself
bi) Ask ex to set up a repayment plan to you
bii) If ex refuses, thank your lucky stars it "only" cost you £4k to learn this valuable lesson and how he could have took you to the cleaners for a lot more

Anoneemoose

Candyapple wrote: »

OP in your situation you would be wise to not say a word to the bank about the overdraft and figure out a way to clear the balance yourself and then chase your ex privately, although it wouldn't surprise me if he told you to whistle for it - he knew what he was doing all along and has just been stringing you along feeding you lies so that you would keep the account open.

Regardless of the debt not being yours - you allowed your ex to do this by giving him access to your account so you are 100% liable for the debt - not him.

If you complain to the bank about it, be prepared for them to hit you with a CIFAS fraud marker and wave goodbye to obtaining any credit, loan, mortgage applications etc. for the next 6 years and also any cards and bank accounts you do currently have - for them to contact you and close your accounts down with them due to the marker. It is very serious.

Do you have any old paperwork relating to this bank account at all which would have the account number on it?

Have you ever made a payment to it from one of your other bank accounts? It might be in your stored payee details.

If you don't have any idea about the account number, you may have to lie to your ex and get the details off him, make up some excuse about wanting to pay some money in or something, whatever you need to do, because otherwise you are screwed. If you called up the bank and asked them to cancel your card/re-send online access details, first you would need to enter your debit card number or they will want to know your account number/sort code. After you have failed that and you get through to a human, they will run through a different way of verifying your ID; they would want to know things such as what DD's do you have on the account, what was the date/amount of last transaction etc. and then what are you going to say? If you walked into a branch it would be the same situation.

Actually, thinking some more about it, I still think you will be screwed because even if your ex did give you the account number and sort code, when you called up, you would still fail the other security questions and then you risk the CS agent on the phone locking the account and asking you to go into a branch with ID and then you'll have to explain in person why you have no idea what transactions you have made or what DD's you have on the account and why you don't have a debit card and your address doesn't match that on the account etc.

I think you may have to have a sit down with the ex and ask him nicely for the card back and also any online access codes/passwords/address changes and then perhaps later agree to a repayment plan for him to pay you separately to clear the overdraft, but this is not a given. You need the card and those details as a priority above everything.

So your choices are:

1. Come clean to the bank
a) Get CIFAS marker
b) Account will be closed
c) £4k overdraft will become instantly repayable
d) If you can't repay, be prepared for a default / CCJ down the line
e) The good news is, if you have a CIFAS marker, the default won't make a blind bit of difference!
f) No credit for next 6 years and also other cards/accounts you have will one by one start to be closed, causing you further trouble especially if you work as you won't have a bank account to pay your salary into
g) Being forced to use places such as this for the next 6 years: http://www.thinkmoney.co.uk/account/fees/

2. Get your bank card/online access details/address details etc. back from the ex
a) Contact the bank and change all details
b) Budget and repay the £4k overdraft yourself
bi) Ask ex to set up a repayment plan to you
bii) If ex refuses, thank your lucky stars it "only" cost you £4k to learn this valuable lesson and how he could have took you to the cleaners for a lot more

Why would OP get a CIFAS marker? She/he hasn't committed fraud, as far as I can tell. I agree that she will likely need to pay the money back but I think the rest of your suggestion is ott.

All OP needs to do is go into branch with photo id and explain the situation, saying she thinks her ex has been using the account without her authorisation, after changing the details. An explanation to the fact that he was previously her partner and therefore knew her details would explain why he was able to do it. Then OP could set up a payment plan, surely?

OP, was the ex abusive or controlling in anyway, other than this? I'm not saying that's a 'free pass' out of this mess, but if it was a factor in why you allowed it, the bank may be a bit more sympathetic.

Candyapple

Anoneemoose wrote: »

Why would OP get a CIFAS marker? She/he hasn't committed fraud, as far as I can tell. I agree that she will likely need to pay the money back but I think the rest of your suggestion is ott.

All OP needs to do is go into branch with photo id and explain the situation, saying she thinks her ex has been using the account without her authorisation, after changing the details. An explanation to the fact that he was previously her partner and therefore knew her details would explain why he was able to do it. Then OP could set up a payment plan, surely?

OP, was the ex abusive or controlling in anyway, other than this? I'm not saying that's a 'free pass' out of this mess, but if it was a factor in why you allowed it, the bank may be a bit more sympathetic.

She would get a CIFAS marker because she has broken the terms and conditions of having a bank account. See stclair's post for further details. I'm guessing the misuse of facility marker would probably be the one they go for. Most banks in their T&C's state something along the lines of 'you must tell us as soon as possible if you think your account/security details have been compromised'. By allowing her ex to use her account for all these years, she is complicit in the fraud.

https://www.cifas.org.uk/what_are_the_fraud_types_cifas_uses

How do you explain the OP goes into the bank branch with ID and tell them the situation, they will look at the history of the account - it's not like this is a new thing, the abuse of banking facility has taken place for years (from OP's post).

Her ex knows her online banking codes/passwords - that is negligence of right there, has changed the address on the account, has taken out an overdraft in her name and basically using the account as his own and she knew about it. The customer service person will be forced to start an investigation and this would lead to CIFAS fraud marker and the account closed. A repayment plan may probably be set up, but there are no guarantees - the bank may cause further hassle by demanding full payment and then adding on unauthorised OD charges etc, late payment markers and eventually a default. Either way, OP would still be hit with the CIFAS.

The bank won't be interested in whether the partner was abusive or not, I'm not trying to be heartless, but this will have no bearing on whether the OP will receive a CIFAS marker or not.

solentsusie

I may be being a bit dumb here but I am going to assume, and please correct me if I am wrong, that the account is still registered at the OP's current/recent address if it is showing up on their current credit record? Otherwise surely there would also be a linked address to the ex's current abode or wherever they have registered the account to receive cards, statements, online details etc.?

How long have they been split up? Even if all statements are online only, accounts get a new card every so often, so if they have been separated quite a while then any new cards issued must be going somewhere? Looking at the cards in my purse expirations vary between 2 and 5 years.

I would also assume that basic factual information, like the OP's date of birth, gender, past addresses etc. could not be changed by the ex as this would have been recorded when the account was first opened at the age of 11. I would also do as previously suggested and check I had not set up the details of this account on another one, or perhaps check whether the OP's parents have the details hanging around anywhere as the OP was 11 years old when the account was opened - my mother keeps loads of strange stuff so this wouldn't be unheard of.

If the OP wants to stop immediate access by the ex they need to contact the bank and say their details have been compromised, they can be honest and say that the ex has access to the account and they are now separated, banks deal with this sort of thing all of the time, and as it isn't a joint account the named account holder is the person they are responsible to. The OP doesn't have to go into all the nitty gritty details if they do not want to just that the account has been compromised. In the end the bank doesn't care who pays the money back as long as they get it. The OP can then request that a new card, PIN, online details etc. are to be sent to their home address, which they need to confirm. Alternatively a number of banks will allow you to pick them up from a branch. What bank is the account with?

Essentially whether the ex has committed fraud or not, they have stolen from the OP, as this is their account and the ex has racked up an unauthorised debt on it for which ultimately the OP will be liable. Perhaps the OP needs to try and speak to the ex again and see if they can come to a resolution as to how the ex will repay the 4K? If not then the OP needs to take action, which may mean contacting the police and reporting the theft/fraud, unless they are prepared to pay the debt back themselves. If the OP or the ex needs to set up an arrangement to pay this debt off then that is when it will start to harm the OP's credit record.