Nationwide Froze Bank Account - No Warning

agrinnall

zerog wrote: »

Sure, but if I lived 22 miles from a branch of a certain bank, and there were different banks 2 miles away, then I would be switching all my branch activity to the ones 2 miles away regardless.

That's a reason for opening an account at TSB in addition to Nationwide, although not that great a reason given how little branch banking people do these days - I was last in a branch in February. It's certainly not a good reason for switching all banking from Nationwide to TSB (and of course, as we frequently say, everyone should bank with at least two separate financial institutions anyway).

JuicyJesus

It's funny to hear people recommend TSB as I'm currently in the process of switching from them to Nationwide after they've cocked up repeatedly and denied any wrongdoing. Nationwide meanwhile have been fine.

tifo

All banks will at some time ask you again, even though its the same ID as when you opened the account, nowadays they also ask a lot of irrelevant questions which have nothing to do with the account, in the name of 'regulations' and 'money laundering'.

A lot of various organisations in different industries do this.

They ask some groups of people more than others, not that i'm accusing them of any bias.

tifo

I've had clients whose accounts have been closed because they've suddenly put money in for a large purchase such as a car or house.

Even after its shown where the money has come from and the account holder has been paying in a large income for many years, the bank will not reopen the account and will not tell me (for the client) why. They quote 'regulations'.

Geoff1963

Capital One asked me for ID late last year, and gave me about 3 months notice. It was a national campaign.

LMB2

We have the same problem. My husband and I are both 'Deputies' appointed by the Court of Protection to look after a young person's affairs (both financial and welfare) as he is incapable of doing so himself. On August 1st 2017 NW froze the account into which all his disability benefits etc are paid directly, as well as regular payments going into and out of the account for his 24/7 care. Nothing significant has changed over the many years since this account was opened. The account has the person's name at the top but our names and address underneath his name as he has no dealing with this account himself and the bank has always known this. The account is checked annually with us sending to the Court a written report showing all of the year's financial activity within this Deputy account - the last one being submitted on July 8th 2017 which was accepted on July 24th 2017 as being all correct.

On August 1st we received a phone call, after 6pm, from NW's Collection Department, stating that the account was frozen and proof of the person’s name and address was needed to be able to reinstate it. (They said there were no issues with the activity within the account). There was no warning whatsoever, no letter, no phone call saying we needed to produce docs within a few days in order to prevent this occurring. Just frozen instantly. We are very angry. The phone call was received on the evening before we were going on holiday early next morning so there was no opportunity to visit a branch etc. While we were away there will have been benefits due in and care payments due out which will have been blocked. This is outrageous!

We were told it is a new EU directive although the last alteration to this they told us was on June 26th. Why weren't we informed in the intervening weeks? We wonder if there has been an ‘error’ within NW and someone has suddenly realised for some reason this might need doing. We cannot imagine any situation where this sort of thing could happen otherwise. I asked for a letter explaining exactly what was the reason for this and how how long had they known about it? Surprise - all we received was a form to fill in to take to the local branch - sent out 4 days after the account was frozen and received while we were away.

We are still waiting for an explanation for blocking this account which must be just about as safe and secure as any account could possibly be. Apologies for the length of this message but we’re very cross!!

xylophone

Get the account "defrosted" by providing the documentation requested and then make a formal complaint in writing.

LMB2

Thanks. I intend to do just that!

colsten

LMB2 wrote: »

Thanks. I intend to do just that!

I would go straight to the Chief Executive with your complaint. There is a special Chief Executive complaints form BUT watch out - I don't think they let you take a copy/print of your complaint. So it might be better to email Mr. Garner on joe.garner at nationwide.co.uk

https://portal.nationet.com/nationwide/forms/making-a-complaint-to-ceo.asp

Hints and tips for writing to CEOs are on www. ceoemail. com/hints.php (remove the blanks - - MSE for some reason doesn't allow the proper URL of that useful site to be posted).