Natwest froze joint bank account held with ex

ThatWentTitsUpThenDidntIt

I broke up with my ex about 2.5 weeks ago (actually, he walked out without notice and has since swung between spiteful and deranged, and has failed to pay up for any of his financial responsibilities, which are £££ as we live in London and rent). We had a joint bank account which was used to pay rent, bills, and shared things like supermarket shopping.

I contacted Natwest and was told that I couldn't remove him from the account and couldn't close the account; all I could do was to remove myself from the account. I was planning to remove myself from the account, but first needed to tie up all the loose ends (e.g. council tax, rent) associated with the account.

He cancelled all the direct debits, though this appears to be incidental to my current problem.

I logged into my account today and found that while I still have access to my current account, my view of the joint account had disappeared. After an hour on the phone to Natwest Fraud, Customer Care, Complaints and Complex Complaints departments, it has emerged that he has put a "split" or "domestic dispute" on the account, and this is why it has been frozen. They couldn't / wouldn't explain to me what a "split" or "domestic dispute" was :mad: nor why I wasn't told about this. I am currently awaiting a call back from them about it (apparently it will happen tomorrow before 10am)

Does anyone
a) have any experience of this happening?
b) know if the balance in my current account might end up being frozen too? :eek: Most of my life savings are in there, and I cannot immediately transfer it into another account - I'm hoping to do so within 24 hours, however. I'm particularly concerned because after the break up I transferred approx. £600 from the joint account to my personal one to help mitigate my losses from him walking out and refusing to pay up for his financial liabilities.

Needless to say I'm opening an account with another bank (First Direct :money:) asap, but I would really appreciate any info on what the bloody hell is going on, seeing as Natwest have been unwilling to tell me what has happened!

eskbanker

ThatWentTitsUpThenDidntIt wrote: »

I'm particularly concerned because after the break up I transferred approx. £600 from the joint account to my personal one to help mitigate my losses from him walking out and refusing to pay up for his financial liabilities.

This is exactly the reason why banks have a 'disputed' status for joint accounts - if one of the account-holders starts making withdrawals and the other person doesn't like the look of it then they can advise the bank that the account should be put into dispute (you could have done this too if you'd chosen to, they should have advised you of this as an option), which basically freezes it while the account-holders agree on how things are to be carved up.

No reason for it to affect any sole accounts though....

Edit: see page 50 of http://personal.natwest.com/content/dam/natwest_com/currentaccounts/downloads/NWB-3-in-1-Terms.pdf:

When can the Bank ‘freeze’ your joint account?
We may ‘freeze’ your account if we have a valid reason for doing so. We set out below some examples of cases in which we may find it necessary to do this:
• When we receive a request to convert the joint account into a sole account and we do not have your joint agreement as to how the money in the joint account is to be divided between you. If the joint account is overdrawn, the bank may decide not to let you convert it to a sole account unless you both remain responsible for the debt.
• Following notification of bankruptcy of the joint account holders. We will have to return cheques drawn on the account, even if the account is in credit.
• Where we know of a dispute between the account holders. You should tell us immediately if you are unhappy about the way your partner is using the account, or are worried about how it may be used in future.
• If the relationship between the account holders has ended, e.g. divorce, all account holders must contact us to arrange for the joint account to be closed and new sole accounts to be opened. We will need you to give us joint instructions about how to handle existing standing orders or Direct Debits and how the money in the account is to be split between you. We will need you to confirm your arrangements for repayment of any borrowing with us. Until you cancel the joint account instructions, all parties will continue to be liable for new payments and any overdraft and charges that result.

stclair

This is standard for a joint account to prevent either of you from transferring money else where.

Now the accounts in dispute you will both have to visit a branch.

You can then complete this form to take your name off:

https://personal.natwest.com/content/dam/natwest_com/nw-assets/pdfs/NWB50012%20-%20Remove%20a%20Party%20from%20a%20Personal%20Account.pdf

davethorp

Been through a break up myself recently and like your ex mine isn't paying her financial responsibilities either.

Can't advise on your specific issue as before she left we went on a tour of the banks we had joint products with to close them down or convert into sole names so there was no need to freeze an account

One thing I will add, and this is especially important if your ex isn't paying their financial responsibilities, is that once the joint account(s) are showing as closed on your credit files you need to file for a notice of disassociation from them so their poor credit rating from not paying their responsibilities doesn't affect yours. This can be a slow process and I only completed it myself last week some 2.5 months after we split.

You can monitor your credit file with all 3 agencies for free using noddle, clear score and MSE credit club and you will need free reports off these to file for a notice of disassociation as the forms required will ask for a credit report reference number

ThatWentTitsUpThenDidntIt

Heard back from Natwest today (well, they didn't call back as they said they would, so I called them). They're saying that the bank account won't be unfrozen unless we can agree on an outcome. I can tell you now that he will never agree to an outcome other than him getting 100% of the money. I won't let him have a penny. So we'll end up at a stalemate and Natwest will keep the money.

It's now the subject of a formal complaint with Natwest on the grounds that they didn't tell me it was an option, and didn't tell me that he'd done it.

Thank god there was only about £90 in there - but it's more the principle of the matter.

davethorp wrote: »

Been through a break up myself recently and like your ex mine isn't paying her financial responsibilities either.

Can't advise on your specific issue as before she left we went on a tour of the banks we had joint products with to close them down or convert into sole names so there was no need to freeze an account

One thing I will add, and this is especially important if your ex isn't paying their financial responsibilities, is that once the joint account(s) are showing as closed on your credit files you need to file for a notice of disassociation from them so their poor credit rating from not paying their responsibilities doesn't affect yours. This can be a slow process and I only completed it myself last week some 2.5 months after we split.

You can monitor your credit file with all 3 agencies for free using noddle, clear score and MSE credit club and you will need free reports off these to file for a notice of disassociation as the forms required will ask for a credit report reference number

Thanks - I had no idea about disassociation.

Do you know if it's possible to file for disassociation while there is a frozen bank account held in joint names? I feel I could end up caught in a Catch 22

davethorp

You can't disassociate while joint accounts are still open and in joint names and being reported as such to the credit reference agencies. This would include being frozen. This is one reason it took me 2.5 months as it took forever for one of our banks to report the account as no longer being in my name and until then the credit reference agencies wouldn't budge even when given proof.

Once a resolution is agreed you should be able to unfreeze the account and either close it fully and convert to sole names and then you will be able to disassociate a month or two later. Given the sums involved I'd suggest simply splitting any money in there 50/50. Principles are well and good but the longer the account is open and in joint names the more damage you could end up doing to your credit rating if he isn't paying his bills as whilst the link is present any missed payments on his credit file will affect you. One of my credit card companies was after raising my interest rate by 8% more than likely due to her numerous missed payments in my case however the link is now broken for me so I've asked them to review their decision based on current information

pmduk

I'm sorry for the OP and hope you get it sorted soon. Let's hope anyone considering a joint account reads this and understands the problems that can arise.

Dobbibill

OP - as said above - 50/50 split would be the ideal outcome as a clean cut, job done scenario but if you are unable to reach a compromise of 50/50 then I would consider losing the £90 - the long term implications of it going to stalemate just isn't worth it.

On the flip side - at least Natwest put the account into dispute before the other person applied and spent a large overdraft, leaving you jointly liable for the debt - cut your losses.

I'm sure you can understand why many posters advise against joint accounts - it can go so wrong, so quickly.

davethorp

pmduk wrote: »

I'm sorry for the OP and hope you get it sorted soon. Let's hope anyone considering a joint account reads this and understands the problems that can arise.

I would entirely stress this point. I opened a joint account with my ex for convenience but the process of separating as a result has been anything but convenient

boo_star

ThatWentTitsUpThenDidntIt wrote: »

Heard back from Natwest today (well, they didn't call back as they said they would, so I called them). They're saying that the bank account won't be unfrozen unless we can agree on an outcome. I can tell you now that he will never agree to an outcome other than him getting 100% of the money. I won't let him have a penny. So we'll end up at a stalemate and Natwest will keep the money.

It's now the subject of a formal complaint with Natwest on the grounds that they didn't tell me it was an option, and didn't tell me that he'd done it.

You're wasting their time (and yours) by doing this.

He outplayed you, and that really isn't the banks fault. At best your complaint will get them to send some compo your way for something that they didn't do wrong.

amanita

davethorp wrote: »

You can monitor your credit file with all 3 agencies for free using noddle, clear score and MSE credit club and you will need free reports off these to file for a notice of disassociation as the forms required will ask for a credit report reference number

No, you can't. Noddle is run by Callcredit, so yes you can see that, but to see Experian and Equifax records you'll need to register with them separately (and pay).

However, Callcredit I believe will show every account (with credit facilities) that you have, so it should still be very useful. It shows all of my (substantial number of) credit accounts.