Monzo - Frozen Account

colsten

colsten said:

Your partner should swiftly get an account at a different bank, and have his wages paid into that new account from now on. 

Has your partner done this now?

jonnygee2

Your having a self employed payment from HMRC being paid into a personal account is the problem.
Monzo have decided your conducting business through a personal account not a business account in breach of their T&Cs.

Common misunderstanding but banks can't freeze accounts because of a breach in their Ts & Cs. They can only freeze accounts because of suspected criminal activity. 

They may suspect tax evasion though. It's very possible there's an automated system here that isn't prepared for these somewhat unusual payments.

colsten

There was another thread the other day about an HMRC payment triggering the locking of an account, wasn't there. Santander in that case. We never heard the end of it.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6136202/tax-rebate-caused-account-to-be-blocked/p1


There was also one a couple of weeks back from a mother who reported her daughter's Monzo account had been blocked after she received a Covid-related payment. I can't find this thread now, may be someone else can? In any case though, I don't recall seeing a conclusion of that case.

Mandy278

Yes, he has another bank he can use, thankfully.

Don't think its tax evasion seeing as its a payment from HMRC.  I do think now they think he is using a personal account as a business account, but seeing as there are no payments to suppliers etc as there would be if he was business I don't see how

I did see the post about the mum when I was searching earlier, didn't see the Santander one.  Don't the banks realise these payments are to help in the current climate not add more stress.  To be honest I am really worried about him now.  

Mandy278

Update:  Monzo have this morning returned the hmrc payment to hmrc.  It is gone from the app.  He had an email from them late last night which he didn't see until this morning.  However, it has taken 3 days nearly for them to respond to our query and only when he asked the complaint to be escalated.  This will not end and we intend to make formal complaints etc with Monzo but for now he is concentrating on HMRC.  So if anyone else is in the same boat in the future then we know that all payments, faster and bacs will definately be returned to the sender.  

jonnygee2

Thanks for the update, it's useful.

eskbanker

Mandy278 said:

So if anyone else is in the same boat in the future then we know that all payments, faster and bacs will definately be returned to the sender.  

We don't know that definately (or even definitely) though - you can say that on this occasion it panned out that way but can't legitimately extrapolate that to being a universal truth for everyone every time....

Mandy278

eskbanker said:

Mandy278 said:

So if anyone else is in the same boat in the future then we know that all payments, faster and bacs will definately be returned to the sender.  

We don't know that definately (or even definitely) though - you can say that on this occasion it panned out that way but can't legitimately extrapolate that to being a universal truth for everyone every time....

Thank you for pulling me up on my spelling, it is really helpful (really!), wouldn't think I was a legal secretary would you ha ha.  Everyone makes mistakes oops!.  
The email we had from Monzo states quite clearly that ANY payment into a frozen account will be returned, 3 days for a BACS, instantaneous for a faster payment.  So yes, I would DEFINITELY say that we would know and its not just luck as you inferred.
Perhaps it might be more useful to people not to focus on their spelling etc and maybe try and help and if you cannot offer a constructive opinion or offer help then I would not bother really.  

cloud_dog

The reason eskbanker says that we cannot be definitive on this is that if the banking organisation thought, for example, the payment was related to money laundering, they would not return the money to the originating payee, i.e. money launderer, irrespective of the transaction method used.  So, we cannot be definitive across all scenarios but, you can be definite that in your scenario that was the definitive action taken.

phillw

Mandy278 said:

Its an honest mistake as he doesn't have a business he is simply a self employed sub contractor.  His wages are paid in by his employer like everyone else.  

If he is self employed then isn't he his own employer and the person paying him is just a customer of his business?
Monzo say to open a business account if you are a sole trader.