NatWest closed our BBL account with no notice and removed all funds from business current account!!!

jamesfuchs83

Hi Guys
I have seen a lot of posts about this lately, and just recently my business has been added to the stats! 
5 weeks ago our BBL account was closed with no warning, this had been active for a couple of months prior. Following this, a transaction appeared on our business current account with 'partial reversal' removing all funds ( Not BBL funds ) from our bank leaving us with zero for the first time ever since we started business. 
After 20+ hours on the phone explaining we had wages and suppliers to pay, all we got was a sorry we understand and to wait for a letter? 
5 weeks on we still have had no letter despite a few calls to remind them we have not got it. 
We have swiftly opened new accounts with a different bank and lucky for us we are always owed 50k plus so, we won't be stopping trading although at the time of the above we had to stop for 1 week.  
my question is, has any business owner had the same problem? and what is the outcome? 
Before we have the comments about breaking terms / fraud.. our business is 4 years old, turning 450-500k per annum and we are above board with absolutely everything, no loads apart from BBL, no overdrafts used, no dept, all assets owned, no finance. squeaky clean. 
Thanks in advance 

Jeremy535897

See https://sme.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/#Our%20Financial%20Ombudsman%20Service%20for%20Small%20Businesses%20website

dunstonh

Banks do not close accounts willy nilly.  So, some transaction or event has triggered it.
Typically these are:
1 - Were you using a personal account for business purposes prior to applying for the BBL?
2 - Have you been in receipt or been sending money to overseas banks?
3 - Have there been any credits or debits that are not within the typical banking routine you have built up over this time?
4 - If you are a limited company, is your companies house data correct and accurate (dont assume, I have seen a number of errors in the last couple of years, including one yesterday where an address of the director had not been updated and the PSC data was not accurate and it caused it to fail an anti-money laundering check).
5 - Has there been cash withdrawals or cash deposits and your business is one that is not normally associated as being a cash business?
6 - Did you complete the BBL application correctly?

If you really can't think of anything that stood out as unusual then raise a complaint ASAP.  And if you need to go the FOS, make sure they are aware of the urgency as they do have a fast track system.

livben49

I would be really interested to know if you have got anywhere with this? I have been with NatWest for many years. Opened up a business account for a new business and within three weeks it was closed, no explanation or warning. I have not had this letter they speak of. My personal with RBS was then closed with no warning. Tens of thousands I can not access and risk losing my business. I 100% suspect they think money laundering as a lot of money was going in almost immediately but it is a genuine business. I am really at wits end and terrified they will not return the money 

DCFC79

livben49 said:

I would be really interested to know if you have got anywhere with this? I have been with NatWest for many years. Opened up a business account for a new business and within three weeks it was closed, no explanation or warning. I have not had this letter they speak of. My personal with RBS was then closed with no warning. Tens of thousands I can not access and risk losing my business. I 100% suspect they think money laundering as a lot of money was going in almost immediately but it is a genuine business. I am really at wits end and terrified they will not return the money 

They won't tell you why.

Have you read the questions posted before your post, post your answers to the questions.

DCFC79

joh1018 said:

natwest is trash and fraudulent steer clear

Why do you say that then ?
Ive got a Natwest account and its all ok.

Grumpy_chap

livben49 said:

I would be really interested to know if you have got anywhere with this? I have been with NatWest for many years. Opened up a business account for a new business and within three weeks it was closed, no explanation or warning. I have not had this letter they speak of. My personal with RBS was then closed with no warning. Tens of thousands I can not access and risk losing my business. I 100% suspect they think money laundering as a lot of money was going in almost immediately but it is a genuine business. I am really at wits end and terrified they will not return the money 

You need to answer the questions posted by @dunstonh
BUT, you had a personal account - were you using that for business or did you just start the business three weeks ago?
If from nowhere you had £10's of thousands, that is going to flag and be subject to further investigation.

silvercar

Having ha a NatWest business account for over 20 years, they have suddenly sent me an email with a long of evidence they require for profiling my business. They want original documents from when it was set up 20 years ago like the certificate of incorporation and other stuff I had never heard of. All to be uploaded, verified as original copies by a member of staff/ solicitor/ accountant etc within a month. This has come out of the blue and will be hard for many to gather evidence in time so quickly especially with covid meaning many operations are running at slower speeds.

Thrugelmir

silvercar said:

They want original documents from when it was set up 20 years ago like the certificate of incorporation and other stuff I had never heard of. 

Who is your company secretary? 

silvercar

Thrugelmir said:

silvercar said:

They want original documents from when it was set up 20 years ago like the certificate of incorporation and other stuff I had never heard of. 

Who is your company secretary? 

The original company secretary was replaced a long time ago.

John_

silvercar said:

Thrugelmir said:

silvercar said:

They want original documents from when it was set up 20 years ago like the certificate of incorporation and other stuff I had never heard of. 

Who is your company secretary? 

The original company secretary was replaced a long time ago.

But the current one will have these documents, so just get them sent over.