Joint bank account - ex husband bunkrupt

viio

Ok not a great story but here it goes:

I separated about 2 1/2 years ago, at the time I together with my ex wrote to the Lloyds bank asking them to take my name off the joint bank account - however as the account was overdrawn they refused it. I refused to have anything to do with that bank account or my ex.

We are now in the process of divorcing and he has just declared himself bankrupt...is there anything that I can do?

I do have a job, no children am living alone, but not earning great amount of money. After separating from my ex it took me 2 years to pay off my debts which he made me take out for his business which has not failed (hence him going bankrupt). I asked him/and wanted him to at least pay that one debt the overdraft (£3250), however, he never did.

I know that I am now liable for that overdraft and that they will probably go after me, however is there any agrument that I can make to say

- as soon as separated I wrote to them requesting they remove my name (in the letter which my ex signed, we told the bank we were separating and that he wanted to take the responsibility of the bank acc and its debt)

- I have not used or operated bank account for the past 2 1/2 years

Would be greatful for any advice....

thanks

Milly1974

Just BUMPing you back to the front page to see if the morning lot can help.

wherediditallgo

Hi viio, & welcome to the forum.

Do you have a copy of the letter that you sent asking for your name to be taken off the account, or the letter that they sent you refusing to do it? Did you return any cashpoint/debit cards or chequebooks related to the account that had your name on them? As your ex signed the letter you sent to the bank, that might work in your favour - though they can't get the money from him now he's BR, it might help your argument that they shouldn't get it from you. Legally though, they are probably entitled to stake the claim even if they don't eventually pursue it.

Please give any of the organisations in my signature a call. They don't just deal with people who are BR, they'll give debt advice anyway, & should be able to advise you on how to fight this with the bank. You could also contact the Financial Ombudsman & see what they have to say on it.

Broken_hearted

No the debt was run up while you were responsible for the account. The bank are only interested in getting their money back.
Something you may be able to now is change your credit file so you are no longer linked to him as this could damage your credit rating.

viio

Thank you all for your advice.

I shall see what I can do in order to get the Lloyds off my back. After all would be teribbly unfair to make me pay for his actions (espec as I have already paid!).

Will try to speak to Fin Omb and see what they say...

viio

Dear ALL

Here we go again.... although my ex has been declared bankrupt (so I am told by him) lloyds have not closed the account but have allowed him to use it. He has gone over the overdraft limit and now they were chasing me until today...

I have told (over the phone) lloyds that he has gone bankrupt and that I have nothing to do with the bank account.

It seems that lloyds are refusing to close the account... they have now come to an arrangement with him whereby he ll pay certain amount each month to them and be able to continue using the account... this scares me because my name is still on it...I guess I would not even mind closing the account and slowly paying it off (getting my ex and the bank off my back is priiiceless!) however the bank is refusing to either close the account or take my name off..HELP....WHAT CAN i do to finally get rid of him and his debts???

Should I write to the bank, and if so what shall I say? Of course ideally i d like them to take my name off the account... (espec as I didnt not incurr the debt in the first place)..

thanks so much

wherediditallgo

If your ex is bankrupt, he shouldn't be coming to an agreement with any creditors to pay off what was owed - he's breaking the terms of his bankruptcy by doing so, & if the bank are aware of his bankruptcy they shouldn't have agreed to the payments either. However, it may be that one department of a bank hasn't updated another, & once they do so they'll terminate any agreement re repayments that he's made with them. Normally, they'd downgrade the account once the bankruptcy is on file so that it no longer has any kind of credit facility, just a cashpoint card.

He can't use their slowness to act upon any info provided as a defence for his own actions, but you may be able to use it to your advantage. I would write to the bank without mentioning anything about his bankruptcy (unless you've seen his bankruptcy order, you don't know he's really bankrupt), & state that he's told you that he's come to an agreement with them about repayments. As you have been apart since whatever date & have no intention of ever getting back together, you haven't used the account in any way shape or form since whatever date & have repeatedly asked for your name to be removed from the account (give dates and/or copies of previous letters if you have them), you are now giving them 21 days to confirm they have removed your name from the account or provide you with a satisfactory reason for their refusal, otherwise you will take the matter up with the Financial Ombudsman. Send the letter registered post.

viio

Thanks so mjuch for your advice. However I did speak to the bank and told them that he is gone bankrupt (tho I did say he told me as of course i didnt see any documents)... He has told me that he has actually told them that and their reply was that it was up to the bank what they do with his account and that they didnt have to close it if they didnt wish too, so now he s come to the agreement with them to pay it off slowly - however my worry is that as he is so bad with the money he wont pay it off and my name will stay there for years to come so I guess I ll just write them letter and then take it with B/O if they refuse it... thanks so much again...

p.s. I actually got my decree nisi and will soon absolute so the divorce is iminent....