Account Closure and Cifas marker

byj5803

Hope this thread finds everyone well and safe. 
NatWest has issued a 60 days' notice of account closure to me (dated 12 Nov). I had a joint account with my partner and one sole fundamental account. Both were notified to be closed in 60 days, but my partner's sole accounts are safe.
Currently, all my accounts are still running as normal and the Cifas DSAR came back clean (requested on 18 Nov). I am in the process of transferring all my stuff from NatWest to my new account in Santander and am planning to close my NatWest accounts "voluntarily" before they force shut it within the next few weeks. I have some questions at this point that I would appreciate greatly if you could help:

1. If NatWest were to add a Cifas marker to my name for whatever reasons, would they do it after my accounts are closed? (i.e. does my clean Cifas DSAR mean I don't need to worry about anything?)
2. Does 60 days' notice suggest that the closure has more to do with their commercial decisions than legal decisions (i.e. related to fraud)?

I am asking the above because I have been through a lot of forum threads since my notice of account closure letter came through and the notice of closure letter seems to come hand-in-hand with Cifas marker and I started getting very worried...
Thank you very much.

[Deleted User]

1) A CIFAS marker could be added at any time.
2) It doesn't sound as if they suspect you of any serious mis-use, but keep an eye on your files, including CIFAS, from time to time.

byj5803

Thanks zx81 - sorry to pile on, but would they normally add a marker after the account is closed? Just hoping for a clean divorce from the bank really...

JP2019

Unlikely they would add it after the account has been closed however not unheard of.

This is most likely a commercial decision though mate, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

byj5803

JP2019 said:

Unlikely they would add it after the account has been closed however not unheard of.

This is most likely a commercial decision though mate, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Thanks a lot for this JP2019 - I couldn't find a case where a Cifas marker was added after the account closure in the forum - would you mind sharing an example? Thank you very much.

stclair

What type of account do you have? 

As they are giving you 60 days notice it’s nothing to worry about it’ll just be a commercial decision. If they suspected fraud etc they would have closed it immediately. 

byj5803

stclair said:

What type of account do you have? 

As they are giving you 60 days notice it’s nothing to worry about it’ll just be a commercial decision. If they suspected fraud etc they would have closed it immediately. 

Thanks stclair - I had a fundamental account with NatWest. 

If NatWest could be upfront about their reasons for my account closure, I think I would not be as worried as I am now, but I have been reading that banks can be quite sneaky in giving out Cifas markers (whether it is before or after their notice of 60 days and warranted / unwarranted).

Despite the clean Cifas DSAR now, I have a feeling that I will have some sleepless nights as I am unaware what NatWest would do after my accounts are closed, as far as Cifas markers are concerned...

cymruchris

Have there been any transactions in or out of the account that would make you feel like they will put a marker in place? Whether or not they are legitimate transactions is another question - but for the moment - is there anything that you suspect might have made them make this decision?

byj5803

cymruchris said:

Have there been any transactions in or out of the account that would make you feel like they will put a marker in place? Whether or not they are legitimate transactions is another question - but for the moment - is there anything that you suspect might have made them make this decision?

Thanks cymruchris. There have been some gambling transactions (have permanently self-excluded from all bookies now) and money transfer from my parents overseas and my other accounts. 

byj5803

Not sure if they will warrant a Cifas marker, but I think those triggered the 60 days account closure notice.

stclair

byj5803 said:

Not sure if they will warrant a Cifas marker, but I think those triggered the 60 days account closure notice.

They won’t put a CIFAS marker on your file it’s just a commercial decision they can’t record a CIFAS marker just because you like abit of a flutter.