Teen had access to savings account...

colsten

The Natwest Instant Access Savings account is one of the simplest accounts there is, and Natwest are very clear, upfront, that it is instant access and needs a current account.

born_again

LCH611 said:

John_ said:

Do you think that your tendency to blame others for your son’s actions is the main reason that he’s turned out to be such a disappointment, or is it more down to bad genes?

After a 2 hr meeting in which my mother in law explained at length that she did not want to deposit the money where there was ready, unsupervised access, this was the product that she was sold. It is entirely possible that there was no element of mis-selling, and in fact that doesn't apply to setting up a savings account and we just need to suck it up and take the positives out of it - lessons learned, the need for better communication etc etc, and that was the point of my post.

Given it was your late father in law that wanted this (was it in his will?) then what your MIL wants is not valid. If it was not in a will, but just something he/they wanted to do. Then as has been said before. The account should have been set up in such a way that your son did not have access to it till a certain age (my parents stipulated that if they both died, then money to my daughter could not be accessed till she was 25) or without approval.
Was it fully explained to him, what exactly the money was for? Other than that then it was down to your son what he did with the funds.

At least he is working to pay himself back. So "Hats off to him for that"

Dr_Crypto

I think he’ll be ok. If he’s working at this level already (and learning from his mistakes) he will have a good future in the IT sector. Probably done him a favour long term in a weird way! 

SevenOfNine

Sounds like he understands he's disappointed parents & granny. Don't treat it as a debt that must be repaid, but his legacy from grandad that he should build back up again, slowly. Not with ALL he's able to earn, but perhaps a % of each pay packet he manages to get.

Is granny local? Perhaps he can redeem himself there by cutting the grass, or some odd jobs?

Keep this in perspective, he was financially irresponsible with what, to all intents & purposes, is his own money. It was put somewhere he could get his sticky paws on it, so he did, & he managed to fritter away a lot in a short space of time.

I presume he was not out stabbing people, or mugging old ladies, disrespectful & rude, nor any of the other ugly things some of the youth of today think is acceptable, with lazy parents who don't care.

In the grand scheme of things is he contrite, can he see he's been silly, disappointed himself & others? Don't blow it all out of proportion, punishment should fit the 'crime'.

colsten

Although I agree that it was rather silly of the young man to blow a few thousand pound of his prospective house deposit, this will not have been the last time that he did something his parents and grandmother and some strangers on the internet think he shouldn’t have done. He is entitled to making his own decisions, and he is entitled to do what he wants with his own money. 

jimjames

Dr_Crypto said:

I think he’ll be ok. If he’s working at this level already (and learning from his mistakes) he will have a good future in the IT sector. Probably done him a favour long term in a weird way! 

Absolutely. If at 16 he is already doing IT work for companies overseas and hiring contractors to finish it then he certainly sounds like he's not your average teenager!
In terms of the account it sounds like there isn't any such account that would meet the requirements stated, it would have needed to be some form of trust to hold the money for him but a bank can't advise on that, they can only sell their own product range.

Voyager2002

In response to the original question: if you can document that the account(s) you were given were significantly different from what you had clearly requested (a trustee account to which the teenager would not have had access) then if you use the bank's complaint system you are likely to be given an apology and a token sum like fifty pounds. It is possible that the Ombudsman service might increase this to a more realistic figure.

In response to the wider discussion: the teenager obviously had an unusual and valuable experience in bidding for and winning a significant contract; finding it was more than he could handle; seeking to manage sub-contractors but still missing the deadline and eventually losing everything and being personally liable. The inheritance allowed him to walk away from this mess without hurting anyone, and if he learns the appropriate lessons this could well prove more valuable to him than a house deposit.

General_Grant

If this young man actually entered into contracts then there is always the question of whether these were enforceable under US or UK law.  These contracts don't sound to me like those which can be pursued if the young person (under 18) does not perform what they have undertaken to do.  Did the OP's son misrepresent his age?

Eco_Miser

General_Grant said:

If this young man actually entered into contracts then there is always the question of whether these were enforceable under US or UK law.  These contracts don't sound to me like those which can be pursued if the young person (under 18) does not perform what they have undertaken to do.  Did the OP's son misrepresent his age?

Sound to me that the problem is the other way round - the young man, or his subcontractors, did perform, but the US firm has not paid for the work.

dan958

LCH611 said:

 spent on new parts for his computer (that I neither saw turning up, nor being installed), gaming, going out for pizzas at lunchtime rather than eating in the school canteen, and being lavish and generous with his friends. 

I'm not too sure how 8k was spent on computer parts, gaming, and pizza! Are you able to go through everything the money was spent on, and see what can be sold to recuperate the costs (if your son wants to do that)?