Does a bank have the right to withhold my money?

MargaretB_2

Thank you for everyone who replied. It seems that banks can do whatever the hell they like with my money.

davidmcn

MargaretB_2 said:

davidmcn said:

MargaretB_2 said:

yesterday £1400 was paid in
I've already put in a complaint with the Banking Ombudsman 

This happened only yesterday, and you've already complained to the ombudsman? That seems a bit trigger-happy, as well as pointless as you first have to go through Santander's own complaints process before the ombudsman will look at it.
As suggested above, it may well have triggered anti-money-laundering checks - and because of the rules about "tipping off", Santander won't even be allowed to tell you that's what's going on, they'll just eventually release the funds to you, hopefully before too long.

What complaints process? I couldn't find such a thing

Took me about 2 seconds to find it from their home page:
https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/support/customer-support/how-to-complain

MargaretB_2

davidmcn said:

MargaretB_2 said:

davidmcn said:

MargaretB_2 said:

yesterday £1400 was paid in
I've already put in a complaint with the Banking Ombudsman 

This happened only yesterday, and you've already complained to the ombudsman? That seems a bit trigger-happy, as well as pointless as you first have to go through Santander's own complaints process before the ombudsman will look at it.
As suggested above, it may well have triggered anti-money-laundering checks - and because of the rules about "tipping off", Santander won't even be allowed to tell you that's what's going on, they'll just eventually release the funds to you, hopefully before too long.

What complaints process? I couldn't find such a thing

Took me about 2 seconds to find it from their home page:
https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/support/customer-support/how-to-complain

Oh, well, good for you.

Penguin_

MargaretB_2 said:

Hunyani_Flight_825 said:

Why so many different bank accounts?

Sounds like this is the first royalty payment going through this account, why not give it a couple of days? 

Because I like to change banks occasionally. And I don't have a couple of days. I have to pay bills out of this money, important bills, including the food bill for my special needs son. He lives in supported housing and because of the pandemic has had his meals cooked for him. Because they haven't sent a bill for six months, it's now over £1000. I have to pay my advertising bill; my ads have stopped because Santander have my money, which means my income will drop. 

With all due respect that isn't Santanders fault.

Go through the complaints process & go from there.

davidmcn

MargaretB_2 said:

davidmcn said:

MargaretB_2 said:

davidmcn said:

MargaretB_2 said:

yesterday £1400 was paid in
I've already put in a complaint with the Banking Ombudsman 

This happened only yesterday, and you've already complained to the ombudsman? That seems a bit trigger-happy, as well as pointless as you first have to go through Santander's own complaints process before the ombudsman will look at it.
As suggested above, it may well have triggered anti-money-laundering checks - and because of the rules about "tipping off", Santander won't even be allowed to tell you that's what's going on, they'll just eventually release the funds to you, hopefully before too long.

What complaints process? I couldn't find such a thing

Took me about 2 seconds to find it from their home page:
https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/support/customer-support/how-to-complain

Oh, well, good for you.

You're welcome.

Aylesbury_Duck

Anyone got the the original post, seeing as how OP has chucked her toys out of the pram?

jon81uk

Maybe it wasn't the best time to change bank accounts then if you didn't have a reserve ready to pay for those things in case thing go slowly. Why change anyway? Also if you arte paying for ads from the funds it sounds like you probably should have a business bank account anyway.

photome

MargaretB_2 said:

davidmcn said:

MargaretB_2 said:

davidmcn said:

MargaretB_2 said:

yesterday £1400 was paid in
I've already put in a complaint with the Banking Ombudsman 

This happened only yesterday, and you've already complained to the ombudsman? That seems a bit trigger-happy, as well as pointless as you first have to go through Santander's own complaints process before the ombudsman will look at it.
As suggested above, it may well have triggered anti-money-laundering checks - and because of the rules about "tipping off", Santander won't even be allowed to tell you that's what's going on, they'll just eventually release the funds to you, hopefully before too long.

What complaints process? I couldn't find such a thing

Took me about 2 seconds to find it from their home page:
https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/support/customer-support/how-to-complain

Oh, well, good for you.

Thats gratitude for you

red_boots2

MargaretB_2 said:

unholyangel said:

MargaretB_2 said:

unholyangel said:

Chances are your account has triggered AML. If that is the case, then they're right not to pay out the money until the checks have been completed. 

Is it a business account you have with Santander? 

No. It's an ordinary, everyday current account, personal. What is AML? I've never used this account before and I won't be using it again. 

If you're using it for business, then you may be in breach of your account terms and conditions. Iirc Santander (and most, if not all banks tbh) prohibit business use of a personal account.

As all banks are subject to AMLR, you may find you have the same issue elsewhere. There have been several layers of checks added over the last year or so. 

red_boots2 said:

Unfortunately Santander are notorious for this. My parents lent me a large sum of money for a House deposit whilst I was waiting for my fixed ISA to expire. We both banked with Santander and made them aware of the transfer and still got hit by AML.

I have always used a personal account and never had a problem before. I've used one for years and never had a problem. I've also used various banks and never have they tried to hang onto my money.
@Red_boots2 - how long did it take to get the money released? I've been reading reviews on Trustpilot (which I'd done that in the first place) and someone on there lost a house he was buying because Santander reported his deposit money as fraud.

About a week. We were using a Santdander Mortgage Advisor who was able to get in touch with someone to speed the process up

macman

OP, the ombudsman will not be interested until you have been through the bank's own complaints procedure, waited 6 weeks without response, or received a deadlock letter. So yes, trigger-happy in the extreme.