Frozen bank account - will my DDs be paid?

slopemaster

Lloyds have decided I'm an international money launderer because i tried to send £1000 to my own account in France. This means that not only is my current account blocked, but also my credit cards with mbna and Halifax. It looks like my account will be frozen for the foreseeable future, as i am currently in France for essential reasons, and if i did try and do a flying visit back, i would have to quarantine.

So, i need help in re-arranging my finances. Luckily, i have one other credit card and one current account   still working . But it is basically a dormant account with no money in it and no DDs on it. So, i will work out how to get money sent to it, and move the DD to pay the credit card I can still use.

But what about my mbna and Halifax cards which are frozen? I can't even get online or into phone banking to check how much i need to pay this month. And i don't suppose my normal DDs from my frozen Lloyds account will get paid? I am worried about getting late payment fees or even defaults because they are making it impossible to pay them!

slopemaster

and, will incoming payments that i don't manage to divert in time  be bounced back? or swallowed into the frozen account?

eskbanker

I don't believe there's a reliable one-size-fits-all answer to your questions so you'll need to phone Lloyds to ascertain the conditions pertaining to your account (and potentially the card companies too if Lloyds will block payment DDs) - if you're currently away from home it's presumably possible that they've written to you with explanatory info but that you won't have seen the letter yet?  They'll be limited in what they can discuss with you, especially reasons, timescales, etc, but should be able to relay the basics of what will and won't be allowed while the account is frozen.

slopemaster

Thanks, but they clearly suspect fraud or money laundering as they won't even speak to me.

It got blocked when i attempted an online transfer, and now i cannot get into online or phone banking system for the current a/c or the two CCs

I spent an hour on the phone to the fraud team explaining where the money came from and where it was going, and answering endless questions, including info they shouldn't even have, like my passport and NI numbers.

At the end they said they couldn't unblock it unless I went into a branch, and they couldn't answer any more questions. They literally said "I can't comment on that" to everything, including not only reasons but also what would happen about payments in or out. And told me not to ring back as they won't speak to me. And that I can't make a complaint.

(I have, though, through Resolver. But I am not holding my breath.)

hoc

slopemaster said:

Thanks, but they clearly suspect fraud or money laundering as they won't even speak to me.

It got blocked when i attempted an online transfer, and now i cannot get into online or phone banking system for the current a/c or the two CCs

I spent an hour on the phone to the fraud team explaining where the money came from and where it was going, and answering endless questions, including info they shouldn't even have, like my passport and NI numbers.

At the end they said they couldn't unblock it unless I went into a branch, and they couldn't answer any more questions. They literally said "I can't comment on that" to everything, including not only reasons but also what would happen about payments in or out. And told me not to ring back as they won't speak to me. And that I can't make a complaint.

(I have, though, through Resolver. But I am not holding my breath.)

Any update?

slopemaster

Yes, thanks for asking.

Lloyds completely ignored my complaint, no response at all, and are still refusing to tell me anything.

The 8 weeks has now passed, so I have escalated it to the Ombudsman. Not holding my breath for a rapid solution though.

Fortunately, after a difficult few days, I was able eventually to divert all incoming payments to my old RBS account and switch my DDs to that one.  However, Lloyds are still holding a significant amount of my money with no explanation, and I want it back!.

In future I will make sure not only that i have more than one account (with money in) ,and more than one credit card, but that they are also with different banking groups.

slopemaster

I also considered money claim on line - but you have to know the exact figure you are claiming, and i only know the approx amount that was in there when it got frozen. So I will just have to wait for the Ombudsman - a week so far and not even an acknowledgement of receipt yet, but i believe that can take weeks, and then months or years for a resolution!

Thrugelmir

slopemaster said:

as i am currently in France for essential reasons, and if i did try and do a flying visit back, i would have to quarantine.

Is your main place of residence now France? 

Did you inform LLoyds of this, or did you continue to use a UK "mailbox" address? 

slopemaster

No, my permanent residence is in the UK but I am in France for the foreseeable future, and I did inform Lloyds of that.

slopemaster

Plus,if they didn't like me staying in France more than a certain length of time they should have said so and given notice to close the account - not frozen it with no warning and kept the money!

I have been regularly visiting my property in France for the entire 10 years I have had the bank account, and regularly transferring money, so it's not new or unusual.

KneesUpMotherBrown

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/lloyds-bank-offshore-accounts-frozen-jersey-money-laundering-a8971766.html