Cheque Held After Bankruptcy

mitchen83

Hello all

I declared myself bankrupt in 2019. A year later my status changed to completed or whatever the term was. I’ve had no issues with it since then, apart from a few months ago my local nationwide wouldn’t let me withdraw any money over the counter because they misunderstood the bankruptcy warning on my account. I called the telephone banking people they apologised profusely and said the staff acted incorrectly. 

However 2 weeks ago I sold a car for £10,500 and was given a cheque. I deposited the cheque not thinking anything of it.. I checked my account today and the cheque didn’t clear in my account. I first called the payee who told me that the money had left their account. I called nationwide and although their knowledge was limited because every other department was closed on a Saturday, they told me that I wasn’t allowed any money to leave my account because of my bankruptcy in 2020! To say shocked was an understatement.

I’ve had funds go back and forth from this account continuously over the past couple of years, including wages etc. with no interference.

Please tell me they don’t have a leg to stand as this money is supposed to contribute to my wedding. 

The only thing I can think is that again the misinformed staff at my local branch where I deposited the cheque have misread this again. 

Any help appreciated. 

MalMonroe

Hi, my current account is with Nationwide and for the last week or so strange things have been happening. Prior to that I'd been using my phone app quite happily and then suddenly I was told that the passnumber I've always used did not match what they had on their files and I ended up phoning them and they sent me out a new passnumber that didn't actually work the first time I tried it but did eventually.

So I'm going to say Nationwide are having trouble with both technology and staff at the moment.

But what you say concerns me greatly - 'However 2 weeks ago I sold a car for £10,500 and was given a cheque. I deposited the cheque not thinking anything of it.. I checked my account today and the cheque didn’t clear in my account. I first called the payee who told me that the money had left their account.'

That raises five questions for me -

How can the money have left the buyer's account if the cheque hasn't yet cleared at Nationwide?

Why didn't Nationwide contact you immediately to let you know that the cheque hadn't cleared? That's a lot of money.

Why would Nationwide stop money going INTO your account?

How do you know that the buyer is telling you the truth? (You are the payee, by the way and they are the payer. If indeed they have paid).

Do you know where the buyer lives?

Another question - are you barking up the wrong tree? Could it be the buyer that's at fault here and not Nationwide? Could the buyer now be sitting there with your car AND £10,500?

In my opinion, you should be chasing up the buyer, rather than the bank. (But obviously, as always, just my own opinion.)

mitchen83

Appreciate the response. The buyer is a reputable well known dealership, not a private buyer. They initially just said to me something must be wrong with the cheque they wrote (date etc.) and when it gets returned to me or them they’d just do a bank transfer. They then called back and said the money had left their account, so they asked me to query it with my bank and let them know what happens. 

I called the bank and got the normal front line assistant. She first said the cheque might not be showing as available funds due to issues with the payee.. but the cheque team were not in until Monday. She also said they don’t return failed cheques for 2-4 weeks!! So we left it at me calling back on Monday. 

She then called back 5 minutes later, and said I had a restriction on my account due to my bankruptcy back in 2020 (it was 2020 when I was discharged, not bankrupt).. and that no funds could leave my account. She was ‘ummin and erm’ing’ with every word, so it sounded like she didn’t know what she was talking about. 

I obviously said well how have I been spending and receiving money all this time then!! She didn’t know the answer to that and asked me to call back on monday! 

I’m starting to believe that nationwide are just completely clueless when it comes to matters regarding bankruptcy. I’m just praying this doesn’t turn into a big deal where I have to make complaints and go through a lot just to get my money. Surely they’ve made a mistake and there aren’t some restrictions on me that I’m unaware of i.e introduced post discharge. I do now live at a different address to when I was bankrupt. Maybe I’ve missed a letter 😭

Brie

The problem with some bank systems is that it can be very confusing what a person might see when they look at your account.  I don't know about Nationwide specifically but some others I've seen there are all kinds of layers of info to pile through - all while a customer is at the other end of the phone waiting for the instant answer to their question.  It's particularly difficult when you are going back in time to try to find some specific info.  And you find one note and then to refer back to something else you may never find the first note again.  

Doesn't excuse incorrect information but just that it's not just NW that can struggle.

Hope you sort it out ok on Monday.

sourcrates

You would be best off making this a formal complaint, by email or in writing, or via there own complaints form online.

Its an in-depth issue, that cannot be sorted in 5 mins over the phone, its will take some digging to see what has gone wrong, and why.

Once you are discharged, then your accounts should either run as per normal, or the bank can tell you it no longer want`s your business, what it can`t do is pick and choose which transactions to allow and which to decline.

diystarter7

OP
You don't have to answer this. In 2020 you were "discharged from bankruptcy." but within 2 years you sell a car worth over 10k.

Anyway, good luck and I hope you get your money sorted.

mitchen83

Well I think the most likely outcome is that on Monday they tell me the girl on Saturday made a mistake by bringing up the bankruptcy and there was something wrong with the cheque… or the cheque was processed incorrectly at the local branch as they misread the bankruptcy warning on my account.. and then they apologise and process it correctly…well I’m praying for this outcome anyway!! 

What’s annoying is that this is the second time now where nationwide have refused me money due to misunderstanding discharged bankruptcy processes. Once resolved I’m definitely looking at leaving them and getting a new account elsewhere. 

diystarter7

diystarter7 said:

OP
You don't have to answer this. In 2020 you were "discharged from bankruptcy." but within 2 years you sell a car worth over 10k.

Anyway, good luck and I hope you get your money sorted.

OP, I'm a bit confused, you had a car in Oct 2019 that they wanted valued at about "7k"

Could it something to do with that, IE the 50k you own to the org/people/business/etc has made a claim/etc?

Either way, good luck I hope you get it all sorted tomorrow.

theoretica

I do wonder if they have the wrong marker on your account and should have changed it 2 years ago - worth asking if/when you get someone who seems to know more than the basic front line contact people did.

diystarter7

NB: Could it be that the car they wanted to take off you in Oct 2019 when you were still bankrupt valued at about 7K now worth 10+k is the same car and therefore they still have a claim on it as you had the car when you was bankrupt?

Edit - used car values are up, so they may have been keeping an eye on that, don't know, see how it goes.

longjohnjohnson

diystarter7 said:

NB: Could it be that the car they wanted to take off you in Oct 2019 when you were still bankrupt valued at about 7K now worth 10+k is the same car and therefore they still have a claim on it as you had the car when you was bankrupt?

Edit - used car values are up, so they may have been keeping an eye on that, don't know, see how it goes.

The bank wouldn't be involved in any of that.  If the OR wanted the car, they'd tell the OP that directly.  They wouldn't tell every bank "If so and so ever receives a wad of cash and it looks like it's come from a dealership, sit on it and get in touch with us."