Joint account holder running up overdraft

asingledad

I am divorcing.

I have a joint account with my soon to be ex wife. I have stopped using the account and my income goes into my own account with another bank. She has arranged an overdraft and its mostly used now.

My wife is refusing to sign the form required to take me off the joint account, and the bank will not accept it anyway. The bank is also refusing to freeze the account. She has said she will sign it if I pay off part of the overdraft,

I do not want to risk being liable for further spending. She is both bad with money and vengeful.

I want to both avoid any liability for an increased overdraft and I want to end financial associations with her with credit reference agencies.

Daliah

They cannot refuse to freeze the account. We'll find you the relevant clause in the T&Cs if you tell us which bank it is.

eskbanker

asingledad said:

I want to both avoid any liability for an increased overdraft and I want to end financial associations with her with credit reference agencies.

Just to be clear, freezing the account and putting it in dispute would only resolve the first point but not the second - if she's uncooperative then that would probably need to wait until the full financial separation arrangements are negotiated and finalised as part of the divorce.

km1500

The bank has to freeze the account if one of the parties requests it

however you would still be jointly and severally liable for the accrued overdraft up to that point

asingledad

Daliah said:

They cannot refuse to freeze the account. We'll find you the relevant clause in the T&Cs if you tell us which bank it is.

Cooperative Bank. The only thing I could find is clause 6.8 of the T&Cs which just says they "may" freeze it if there is a dispute.

eskbanker said:

Just to be clear, freezing the account and putting it in dispute would only resolve the first point but not the second

I am hoping she will agree to make it her sole account in return for my paying off the OD.

I am very worried about the financial association - she has an "it will be OK in the end" attitude to finances and expensive tastes. Will my credit rating be affected long term if she defaults on her credit card debt while we still have a joint account?

km1500 said:

however you would still be jointly and severally liable for the accrued overdraft up to that point

That is something though. My real fear is that the OD will grow.

Its very reassuring to be told they have to freeze it. It was what I thought until I phoned them today!

Daliah

asingledad said:

Daliah said:

They cannot refuse to freeze the account. We'll find you the relevant clause in the T&Cs if you tell us which bank it is.

Cooperative Bank. The only thing I could find is clause 6.8 of the T&Cs which just says they "may" freeze it if there is a dispute.

You are right, 6.8 is the only relevant reference, and it is somewhat wooly. 

If I were you, I would now raise a written complaint



I would expect that the COOP will block the account immediately, but any existing overdraft will still be your joint, and several, responsibility. I.e. if she doesn't pay, you will have to, and you would have to seek a Court order to get any money from her. Should the COOP fail to block the account, you can go to the FOS. But hopefully this won't be necessary. 


Depending on how fair you feel you can be / want to be to your wife at this stage, consider notifying her (or get your solicitor to notify her) in writing that she needs to find an alternative account, as the joint account will cease to work.


Keep records of absolutely everything, as you might need this in Court.

Daliah

asingledad said:

I am very worried about the financial association - she has an "it will be OK in the end" attitude to finances and expensive tastes. Will my credit rating be affected long term if she defaults on her credit card debt while we still have a joint account?

You are rightly concerned about the financial association - but as soon as your joint account(s) are closed, you can have the association removed from your credit files.

https://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/guides/financial-association.html#:~:text=A financial association is someone,make them a financial associate.

asingledad

Thank you so much. I have made a complaint.

Telling her is risky. She may increase the OD limit and take out a lot more money if I do so

I am keeping records.

VKE

1: Write a letter to Coop saying that you want the joint account frozen immediately and send it special delivery/tracked
2: Get an update account balance so you've got an audit trail of how much the account is overdrawn by
3: As you've said you will be responsible for half of overdrawn value but they should not be ignoring ýour request in freezing the account- good luck and try to stay strong

30+ yrs ago I split up with husband and I contacted bank by phone requesting they froze our joint account, I then sent the request  in writing (tracked/signed for) only to find out 'he' went into the bank and make a large over-the-counter cash withdrawal (insert any, all bad words - I used them all  out loud to the friend I was staying with!).
So now my 1 account is frozen, can't access any ££ and he's probably in a bar drinking whisky and smoking cigars and I'm responsible for half of debt of the account.
Bank then say the funds need to be put right; conversation took place, I challenged the bank,  they reminded me that I'm responsible for 50% of the debt so I offered them £10 per month, they said no so I put it in writing that I'd pay £5 a month, again they said no and mentioned failure to pay more could lead to court and I said do what you have to do and 3wks later I was requested to visit bank to find out they would/did accept my £5 each month.
Since then all my accounts are in my name only with the exception of 1 joint account with NO overdraft and its for household bills

asingledad

The bank replied today and saying my complaint was not upheld because the decision was in line with their policies so I have complained to the financial ombudsman.

eskbanker

asingledad said:

The bank replied today and saying my complaint was not upheld because the decision was in line with their policies so I have complained to the financial ombudsman.

Unfortunately, complaints referred to the ombudsman tend to take many months to be attended to, so that's unlikely to address your more imminent concern about further debt.  What's your solicitor's view about how to protect your interests here?