TIDE BUSINESS BANKING PROBLEMS 25 October 2022 at 12:56PM in Budgeting & bank accounts 4 replies 274 views

emaorourke25

I'm hoping by posting on this forum i can receive some serious advice as I'm desperate.

I HAD a small business that I was slowly growing and it was doing well, it even survived through COVID which was unbelievable considering I'm in the travel and hospitality industry. In April 2022 TIDE after being with them for 2 years froze my account with all my money in it, i couldn't withdraw, transfer or receive any funds unable to pay invoices and wages, etc, I had the same automated response from them every day, I begged them to give me a reason why it's been frozen and begged for them to at least give me my money back. This went on for 6 weeks and still didn't have access to my funds, I'd incurred late payment charges, I had suppliers who stopped working with me etc.. my whole life and business were disappearing before my eyes due to TIDE. After 6 weeks they finally got in contact and sent some automated emails as to why they are shutting my account down, which had no explanation on it at all, i raised multiple complaints all of which were not answered correctly etc.. I was tearing my hair out.. anyway after weeks then shut the account down but didn't return my money for another 4 weeks after this and they only returned a quarter of the funds I had in there, they have said the rest of the funds have been returned to the bank as part of a banking recall... that is the message reply i get every day from them and now we are 7 months on, my business had to close and i was sick for a couple of months with depression, i'm a single mum with 2 children and TIDE have completely ruined my life and business, i still haven't had my money back.

I have escalated this to the ombudsman but they haven't dealt with the case as of yet due to how busy they are and I still receive the same email replies from TIDE, I don't know what to do? i know this is happening to hundreds of small businesses as I've read forums and reviews about them, but where does this end? how do I get my money back? 

one of my suppliers has also started a county court claim against me due to unpaid invoices, i don't know how much more I can take. I don't know how to go up against a bank but surely they cant get away with this? PLEASE HELP

The_Urbanite

Firms like Tide can freeze your funds and hold onto them indefinitely under the veil of Anti-Money Laundering laws - there is no upper timescale as to when they have to complete any reviews or restore access to funds and they are not accountable to anybody - they don’t have to explain to anyone why they are suspicious, their word will be taken for it by authorities and regulatory bodies. 

Sorry to say as the law is on their side, there is not a lot you can do. You can raise a complaint and keep trying but I don’t even think you can access the FOS with a business account. Maybe seeking independent legal advice might help - a solicitor should know how to send a letter that will give them a kick up the backside as 7 months is somewhat excessive. 

I wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole. 

emaorourke25

The_Urbanite said:

Firms like Tide can freeze your funds and hold onto them indefinitely under the veil of Anti-Money Laundering laws - there is no upper timescale as to when they have to complete any reviews or restore access to funds and they are not accountable to anybody - they don’t have to explain to anyone why they are suspicious, their word will be taken for it by authorities and regulatory bodies. 

Sorry to say as the law is on their side, there is not a lot you can do. You can raise a complaint and keep trying but I don’t even think you can access the FOS with a business account. Maybe seeking independent legal advice might help - a solicitor should know how to send a letter that will give them a kick up the backside as 7 months is somewhat excessive. 

I wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole. 

Thank you and I did look into this but the fact they returned only a proportion of my funds and said the other half has been returned as part of a banking recall just doesn't make sense to me, they did all their checks etc and they had no reasons at all, returned only half of my funds? I'll see about contacting a solicitor but I think my hands are tide and they have won.. I read they have done this to so many SME's.. thanks for advice.

born_again

emaorourke25 said:

The_Urbanite said:

Firms like Tide can freeze your funds and hold onto them indefinitely under the veil of Anti-Money Laundering laws - there is no upper timescale as to when they have to complete any reviews or restore access to funds and they are not accountable to anybody - they don’t have to explain to anyone why they are suspicious, their word will be taken for it by authorities and regulatory bodies. 

Sorry to say as the law is on their side, there is not a lot you can do. You can raise a complaint and keep trying but I don’t even think you can access the FOS with a business account. Maybe seeking independent legal advice might help - a solicitor should know how to send a letter that will give them a kick up the backside as 7 months is somewhat excessive. 

I wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole. 

Thank you and I did look into this but the fact they returned only a proportion of my funds and said the other half has been returned as part of a banking recall just doesn't make sense to me, they did all their checks etc and they had no reasons at all, returned only half of my funds? I'll see about contacting a solicitor but I think my hands are tide and they have won.. I read they have done this to so many SME's.. thanks for advice.

That means that someone that sent money to pay you has requested it back (knowing the amount will allow you to work out who) & will also be the reason why your account was frozen & then closed down. 
Sounds a lot like someone claiming you did not provide service or goods (no idea what you did) so in effect they have claimed fraud. Usually in such cases like this, you would have been told & given chance to prove your case.

So you are going to have to dig through statements etc to work out who & then find out why. 

emaorourke25

born_again said:

emaorourke25 said:

The_Urbanite said:

Firms like Tide can freeze your funds and hold onto them indefinitely under the veil of Anti-Money Laundering laws - there is no upper timescale as to when they have to complete any reviews or restore access to funds and they are not accountable to anybody - they don’t have to explain to anyone why they are suspicious, their word will be taken for it by authorities and regulatory bodies. 

Sorry to say as the law is on their side, there is not a lot you can do. You can raise a complaint and keep trying but I don’t even think you can access the FOS with a business account. Maybe seeking independent legal advice might help - a solicitor should know how to send a letter that will give them a kick up the backside as 7 months is somewhat excessive. 

I wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole. 

Thank you and I did look into this but the fact they returned only a proportion of my funds and said the other half has been returned as part of a banking recall just doesn't make sense to me, they did all their checks etc and they had no reasons at all, returned only half of my funds? I'll see about contacting a solicitor but I think my hands are tide and they have won.. I read they have done this to so many SME's.. thanks for advice.

That means that someone that sent money to pay you has requested it back (knowing the amount will allow you to work out who) & will also be the reason why your account was frozen & then closed down. 
Sounds a lot like someone claiming you did not provide service or goods (no idea what you did) so in effect they have claimed fraud. Usually in such cases like this, you would have been told & given chance to prove your case.

So you are going to have to dig through statements etc to work out who & then find out why. 

It was TIDE that has taken my funds and not returned them, TIDE froze my account and took my funds and then months later only returned half the funds to me? it has nothing to do with any service i have provided, TIDE stole the money and still havent returned it.