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[Deleted User]

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[Deleted User]

Yes, the source bank can decline a CASS for a number of reasons, including if your account is frozen. I’m afraid this might be a case of having to sit it out – then you could try complaining and also look for alternative banking arrangements. 

Band7

Whilst your account is locked, they wouldn't process an account switch request. Your highest priority needs to be to get the account unlocked.

I would raise a formal complaint with Santander as their random security checks are way over the top, and not delivering on their promises makes matters worse.

Band7

Mention all this in your complaint. 

As an aside, I would consider it a bad idea to have your personal and business account with the same bank. 

grumbler

sol4ever said:

 I'm shocked that they can lock someone out of their account for so long. 

Be prepared to even bigger shock. Some people have their accounts frozen for months. Usually, this is because of AML paranoia, but as they are giving you run-around instead of some explanation, this can be the case.

lr1277

[Deleted User] said:

From the which.co.uk site on what to if you account is blocked it has the following (bold is mine).  Perhaps its worth a try to switch.

Set up a new bank account as soon as you can

You should still be able to do this despite the account freeze and switching your current account is relatively easy using the Current Account Switch Service.

Ask your new bank if you need to set up your regular payments again and make sure your cash is paid into the new account.

If you're on benefits, then ask if the provider can recall the money in the frozen account and pay it to a new one. You have a legal right to specify where your benefit money goes and in theory, the bank should not prevent you from accessing it.

I too read that article, but discounted the whole thing wnen I read the statement about being able to switch your frozen account to a new account.

Based on statements on this thread, I believe that no bank will allow you to switch if your account with them is frozen. However I have no basis for the belief other than balance of probablilites.

Ed-1

[Deleted User] said:

lr1277 said:

[Deleted User] said:

From the which.co.uk site on what to if you account is blocked it has the following (bold is mine).  Perhaps its worth a try to switch.

Set up a new bank account as soon as you can

You should still be able to do this despite the account freeze and switching your current account is relatively easy using the Current Account Switch Service.

Ask your new bank if you need to set up your regular payments again and make sure your cash is paid into the new account.

If you're on benefits, then ask if the provider can recall the money in the frozen account and pay it to a new one. You have a legal right to specify where your benefit money goes and in theory, the bank should not prevent you from accessing it.

I too read that article, but discounted the whole thing wnen I read the statement about being able to switch your frozen account to a new account.

Based on statements on this thread, I believe that no bank will allow you to switch if your account with them is frozen. However I have no basis for the belief other than balance of probablilites.

I will give it a go and see.  I just read another article from resolver.co.uk saying that you can still transfer a frozen account.

As my business account is also Santander I can log into it and view my frozen personal current account activity and thankfully I can see that direct debits are still being processed.

If the account itself is frozen then you can't CASS it out. If it's just Internet banking that is blocked then you can CASS out the account.

k_man

[Deleted User] said:

I was making a large transfer to my zopa account from my Santander current account on the 27th Jan.  The transfer got rejected I got logged out of my account and got an "access denied.  please contact support desk".  I have made transfers from my Santander account to zopa in the past so not its not a new transaction recipient.  I called support straight away and they told me the case is with the "back office team" and I will get a call within 48 hours.  Well I'm still locked out after 4 days.   I have been calling everyday and told it is with the back office team and they should be in touch soon.  I'm shocked that they can lock someone out of their account for so long.  I will be closing my account once I get access. 

I was thinking, what if I triggered an account swap to another bank.  Could Santander block it?  An account swap takes up to 7 days and I could live with that knowing I can access my my new account.

When you made the last payment that seemed to trigger being frozen out were you connected from somewhere new, or even abroad? These can both trigger security freezes.

Or was the payment much bigger than previous ones?
Santander blocked my access after a large payment was made, albeit was resolved quickly as they phoned me immediately after the freeze.

Neither of these may be relevent, and don't excuse the delays in Santander's response, but may be useful for future reference.

Band7

[Deleted User] said:

It was a much bigger payment than previously.  I called them straight away and explained than I had been making transfer to my zopa account which I have transferred to before multiple times.  They said they added this information to the the case for the back office team to review. 

Have you raised your complaint yet?

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] said:

Band7 said:

[Deleted User] said:

It was a much bigger payment than previously.  I called them straight away and explained than I had been making transfer to my zopa account which I have transferred to before multiple times.  They said they added this information to the the case for the back office team to review. 

Have you raised your complaint yet?

Yes,  I'm just off the phone.  They took the details and said they are passing to the complaints team. Complaints will contact me in a few days she said.

Don't hold your breath!!  I also had similar problems as you when I was banking with Santander, although they never froze my account.  They frequently withheld payments to my savings accounts for no apparent reason, and than took a long time to release the funds.  I also got the conflicting reasons/misleading information from members of staff.  In my experience, Santander is the worst bank I ever had to deal with and I would not recommend them to anyone.     

[Deleted User]

I'm glad to know that your account is now back to normal.  But do persevere with the complaint.  In my case, every time they did something similar and raised a complaint, they always credited my account with £50-£75 with a promise that they will review their procedures, which of course, I never saw any improvements.  But nevertheless, I would encourage you to close both of your accounts sooner than later, because they will do it again.