Bank not letting me spend my own money

lottieholder

This is long bear with me.

This has happened several times over the last few years. I do appreciate that banks are trying to protect us from ourselves but sometimes they not only go too far but also cost us more money.  

Several years ago when my partner died I was left our house under the condition I paid the mortgage off. My bank wouldn't let me transfer more than £20,000 in one go so I did it in stages.  3 years later I get a restraint order from the bank saying not only did i still owe the money but I owed them for the the insurance on the house.  They had to retract the restraint when I proved that not only had I paid the amount owed with the required reference but I also proved that I had insured the house (there had been no restriction on which company I used, just that it had to be insured).

OK. so we go to the new bathroom 2 years ago.  I was going on holiday whilst it was being done as I can't live in a house with no loo.  As I was going away my contractor asked for money upfront for materials, £2000 to be exact.  No problem I thought. Tried to transfer the money, it was transferred straight back to me.  Conversation with someone I suspect was in India who I could barely understand and said his name was Ben!!!  What is the money for? New bathroom.  Do I know the person I'm paying? Yes, I've known him since he was at school, he's a plumber putting in my new bathroom, I need to pay him. I'm sorry we think you are being scammed.  The day before I left for Portugal I had to borrow the money in cash from my daughter and pay her back in the £600 increments my bank would allow.

So we go to today.  I went to buy a holiday chalet.  It's a doer upper but a good investment.  I find my bank has now restricted me to a maximum spend of £5000 in any one day.  The chalet is a little more than that and added on is gas compliance, site fee etc, etc.  So I pay £4500 and a promise to pay the rest tomorrow. I showed the lady dealing with the contract exactly what I'd done which confirmed my payment, and incidentally, also showed my bank balance. I had something to do I couldn't get out of so didn't check my account until about 10pm when I see that the payment that was confirmed was not showing on my account.  I check my messages and nothing.  So, I sent the payment again.  Now I have a problem. I have now received a message saying that the bank want to ensure that I'm not being scammed and to ring them.  I really don't want the payment to go through twice. I don't want to talk to someone in India I can't understand and will say they don't believe me and I really, really don't want to lose this deal.  

Can I ask,  I'm 76 totally with it, Joe Biden's older than me (OK some people may not regard that as a good example) Current checked IQ 141,  is this an age thing or are they doing it to everyone as it doesn't seem to be a problem with my children?

Bigwheels1111

Why are you with the same bank still ?.
I like First Direct as they are a 24 bank.
In most cases one call sorts out any issues I’m having.
Had transfer problems with,
FD
Halifax
Santander
Nationwide
TSB
HSBC
Natwest
The joke is I call said bank, get them to set up all the funding.
Doing their checks and asking me the fraud questions etc and they still block payments.

I have had trouble with FD when I need to transfer funds into new savings accounts once the old ones mature.
Getting 5 large deposits the same day and Setting up 4 or 5 new accounts with very large transfers makes them jittery.
They hold the money, I complain and they give me compensation.
I quite like free money.
Never been limited on amounts.

If I were you first I would change banks, then get a second or third account as well.
Say Chase bank and Starling.
Keep funds in each just in case your main bank gets locked down.

sheramber

My bank has a daily limit that you can set yourself.  

Is there an option 'daily limit' in the transfer payments section?

I had the same for paying for a new drive. It was twenty questions, explained by the fact that it was an unusual payment-

well yes, I don't get a mew drive installed every week.

You transferred the money from your caving account-

yes, I don't keep that sort of money in my current account. Is that not what savings accounts are for.?

It took an hour to convince them I was not being scammed and to release the payment.

wmb194

Write a cheque.

Zanderman

wmb194 said:

Write a cheque.

Though bear in mind that, these days, even cheques get questioned now and then. I recently paid by cheque for something because, for various reasons, a transfer wasn't appropriate and had a call from the bank (HSBC) querying it the day after it was submitted for payment.

But I missed the call, they left a message, omitting to say what it was about.  When I rang back, 3 hours later, they said it was too late, they'd unilaterally stopped the cheque as they need a reply 'within 2 hours'. 

I still like cheques for simplicity (no need to know payee details etc etc) now and then,, but it's getting complicated!

Shakin_Steve

It's a really sad situation when banks have to be as careful as this. They are, of course, subject to all kinds of rules to protect the (stupid) consumer. There's also an element of self preservation, it's them that end up reimbursing the 'victim' should they be scammed.

As I said in a previous thread, why should the vast majority be inconvenienced so that the feckless few can be protected from their own ignorance? 

Shakin_Steve

Maybe banks could introduce some kind of disclaimer to be signed by customers who are willing to take responsibility for their own money. That way, if you get scammed, it's you that's lost the money and not the bank and, indirectly, the rest of us.

Shakin_Steve

My wife is getting a new (used) car in the summer. I'm actually dreading it due to the inevitable song and dance with the bank. So much so, I'm even thinking of taking finance from the dealer, even though I'd rather pay cash.

elsien

I do think it depends on spending patterns as well. I had a call about 10K I was sending to another bank, although it was also a query about why I was closing that account. 

Smaller amounts not an issue for me. 84 year old parent gets asked more often because she rarely spends that amount. She was appreciative as there was a recent attempt to put through large amounts on her debit card that she hadn’t agreed to.
Swings and roundabouts. 

ETA - she was not one of the “feckless few” or ignorant. Possible that card was cloned although she doesn’t let it out if her sight and is very careful. Scams are getting very sophisticated and even those who are aware can be taken in.

Shakin_Steve

Obviously, if a card has been cloned, the person who has lost money has not been scammed, they have been robbed. A totally different situation, and I stick by my original statement.

TheBanker

Shakin_Steve said:

It's a really sad situation when banks have to be as careful as this. They are, of course, subject to all kinds of rules to protect the (stupid) consumer. There's also an element of self preservation, it's them that end up reimbursing the 'victim' should they be scammed.

As I said in a previous thread, why should the vast majority be inconvenienced so that the feckless few can be protected from their own ignorance? 

Whilst I can see where you are coming from, I don't think the language used here is appropriate. Scams are sophisticated, and people who are far from stupid fall for them. And some of the people you class as Stupid may actually be vulnerable for one reason or another.