Ombudsman appeal approval

Acal

Hi, I've submitted an appeal to the financial ombudsmen for a credit default on a joint account I had been advised I had been removed from (see post: Default on joint account held with ex husband — MoneySavingExpert Forum). 

I've now submitted an appeal to the financial ombudsmen and they have confirmed as it's a joint account they cannot progress unless I have my ex husbands approval (he is unwilling to provide). Does this mean I am not able to use the appeal process? 

DullGreyGuy

The Financial Ombudsman looks at escalated complaints not "appeals".

If you look at the Ombudsman's own website https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/banking-and-payments/disputed-transactions and the Joint Accounts scenario it states:

We can usually look at complaints like this, if we think we can fairly decide the case without needing evidence from third parties.

So it appears it being a joint account isnt an immediate problem unless they feel they will need evidence from your Ex (though I am a little surprised about this as it inevitably will require the bank to disclose personal information of your Ex to the FOS without your Ex's consent but it may be the bank's Privacy Statement caters for this)

I have to say I am not fully sure on what grounds you think the bank is to blame for the situation? You say its you're ex that didn't submit the forms and dont give any evidence that the bank knew? I note in the other thread it was commented on advising of the default but it seems likely a notice was sent to the last address on file which your Ex received and didn't forward. I'm not convinced a bank has to run a tracing service each time it sends a letter when there has been no indication that the customer isnt still at the last known address. 

Have to say I was in a somewhat similar situation to you, broke up with ex, removed them from most the joint things but left a loan in joint names as the bank said it wasnt possible to remove the other person and interest rates on offer were much higher than what the existing loan was at. She went on to get into financial trouble it would seem and despite the loan being fully up to date the bank allegedly defaulted my accounts (though never received anything and nothing showed up on the CRAs) and then subsequently wrote a letter saying as the defaults were outstanding they no longer wanted me as a customer. On the plus side they accepted a F&F offer to settle the loan well below the outstanding balance, on the small overdraft I had to pay in full as she wasnt named on the account. 

Acal

Thanks for the feedback . 
I believe he had moved on from the address also but he was obviously aware of the debt as I could see from the statements he continued to pay for a period of time.