HSBC blocked account after mortgage deposit

wattsjames1990

I just wanted to share a bad experience I have been having with HSBC over the last couple of weeks with regards to my account being frozen over two transactions. Currently, my wife and I are in the process of purchasing the flat we currently rent from our landlord. My mum has very kindly gifted us the deposit to get us onto the housing ladder. So before my problems with HSBC started, we visited a mortgage broker and did all the leg work to get an agreement in principle, found a solicitor and had a price to purchase the flat.

My mum proceeded to make the transfer but it had to be in two parts due to a maximum transaction limit on her account. The money came into my HSBC account no problem on both days. A couple of days passed, I logged onto my internet banking to make a payment to my credit card, however I was met with the message saying I didn’t have any eligible accounts to transfer from and to contact HSBC through the live chat. I proceeded to message them on live chat and was advised “We are currently complying with UK Statutory regulations and cannot give a timescale. The bank will be in touch in due course”. Not being happy with the response, I called up customer services and explained the situation that I had two transactions come in that may have been abnormal from my usual activity and that I am willing to provide evidence backing up those transactions. I was met with the same response and was not given a reason. I said I wanted to speak to a manager but they just passed me to someone else who said yet the same thing again. I then asked to be passed to the fraud department in the UK so I could explain the transactions. They proceeded to transfer me to card fraud who were surprised that I was sent onto them, they then sent me onto another department. At this point I gave up as I was getting nowhere

I continued to have money coming into my account (wages), however I was unable to withdraw anything either by bank transfer, card or direct debit. 2 days passed and I decided to go into branch with my agreement in principle and other documents to show I was applying for a mortgage. The chap went into an office to make a call to find out what was going on. He could see on his system that there was a block on my account. I was then called into a room to speak to a customer service rep who was from overseas. He told me “I can see that your account is active on my system”. I said to him that this couldn’t be as I couldn’t use my card or make transfers from it. I asked him to hold on whilst I tried my internet banking and was met with a sigh from the rep on the phone. I was still getting an error message but gave him the benefit of the doubt thinking it would take a while for my app to refresh. I then went out to try and take some cash out but was unsuccessful. The chap in the bank was rather surprised I was given that information and went to call them again. After 10 minutes, he called me into the office and advised that all they could tell him was “HSBC are complying with their statutory regulations and couldn’t give a timescale”. I was very disappointed and explained I couldn’t access my wages and that I had bills to pay. Sadly there was nothing he could do but this chap was the only one so far sympathetic to my situation.

I left the bank and went about my weekend, I was still able to use my HSBC credit card during this time to keep me going. Tuesday came along and I still hadn’t heard anything. This was day 9 and I had no contact from the bank. I called them up in the morning, was cut off whilst speaking to a customer service rep overseas, tried calling back but was met with a blank line, and then the third time I got through to someone, I was very firm on the phone advising that this situation was unacceptable. I had been paid and could see my money went into my account but was unable to access it. I explained that I had bills I needed to pay and direct debits such as car tax that were due to come out in a few days time. I was simply told there was nothing that could be done and that she could understand my situation, however I could tell this was just scripted words given to them as they came across unsympathetic and unwilling to help. I asked her how they would feel if the shoe was on the other foot, they were not interested. My boss who had been seeing me go through this stress said he would reach out to the bank manager who manages the companies bank account where I work. From this point, things started to move forward. They came back after they made some internal enquiries advising that I would need to go into branch to provide some evidence proving my relationship with my mum and also evidence of where the funds came from.

I proceeded to get the documents needed and made my way to the bank that instance. I was met by the same chap who was very helpful and understanding. I explained how things were progressing and he took scans of the documents to upload to my “file”. Whilst I was sitting down and waiting, my phone rang and ironically it was HSBC after 10 days of waiting who wanted to review my details on the account and advised what documents I needed to send to them. I told them that I was currently in branch having documents scanned. They required some additional documents which I didn’t have to hand but I was able to upload these via a secure link they had emailed me. It is now Day 11 and I am still locked out of my account with another 2 direct debits bouncing. Needless to say I am making other arrangements to pay these straight away as not to have them outstanding.

The only person who was sympathetic towards my situation was the chap in the bank. I am extremely disappointed with HSBC as to how they have handled the whole situation. I fully understand why my account was blocked and why they have to carry out these investigations, however I am not happy that I had to find out the hard way and by having to call up to find out what was going on. There has been no pro-active communication from HSBC, all telephone communication with them is overseas, their live chat is no good. I am not normally someone who loses their temper but the stress that they have put me through so far with the whole situation is unbelievable. Whilst we are going through the purchase of our flat, the last thing we want to have now is a bad credit rating due to HSBC having a lacklustre approach in their back offices. Luckily we keep our household bills separate from our personal accounts and are able to pay our utility bills and rent from some savings whilst the whole fiasco is going on. Its very disappointing so far how they have handled the situation and has really shown myself their true colours when it comes to customer service

Its now the 16th day and finally I checked my account after a bank holiday weekend and the restrictions have now been lifted and I am able to use my account again, however, the mess it has left behind especially with my car tax bouncing means that my car is no longer taxed and I have to now retax it upfront before I can use it again. Needless to say I will be attempting to seek compensation from HSBC for the damage to my credit report let alone the mess I have had to clean up with the bounced direct debits

Voyager2002

Sadly, HSBC complied with the law and no compensation is due.

This kind of thing can happen to anyone, at any time and with any bank. All you can do is maintain accounts with several different banks and spread your money between them, so that if one account is frozen you can still continue using funds in a different bank.

la531983

" damage to my credit report "

What damage? Only thing you list is a missed DD for car tax and the DVLA dont report to credit reference agencies.

wattsjames1990

I appreciate they were complying the law, however the customer service I received from them was disappointing during the whole process. With regards to the credit report, it wasnt just the direct debit for my car tax, it was a number of other things in the end too such as phone bill.

TheBanker

wattsjames1990 said:

I appreciate they were complying the law, however the customer service I received from them was disappointing during the whole process. With regards to the credit report, it wasnt just the direct debit for my car tax, it was a number of other things in the end too such as phone bill.

You seem to understand why this happened but are not happy with the lack of communication and length of time taken to resolve the issues. This would be valid grounds for a complaint, which may yield a small goodwill gesture. Perhaps go back and speak to the helpful guy in the branch, and ask him to record a complaint for you?

Shakin_Steve

I was under the impression that banks had to give you access to your wages whether they were investigating or not. Am I wrong?

Brie

TheBanker said:

wattsjames1990 said:

I appreciate they were complying the law, however the customer service I received from them was disappointing during the whole process. With regards to the credit report, it wasnt just the direct debit for my car tax, it was a number of other things in the end too such as phone bill.

You seem to understand why this happened but are not happy with the lack of communication and length of time taken to resolve the issues. This would be valid grounds for a complaint, which may yield a small goodwill gesture. Perhaps go back and speak to the helpful guy in the branch, and ask him to record a complaint for you?

Agree with TheBanker. 

You are looking for a goodwill gesture on their part given the delays and misleading information provided.  That an account is "active on a system" doesn't mean that the customer can interact in a productive way.  Let them know how much extra stress this has caused you at a time that everyone knows is one of the most stressful events we go through.  

You could also outline how "financially inconvenienced" you were.  You had to take time off work perhaps, pay for parking, pay for phone calls, take taxis as you couldn't drive your car legally.  You'll need to list every detail about how much time this took to resolve.  It will help if you have the details of the times, dates, who you talked to.  

You won't get a lot of ££ but don't be fobbed off with a £10 goodwill payment.  

boingy

I expected the DDs to still work OK even though account access was blocked. It's crazy for them not to honour existing DDs as that's bound to cause problems.

wmb194

boingy said:

I expected the DDs to still work OK even though account access was blocked. It's crazy for them not to honour existing DDs as that's bound to cause problems.

They could be used to extract money to other accounts, though, as some savings accounts can pull DDs. You could also spend money with e.g., retailers when not entitled to i.e. because the money was stolen.

boingy

wmb194 said:

boingy said:

I expected the DDs to still work OK even though account access was blocked. It's crazy for them not to honour existing DDs as that's bound to cause problems.

They could be used to extract money to other accounts, though, as some savings accounts can pull DDs. You could also spend money with e.g., retailers when not entitled to i.e. because the money was stolen.

We can all think of ways people can misuse things but a DD for your car tax or for your household bills are unlikely to be the chosen method for fraud but are guaranteed to cause grief for the customer if they are not paid on time. This thread is another innocent person being assumed guilty by a bank and having their normal life "suspended" for an indefinite time. Why didn't the bank contact their customer and ask them some questions? They just assume everyone is guilty and then hide behind their procedures. The argument goes that they don't want to give a fraudster any more info but if you are a fraudster and the bank blocks the account you've got to be pretty stupid to not figure it out!

(BTW, until just now I didn't know you could DD your car tax).

wmb194

boingy said:

wmb194 said:

boingy said:

I expected the DDs to still work OK even though account access was blocked. It's crazy for them not to honour existing DDs as that's bound to cause problems.

They could be used to extract money to other accounts, though, as some savings accounts can pull DDs. You could also spend money with e.g., retailers when not entitled to i.e. because the money was stolen.

We can all think of ways people can misuse things but a DD for your car tax or for your household bills are unlikely to be the chosen method for fraud but are guaranteed to cause grief for the customer if they are not paid on time. This thread is another innocent person being assumed guilty by a bank and having their normal life "suspended" for an indefinite time. Why didn't the bank contact their customer and ask them some questions? They just assume everyone is guilty and then hide behind their procedures. The argument goes that they don't want to give a fraudster any more info but if you are a fraudster and the bank blocks the account you've got to be pretty stupid to not figure it out!

(BTW, until just now I didn't know you could DD your car tax).

MPs and society more generally want banks to combat fraud so complain to them, I guess. They have to move quickly when they see something suspicious and as DDs are a way to withdraw money they're refused. When you have millions of customers to monitor it'll take a while to get around to questioning those you've blocked. This is why it's a good idea to have multiple accounts, credit cards and money dotted around.