Ex Husband Emptied Child’s Savers Account

dclc123

It’s has come to my attention that my soon to be ex husband has emptied our son’s savings account with HSBC. This was a joint account opened by both of us in 2013, with both of us named on the account & it was a child’s future saver.I received a statement through the post on 04/02/25  saying that he had emptied the account & closed it down, I do not normally receive statements so this was out of the blue.I called HSBC & they said they would put in a complaint & that it shouldn’t have happened without my authority as we are both named on the account.I decided to go to my local branch to get copies of the statements & to find out what had happened. First of all the advisor informed me that it was totally ok for my ex husband to close the  joint account without my permission which she soon backtracked on & said it was done over the phone & I should have been informed.
I then requested all statements but she could only give me the last 6 years worth and it appears my ex husband from at least 2018 (we can’t see any further back & the balance was 26p) was taking out every amount of money that was deposited by my grandparents & putting it in his account as a ‘bill payment’. So he was allowed to set up a standing order to remove the money every month. So from 2013 until late 2019 he had emptied it every month including any interest & then from late  2019 he let it build up to around £3200 & then emptied it & closed the account.I asked her if this was the banks fault & she admitted that the account shouldn’t have been closed without my authority. I asked her if I should go to the police then & she said I should, I went to the police & they informed that if the bank has admitted responsibility then it is their issue to resolve. 

I went back to the bank the next day & they informed me that the complaint had been escalated to the highest level & I would hear from them soon. 

They called me on the 18/02 & have offered me £200 compensation & half of what my ex husband took out when he closed the account £1600 & they would contact my ex husband & ask for the other half but if he didn’t return it they would just ‘write it off’. 

Should I accept that offer or do I take it to the financial ombudsman in the hope they will have to return it all? 

I had no idea that if it was a child’s savers account you could set up a standing order to remove the money & I’m convinced that when we first opened the account at the meeting with the bank manager they said that no money could be taken out without both signatures hence why I have never checked on it & just thought it was gaining interest. I have searched high & low for the contract we signed but I suspect my ex husband has it. 

Does anybody have any experience with this kind of situation who could give me some advice on what to do, because now my son is £6000 down & I don’t feel like we are going to get it back 😔 
Just to add my son has learning disabilities so he wouldn’t be able to raise any complaints himself so I have to advocate for him. 

Voyager2002

First step: read the T and Cs of that particular account. Ask the bank since you say the contract has disappeared.

The bank have admitted that closing the account with only one signature should not have been allowed, but check whether the account rules permitted any withdrawals with only one signature.

And see if you can get some legal advice (Citizens' Advice Bureau) and then perhaps go back to the police. The bank may have been at fault in allowing the withdrawals, but it is not their fault that your ex took money that was in trust. Establish whether or not that is a police matter.

retiredbanker1

I understand that both of you were named as joint account holders for your son's account but what were the signing rules?
Was it both of you to sign or either?
This is important to your claim.

eskbanker

dclc123 said:

It’s has come to my attention that my soon to be ex husband has emptied our son’s savings account with HSBC.

If you're going through divorce proceedings then it may be worth highlighting this matter to your solicitor, with a view to adjusting the financial settlement to redirect funds back to your son?

IanManc

dclc123 said:

 I went to the police & they informed that if the bank has admitted responsibility then it is their issue to resolve. 

The police have missed the point. Although the bank may have admitted making a mistake in allowing your husband to access the money, the aspect which concerns the police is that your husband has stolen the money. That is a criminal offence and the police can't pretend it isn't - even though their call centre workers like to pretend crimes aren't crimes so that the police don't have to do anything.

boingy

Can you tell us exactly the name of the account and point us the the terms and conditions. It would be a very unusual savings account that allowed outgoing standing orders.

Also, the £1600 is half the post-2019 amount but he has also withdrawn stuff between 2013 and 2019 so teh amount in question is more than that.

But, yes, a pretty crappy thing for him to do.

WelshPaul

Usually such accounts require both signatures to close an account but only one to make a withdrawal. However, you need to refer to the banks T&C's for said account to be sure.

retiredbanker1

Future Saver account - bare trust account - monies deposited should be for benefit of the child.
Account not accepting new customers - so an old account.

I could not see anywhere any reference to joint trustees - it might be an old system account where you could do this.
Withdrawals should be for the benefit of the child - so in theory there would no restriction on withdrawals so (As I asked earlier) - however if the signing authority was 'Both to Sign' - then the bank are 100% guilty and if a complaint does not get the money back plus interest then a complaint should be made to the Ombudsman.

If the signing rule was 'Either to Sign' - then the compensation offered of returning half the money + £200 may not be a bad option. She should then get her solicitor to get the ex husband to repay the money taken as part of divorce settlement.

spreadsheeterapple

Future Saver account - bare trust account 
- there's a reason this account isn't on-sale anymore, and that is because of arguments such as this. There is no profit in an account which later takes up inordinate amounts of staff time dealing with queries, complaints, compensation claims, and adverse publicity such as this very query in a public forum!

Statements only being available for 6 years was also another cause of complaint, because depositors and later the children themselves when they came of age wanted to know what happened to their earlier deposits when the children were much younger or babies. Coming of age at 18 is obviously 3 times longer than statements were kept on file. No bank keeps any more than 6 years statements now; customers are told to download or keep paper statements.

I don't recall whether the bank mandate gave the option of 'both to sign' on withdrawals, even for trust accounts, but we did do away with mandates like that many years ago, due to the potential for complaint. It is several decades since every customer withdrawal and cheque was manually checked against the signing mandate. We did used to have branch staff members doing that, but that was way back in the 1980s, possibly some carried through to the early '90s but pretty sure that was then stopped when we had a major reorganisation, automation, and thousands of redundancies, plus use of cheques plummeted. Standing Orders and other payments should be checked though. You need the bank to tell you whether the bank mandate was 'both to sign' or 'any one trustee to sign', in order to query past withdrawals. Despite account closure, they should still be able to print a copy of the scanned bank mandate.

As the account is a Trust, then the Trustees are responsible for managing it, including withdrawals. As someone else mentioned, withdrawals are supposed to be 'for the benefit of the child', and unlike Junior ISAs there's no restriction on keeping all funds in the account until coming of age. Withdrawals are instead legitimately expected at any time for e.g. school fees, music/dance lessons/instruments, sports equipment, educational visits, travel to performances. But the withdrawals are a matter for the Trustees to decide, the bank wouldn't be checking.

So, the husband had signing access, able to withdraw; therefore it's not a police matter from that standpoint.
As to how the funds were used, if you cannot link them to benefitting the child, you should speak with your solicitor for advice on whether that is a criminal or civil matter, and whether you want to take it further alongside the divorce process.

Yorkie1

Fraud by abuse of position (s.4 Fraud Act 2006) might be applicable here:
Fraud Act 2006 | The Crown Prosecution Service

ian1246

This is a criminal matter and it's right that its reported to your local police force.

Those funds are not yours and they aren't your husbands - they are legally your sons the moment they land in the account.

If the PC tries to palm you off as a civil matter, raise a formal complaint. It's fraud and should be investigated. When making the complaint, be sure to request a victims right to review.