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Confused on why halifax closed down bank accounts
My brother has just returned top the UK after living abroad for around two years.
In November his bank (Halifax) sent a letter stating they are closing down his current account and credit card with in X number of days. He was asked to clear his balance and pay any outstanding CC balance.
The bank did not provide any reason in the letter. So he contacted them via in app chat and he told that the bank will send him another letter. But nothing was sent.
Today he went to his local branch, but they plainly refused to tell him anything.
Worried that he may have become victim of fraud or identity theft while he was abroad, I have helped him create account with Credit Karma to check his credit file.
Nothing seems to be wrong, no new accounts, no loans, no hard searches. no CIFAS reports.
The only thing he doesn't recognise is monthly soft searches done by MoneySuperMarket. He has never dealt with them nor does he have any account with them.
Any advise on what could be going on? What else shall I do to help him out.
Comments
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Perhaps they've discovered that he's been living abroad? That may be against their T&Cs.
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Where was he living and when did Halifax realise he lived there? Some UK banks cannot have account holders who live in certain other countries, most of the Euro zone included following Brexit. But normally if telling people about needing to close the accounts they will give this reason.
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Closure with notice is the bank not wanting him as a customer anymore, fraud they close immediately
As above, UK banks do not tend to like people living abroad but having a UK account (particularly if they are using a UK address where they don't live) for regulatory reasons. In a way he's fortunate if that was the reason they are just closing the accounts. You can suggest they move on and try an account somewhere else but don't go abroad again
Sam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness:
People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.
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My brother has just returned top the UK after living abroad for around two years.
Was he using the account(s) while he was abroad?
If the notice was given in November then have they already closed the account(s)?
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If Halifax had suspected fraud then your brother's account would have been suspended without notice.
Might it simply be that he had breached their terms by not being resident in the UK?
The soft searches are likely to be marketing follow-ups, maybe there was an annual insurance product in the past and an anniversary date has poked an algorithm into life?
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For people living abroad, it doesn't necessarily have to be a breach of T&Cs, it can just be the bank deciding it's not worth the hassle.
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First step
Open A new account elsewhere and clear our the Halifax account
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thanks for all you replies.
Just to confirm he was living in Pakistan to look after our elderly father.
He says, there were overdraft charges which he paid off over time. He had Direct debits for bills so his account wasn’t dormant.
No buying, selling or any business activity was conducted while he was away. Only two incoming transactions sent to his account by a neighbour who owed him money while he was abroad and those were to clear the OD
It seems plausible that staying abroad for extended time could be breach of T&Cs. But Halifax should have at least informed him that he has breached such T&Cs rather than refusing to tell him anything.
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It's impossible for any of us here to know why your brother's account got closed. But two incoming transactions sent to his account by a neighbour could be the reason. The neighbour could be on a blacklist. But who knows. There could be other reasons, such as that your brother might have used the account from abroad for a prolonged period of time.
Your brother would be best advised to find banking facilities somewhere else. And to not accept money from people whose financial profile he doesn't know.
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He could try doing a SAR to see if that provides any incite to the closure.
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