my bank have closed my accounts with no notice, is there anything i can do?

Question

my loan is up to date and my overdraft was within its limit, they have given me 28 days to clear the balances, over 23000 pounds and they have offered no reason and say they dont have to

Answer 1

The banks are within their rights to call in a loan at any time. It's their money, and there's nothing you can do.

It's a very odd thing to have happened though, if your loan etc is up to date. If you have a local Advice Centre, I suggest you contact them for help.

Good luck to you, I hope you get sorted out. That's a really rotten thing to have happened to you.

Answer 2

You said they are closing your account with no notice. Than you say they gave you 28 days NOTICE to clear your 23,000 pound overdraft. The REASON you claim you were not given is, you are overdrawn by 23,000 pounds. Overdraft protection is NOT intended to be a long term loan. There is no such thing as an 'up to date balance' on such an account. Try reading the terms that came with your account (they will give you another copy if you ask). I guarantee it explains what they are doing.

Answer 3

Hi - I handle queries like these for a financial services firm, so hopefully the following information will be of help.

The rules for bank accounts are covered by the Banking Code (http://www.bankingcode.org.uk/pdfdocs/BANKING%20CODE.pdf).

Under these rules, the bank is entitled to close your account providing that they give you at least 30 days' notice (see 7.5 of the Code).

With that said, the bank is also under an obligation to "treat customers fairly". The Financial Ombudsman Service recently ruled that Alliance & Leicester were acting inappropriately by closing customers' accounts following complaints about bank charges, however the case isn't necessarily a precedent because the Ombudsman looks at each case according to the specific circumstances of that case.

It's not entirely clear from your question whether the £23,000 relates to your loan, credit in your account, or something else.

I suggest that you write to the bank as quickly as possible to ask them to reconsider their decision, and if the bank continues with the closure and does not resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk) - this is free for you, but costs the firm £400 + VAT regardless of whether the Ombudsman finds in their favour or not, meaning that most firms will look to resolve a complaint before it reaches the Ombudsman.

I hope the informaiton is of use, however if you want any additional information or assistance please send me a message and I'll be happy to help you further.

Aaron

Answer 4

Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do, its their legal right to close your account.

However, you could go to another bank, don't tell them that the first bank have closed your account, but say you are unhappy with them and you would like to move your account to the new bank. They should welcome you hopefully as a new customer, unless there is something adverse in your credit file.

Before you do it, it might be a good idea to check your credit file anyway, to see if something has gone on there incorrectly, that has caused the bank to think you are a risk and close your account.

The 2 main credit file holders are Equifax and Experian. Both of these offer reports through the post for £2 under the Data Protection Act, or you can get more detailed reports online. These would probably be your best bet as you can get them faster, and they give more details. Web addresses for both agencies are below:

Answer 5

you may of had a few returned checks, or abused your overdraft many times. Also if you have another checking account with another bank institution and transfered funds back and forth without funds being readily available- this is called kiiting, thise is grounds for account closures and bank banning their customers.

Answer 6

Have you claimed any charges back recently? There has been a number of cases in the media where this has happened. Go through the complaints procedure, and if you do not get a satisfactory response, contact the ombudsman. They have gone against their contract and banking regulations.
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

Answer 7

Sue the bank

Answer 8

there is nothing you can do because they have given you the required notice



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