Bankrupt husband.

[Moneymatters18]

Sorry I did post on the money topic but I haven't had any response at all so i have posted here for traffic. I'm extremely anxious and tearful at the moment also 6 months pregnant so i really don't need harsh words or nasty comments I am already as ashamed as I can be about this I both me and dh have been in floods of tears our money situation spiralled only a couple of months ago after an accident which has left dh unable to work fully and the expense of him being in hospital. We also tried to get help but we couldn't get documents on time from his work place so they kept closing our claims and our rent costs spiralled out of control and we had to keep borrowing to keep our heads above water. I've copied the post exactly how I wrote it first. I really appricate anyone who reads this and can offer advice. I'm a regular poster but I've name changed.

Hi everyone hoping this is a safe place to talk I'm really not looking for any judgement or nasty comments just need people to talk to and ask for advice.

My husband recently filed for bankruptcy we paid the fee in full and our joint bank account was frozen with Santander... fair enough that's the usual process. All our money goes into this account and all our bills and direct debits come out of this account.

The bank account got frozen with £1073 in there a combination of husbands wages and some of the benefits we are entitled to. (Low income family) the bank account has been unfrozen but the bank has decided husband is to be removed from the account which is fine. I haven't touched a penny of the money in the account since it was frozen in September. All of a sudden the balance dropped by £500 and when I called the bank the reference for the missing 500 was simply my husband name.

The bank think they might of sent my husband a cheque for the 500 but they aren't sure. What else could they of took the money for we don't owe any money at all to Santander and never have it is a new bank account.

The withdrawal was made on 11th Oct but it wasn't to another account. Has anyone had any experience of this?

I guess what I'm asking is will we see that 500 again? We do need it to pay our rent this month as I now don't have enough money in the account to cover our rent and essential living costs.

The money wasn't part of the fee as that was paid in full by my dad off his card at the time the application was made.

The bank has also had a letter of no interest fron the official receiver and the block on the account has been removed.

I'm afraid I suspect your husband knows more about this than he is letting on.
Go back into the branch. Open an official complaint. You can't just accept that 'they've lost it'.

Agree something does not ring true. Maybe give your h one last opportunity to account for it before you pursue a complaint. If the cheque was written to him he may have cashed it or have another account you overlooked. How longstanding is his injury, it takes time to reach this point and the bank cashflow issue is not the root cause of your problems. Have you taken independent advice?

OP, you’re getting terrible advice on here. I work in insolvency in England and have set out the most likely scenario below.
The official receiver is entitled to collect all of your husband’s assets at the point of bankruptcy. That includes half of the money in the joint account. This is completely separate to any fees that have been paid.
The bank will have paid the funds into the Insolvency Services Account and the Official Receiver will deal with it from there.
The ISA / OR can be slow so they won’t have tracked the money through properly yet.
The money isn’t coming back; it’s part of the bankruptcy estate and has been properly collected.
If you have any questions please ask.

He wouldn’t just have ‘been able to take his share out’, he’s fucking bankrupt!

Honestly, I cannot believe the shittiness of some mumsnetters. ‘Oh yeah, he’s had a serious accident, lost his job, been declared bankrupt. Let’s convince his DW to leave him too, fuck him up good and proper’. Banks really are not in the business of handing out hundreds of pounds to bankrupts from accounts they’re no longer named on. Not even Santander would do that.

You’ve had some good advice from saturated and susannelinder. Ignore the stirring.

Oh and ^^bodear above with whom I x posted. Apologies bodear.

Im no banker but Surely if the bank has lost the money it would be their duty and responsibility to pay it back.
Surely they can't just say "Boo hoo what a pity the moneys, but never mind. Its only £500. There s plenty more where that came from."
I too agree that your dh has got to know more than he's letting on. I'm on Judging him. We all have our reasons. Why we might keep things to ourselves.

Don't be ashamed.

This is all very odd, it doesn't make sense that a bank can't clarify rage transaction. Contact the bank again & say you need full information on the transaction

It will be the or.

@Gingerrogered

I know. I was responding to the suggestion that the bank automatically sent him 'his half' when he came off the account. That doesn't happen. I've separated two joint accounts in the past and neither time did the bank send any money to the person who came off.

I agree it's probably been taken by the OR under a direction to the bank as they will assume assets in a joint account are owned 50/50.

Don't be ashamed Op, most people who go bankrupt it isn't their fault.
I am so sorry you and your DH are going through this.

It will be as Bodear explained. The reason the bank clammed up when asked by OP is for confidentiality, they can't tell her it has gone off to the receiver, they can tell him though!

So if he spoke to them they would have asked security questions and then told him where it had gone!

It will have gone to the OR as his share of joint funds.

I would suggest that you open a new account in your sole.name for all.yiur benefits etc to be paid into so it is kept entirely separate from any funds that could be his (and claimed.by the OR)

Okay been on the phone all morning to the bank spoke to 3 people and been transfrred to complaints. Their not saying it looks like what they have done is drawn down half the money in the account and paid it in cheque to my husband as it was a joint account and we are married he is entitled to half the money as that is their usual process they have no logs at all on the account of my husband trying to access money apart from one log yesterday asking them the same question as me which was where the hell has £500 gone? So not that i doubted him before but after that I really don't. Someone fron the complaints team is calling me back later this afternoon after they have investigated.

We did try to go for a debt relief order but with my husbands new income we didn't have enough money left over for it and step change told us we shouldn't go for that as an option.

He doesn't have to pay the OR anything though? They are satisfied he has no assets and no interested in his accounts they asked for him to be allowed to use his accounts and have access to his money still it was Santander that refused.

But you don't need any money for a Debt Relief Order. That's the whole point. You have to demonstrate that you have no assets and £50 or less of disposable income per month and if your situation remains like that for a year, they write all the debt off.

It's like 'Bankruptcy lite' for people with low incomes and relatively low debts that they can't repay, but cruicially, you won't have to say 'yes' if a financial institution asks if you have ever been bankrupt, which they sometimes do, even after the 6 years have elapsed.

It could be bank fraud. Somebody took £2000 out of my account once and transferred it to a fraudulent account, with the payee reference being my name. Get Santander to trace where the money went, and claim it back. And do it fast - these guys don't hang around.

But if it was a cheque, it wouldn’t come out of the account until it was cashed.

Unless it was a bankers’ draft, but then wouldn’t they have said a bankers’ draft?

Do you have a branch nearby? I would be inclined to go in there with my DH and sit down with someone who can explain it properly, if there is any way at all that you can do that.

Have you got/opened your own individual account OP?

It's really not their usual procedure to take half the balance and send it to the person being taken off. I came off one last year and it was never mentioned (also Santander) and took an ex off one years ago and, again, no-one said anything about that.

But, if they did send it to him by cheque where is the cheque where did they send it, why hasn't he got it physically in his hand? And how come it's been cashed? Ask them to confirm where it was cashed and what account it went into, this will be listed on the back of the cheque that was returned to them so they can tell you. It's your account, they can tell you where the money went!

Banks sometimes do crazy things. Years back at the end of a long discussion with a bank I said "Glad we've sorted that out, now, the one thing that mustn't happen is that you close [third party]'s account, that's understood right? Because if you do, it will cause chaos" and they said "Understood, no closing [third party]'s account.

I walk out the bank with third party, bank closes their account, I go on holiday and get an emergency call from third party as their direct debits start failing, and months later arrange with the Financial Ombudsman Service for third party to receive compensation.

He doesn't have to pay the OR anything though? They are satisfied he has no assets and no interested in his accounts they asked for him to be allowed to use his accounts and have access to his money still it was Santander that refused

I don’t understand this. Why would the OR not expect to get half of the joint account balance? Even if it’s a small fraction of what’s owed.

It sounds to me like it’s gone to the OR. I can’t see how Santander would be allowed to send it to your DH.

Bank called they have split the money the and sent a cheque out apprently they sent it out this morning. They said it's their standard process for this sort of thing and apologised for the bad service and credited my account by £50 as a good will gesture.

Agree with people saying it’s all going to be confidential unless your DH makes the call, or preferably comes into branch with you.

They said it's their standard process for this sort of thing and apologised for the bad service and credited my account by £50 as a good will gesture

Woohoo great outcome! I still don’t understand why the OR don’t want his money but don’t argue with it, and great about the £50z

The OR don't want the money because going bankrupt doesn't mean you are left penniless and without the ability to pay rent or buy food, nor do they take all your earned income every month.

It's also NOT confidential where money from the OPs joint account has gone, it's as much her business as his.