Unable to get ex to take his name off joint account

[PurpleOneWithTheNutIn]

Hi, I'd really appreciate some advice.
Years ago me and my partner at the time opened a joint account. Later we split up, he was verbally abusive and it was not amicable. Since then I have tried on a number of occasions to get either my name or his taken off the joint account which neither of us use. He refuses to sign the form and I have no address for him so I have not been able to break free of this financial connection.
The bank (nationwide if that helps) says there is nothing they can do.
Does anyone have any idea as to how I can get this account closed or my name taken off?

When I split with exh I went to the bank (Barclays) and told them I did not know where he was and has no address and could I close our joint account, there was next to nothing in it, I had to fill in some forms but otherwise was very straightforward.

If you are in dispute/separated and the bank hears about it they are meant to freeze the account. If there is nothing in it they should be able to just close it (and will usually do so automatically if it isn't accessed for a certain period of time) Can you not just empty it, have it frozen and then let them close it?

Is the account overdrawn? If not, you should be able to close it as long as it's a standard current account opened on an either-to-sign basis. Have you asked N'wide to show you which part of the T&Cs says you can't?

If the account is overdrawn, you'd normally have to bring it back to a nil balance before closing it.

I'd suggest escalating to the Financial Ombudsman if N'wide can't resolve this for you.

There is 87p in the account. No overdraft. I will look into financial ombudsman, thank you.
This has been going on for about 12 years now! It's ridiculous.

That's crazy. I didn't access a savings account with £50 in it for 2 years and the bank closed it and transferred the money to another account!

If it has 87 p in it can you not take YOURSELF off it and leave it as an account that is only his?

I was just going to say what Trills said.
Remove yourself then return and future correspondance (which will be to him only) as no longer known at this address.

I've remembered that I closed my joint account with my ex, by myself. It was at Lloyds. It had 0p in it and no standing orders or direct debits set up. I just went to the bank and said "I want to close this account please".

Both DH and I recently closed down old HSBC joint accounts without the other parties' consent. Mine was an old student house account, his was with his ExW.

HSBC were very helpful and saw that both accounts had been inactive due years.

I appreciate that this info isn't of direct help but hopefully demonstrates that these accounts can be closed without specific consent from the other party.

Make a fuss and good luck!

Agree with pps. Just take yourself off it.

Freeze it then get your name taken off, just to ensure no overdraft is run up.

I've been trying to remove myself from a joint account for 2 years, exH refuses to sign the forms.

If you transfer the 87p out even if they refuse to close it immediately most banks will write after a certain time if the account is dormant and just tell you they are closing it.

The Post Office will not allow accounts to remain inactive as it is they say a fraud risk.

This happened to me. Although they said they couldn't remove his name off the account without him signing something they would let me close it. Is this an option for you?