Ex employer still not removed me from accounts- 11 years!

[Robertwars]

I would be grateful for any words of wisdom here- I left my job ( amicably) 11 years ago . As part of my role I was a signatory on accounts and a trustee for several trusts .

They had plenty of notice I was leaving and I was very happy to sign anything needed to remove my involvement. They were really tardy and it took years and repeated demands and a great deal of stress to get this done and they assured me it had been completed . However , they have been in touch again to say I am still named on some trusts and bank accounts and are asking me to sign more paperwork.

I am so annoyed and upset that this has come up again and concerned about any liability if they have mismanaged anything . I have asked for all the communication relating to this and plan to ask for them to pay for legal advice before I sign anything but wonder if anyone has any other thoughts . Thanks for any suggestions 💐

Side note, your home insurance policy likely has legal cover which might give you access to initial advice. Given they have been unable to remove you as trustee and signatory for 11years, I wouldn’t be holding out for legal advice from them.

Not excusing the OPs former employer at all but when we needed to get some signatories changed on a charity bank account (for a youth group), it was easier to close it and open a new one somewhere else.. So I wouldn't assume malicious intent, but good luck getting it sorted @Robertwars .

Its a lot harder to open a charity bank account now.

Sorry for leaving this so long but I have been going back and forth and this still isn't resolved. A Subject access request has revealed that I am definitely still named as trustee for at least 2 trusts they run , several bank accounts and power of attorneys . There are inconsistencies in the records they have - several investment accounts aren't referenced at all in the SAR but I know I was named on them still in 2020

They initially offered 2 hrs of legal advice just relating to one Trust as they were confident that there was nothing else but now I know I am named on at least 7 other instruments.Now they say just advice on the ones they know about, not the whole situation .I don't think this is adequate- they have not answered many of my questions, records seem to be missing and nobody is taking responsibility for what has happened. I raised issues repeatedly since I left but it appears these were never documented or taken further .

It's been incredibly stressful and time consuming trying to find out what is going on and what my liability might be and frankly the way they are just minimising my concerns is really upsetting and patronising

Do you have legal cover as part of your insurance? And then secondly, have you tried ACAS? Because maybe you need to bring about a post employment claim against them. Clearly, this all requires resolving.

Write a letter:

"To whom it may concern,
I left the employ of <whatever company> on X date, and all involvement (including signatories and trusteeships) ended on that date. Please remove my name from your records.

Robertwars."

Oh my goodness @Robertwars no wonder you are stressed, this situation is ridiculous! How dare they behave like this - I can’t find the right words-
are they incompetent, CFs, deceitful, or what?
i am so sorry you’re having to use so much of your time & energy trying to resolve this.
I’ve no suggestions on how to help expedite this, but I do think the organisation should compensate you for your work & stress.
Thanks for your update, I had wondered if you were victorious - you will be, eventually! 💐

Acas can't help as I am no longer employed by the organisation- which is disappointing. Thanks forthr suggestions though - I will look into my home insurance and see if they can help - was loathe to involve them in case it impacted on my premiums ( and was also hoping the organisation would be more supportive in resolving this rather than putting the onus back on me ) .

Sadly I don't think it is that straightforward- I don't have details of the accounts which I would need to get this actioned, I don't even know who they are held with in some cases . Where I am named on a trust deed there needs to be a witnessed document for me to resign and the LPAs need lots of information which I have no access to . Plus even if I am removed now , there could still be a liability for all the years between leaving and that happening

I wonder if there is an ombudsman or regulatory body you can report them to?

You don't need to send it to anywhere except your former employer. They can forward it to whoever needs copies of it. It also says in the letter that your responsibility ended the day you left their employ.

I'd leave it at that. It's their fault this has happened, so let them suffer the fallout from whoever needs your name removing.

Could you threaten to report them for a breech of GDPR and also the Bank etc. Tell they that they no longer have your consent to hold your personal data in relation to this accounts etc. Your personal data is your name etc. Sorry have not read the thread fully. Might be worth giving what ever body handles GDPR complaints in the UK an email

Sorry for the delay in replying - busy week with life and work then trying to compose a reply. I have said my next step will be the ICO who deal with GDPR complaints on the UK, plus the Office of the Public Guardian and the FCA . They don't seem concerned at all - just talk "about managing my expectations!" Well my expectations were that I wouldn't still have all these issues 11 years on! I have found evidence of further accounts and investmentsthey haven't mentioned so this suggests their records are wrong and incomplete.
I can't just write and say I am no longer involved as proper documents need to be drawn up and witnessed . I am going to do Subject access request with the institutions involved to see I can get any clarity. It really is a massive drain on my time and energy

make sure you become a massive drain in their time and energy.

What sort of 'business' are your ex employers as there may be a regulator who could get involved.

Report it to the ICO as a GDPR breach.

Also contact HMRC because they are failing in the their MLR and KYC duties to keep records accurately.

Oh God that does sound like a massive ball ache. Hope you can get it sorted before much longer.

I would contact HMRC with your concerns as charities should be independently audited on a regular basis and these irregularities should have been spotted by now.

Charities do not report to HMRC

Trusts need to do tax returns, but that would not show up signatories

According to .Gov website, HMRC monitor:
*audits

• Structured risk reviews
• Tax returns
• Reporting requirements.

Even if signatories are not in the final report to HMRC a good auditing firm should have spotted those discrepancies mentioned and reported back on it( actually, the charities own financial dept should have spotted this even before the external auditors came in.)
Except of course if they were trying to hide something from the auditors and subsequently HMRC....

Just refuse to sign anything more. Write to the board. Tell them you left 11 y ago & you are no longer involved. You will no longer sign anything & they need to remove your name forthwith before you have to take legal action.

This sounds a nightmare. As you realise, to cease being a Trustee, you need to sign Trust Deeds etc, you can't just 'resign' as some are thinking. This does seem to be a gross failing by your former employer. I am used to deceased trustees being left on Trusts for several years (where there are sufficient other Trustees), as the work involved to update each Trust is time-consuming and significant.

I'm not sure if you can do an SAR to the Trust Registration Service to find all the Trusts you're currently registered on?

Re the bank some will allow other Trustees to remove you, others will only remove you when you sign to agree to being removed.

I agree with your thoughts for every Trust/bank etc in addition to signing to be released from office/signatory you should also have a deed absolving you of responsibility from the date your employment ended.

I also agree legal advice is essential for you - no reason for the former employer not to draw up the paperwork but they should pay for it to be checked and you to be advised. Thinking aloud, the Trusts (but probably not you, as you didn't 'pay' for any services) could have a negligence claim against the ex-employer's PI insurance for failing to maintain accurate records.

Thank you , some good suggestions here . Like you say it is so complex and covers years and many different accounts/trusts etc - it really needs to be looked at by someone with legal knowledge in this area . I have said I will not be engaging until I have this and will look at SARs to other organisations to see what I can find out 💐

I would be invoicing them for the 11 years you have been acting on the trusts and then once paid sign the paperwork.

Send them an invoice for service rendered.
Include receipts/figures and accounts where you name is used.

This is probably a silly question, but how did you become a signatory of all these umpteen accounts and trusts in the first place? There seems to be a ridiculously high number of them.