XH and massive Santander overdraft

[brittanyfairies]

When XH and I separated in August 2012 we had a joint Santander account. As soon as he left he cancelled my cards so I couldn't access the account and I opened my own current account with Santander which I have continued to use since then and have never been overdrawn.

XH then went on a crazy spending spree for six months in which he spent all the equity in our mortgaged property, ran up £20K debt on his credit card and £1500 overdrawn on the joint account (I think it had an OD limit of £700 so he's way over the limit).

In February 2014 he declared himself bankrupt in order to avoid paying back his debts.

As part of the Consent Order (pre bankruptcy) for the divorce he was ordered by the Court to remove my name from the joint account. Around the same time whenever I would check my online account with Santander the current account had disappeared and the only account I could see was my own private account with them. So I automatically assumed that he had done as ordered.

Today, out of curiosity I've just carried out a credit check against my name - it appears that the Santander account is in default for £1700 showing on my credit account.

I have heard absolutely nothing about this from Santander and until today I completely presumed my XH had done as Ordered by the Court.

My question is as Santander have never contacted me about this overdraft is there a period of time when I will not be liable?

They send my statements for my own account to a UK address so they have the means of contacting me. The defaulted account doesn't appear on my online account. Santander have never notified me about this.

Can I enforce the Court Order to make XH conform with the Consent Order from the divorce and repay this debt? I presume his bankruptcy may mean that he's no longer liable for it.

I don't live in the UK and haven't really for the last ten years, I just use my parent's address for my UK bank account. So I don't really need to worry about my credit status and I have my own credit record in the country I live in, but I worry if I had to return to the UK my credit record would stop me renting a property.

It's just I'm very careful about money, I'm a saver not a spender. I don't have any debt whatsoever, so finding this out now has me very worried.

Hmmm I can't see Santander being liable here. Your XH was given an instruction by the court, which he obviously didn't follow. You "assumed" it had been done, and didn't really conduct any further checks.

also, I thought that it wasn't possible to "remove someone" from a joint account without their permission...... So this was something that you and he should have done together?

If you have any court documents I can only suggest you send a copy to Santander, and ask them to remove the default as a goodwill gesture?

Sorry didn't read your full post there! After 6 years the debt will become unenforceable and the default will drop off your credit history. Unless you're coming back to the UK within the time, I wouldn't worry about it to much TBH.

He couldn't remove you without your consent, and most banks won't allow you to remove someone if the account is in bad standing (such as over the overdraft limit) either.

19lottie82 is right though, 6 years after the last payment or acknowledgement of debt, it'll become statute barred. You might find that Santander sell the debt or try to contact you closer to that time. Do you know when the last payment was? Is your XH still using the account? If the account is still being used, it won't become statute barred, although your XH would probably be breaching the terms of his bankruptcy to have access to credit.

Do you have any assets in the UK? A house or anything?

If not, and you're not coming back within the 6 years, you're probably okay.