Barclays Bank has closed my Bank account!!!

[garyjames]

Hi all,

I am hoping someone here has had a similar experience and can recommend a solution.

 

In short, I found out today by my folks in the UK that Barclays Bank have closed my Uk Barclays Bank account.

 

There was over 2,000 pounds sterling in my account when I left the UK in January 2010.

 

How can they do that???

 

And where has my 2,000+ pounds gone???

 

I haven't had any problems with my HSBC or Halifax account so why Barclays???

 

How can I get my money???

 

I am currently in Australia and have been here since March 2010.

 

Very much hoping somebody here can give me some advice.

Kind Regards,

 

Gary

[Guest guest30085]

If your account lays dormant for a number of years, some banks close them, it happened to one of mine even though I was still in the UK at the time. You can reclaim the money but I had to go into the bank with ID etc and I think they gave me a cheque or a bankers draft or whatever they call them. Not sure how you'd manage from over here but ring them for advice.

[Parley]

How long since you had a transaction against the account.

 

In Australia an account becomes dormant if it hasn't been used for a defined period and the money goes to the government.

I think it used to be about 3 years but may now have shortened.

 

I am presuming there may be a similar process in the UK.

 

You can get your money back though. I think your bank will ask you to fill out a form and then your money should be returned.

 

Not sure whether this is what has happened to you but it does happen in australia, so I make sure I do the occassional transaction against all my accounts.

[blossom]

I'm guessing you must not have done anything with it for that time. I've been here since 2008 and my account is still going (I used my card over the last couple of weeks).

The obvious thing to do would be to phone them.

[davlap]

It happened to us with Barclays.

 

To be fair they did send a letter (we use parents address), but forgot until a few days after the expiry date.

Once it happens, it is out of Barclays hands.

Go to barclays web site:

http://www.barclays.co.uk/Helpsupport/Dormantandlostaccounts/P1242590196546

or more generally:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/reclaim-lost-assets-free

 

You have to send a form off. Then wait. Took us over 6 months to get it back.

Can't remember how they pay you (was a year or more ago), sorry, but might have been a cheque - which could be a problem.

Anyway, sure it will tell you and there must be provision for expats abroad.

 

Cahoot (Santander) froze one account with no warning and a direct debit was not paid resulting in a fine.

Also, banks may not send out debit cards if there is no activity (6 months?). Might be a problem if you need to set anything up with the card reader.

 

We kept most UK online accounts in case this kind of thing happened. Down to the last two now.

We make sure we pay for things every few months eg skype in GBP

Edited December 24, 2014 by davlap

[engaus]

I know in Australia before they can close your account they have the attempt to contact you a few times via letter to advise you this will happen and give you a chance to stop it. I'd think something similar would happen in the UK? Not that it makes a difference now

[tina0101]

Barclays shut my account after it lay dormant for a few years. I think it's in the small print when you open an account. Follow the steps others have given and you should get your money back.

[Quoll]

I know in Australia before they can close your account they have the attempt to contact you a few times via letter to advise you this will happen and give you a chance to stop it. I'd think something similar would happen in the UK? Not that it makes a difference now

 

Im told that the rule is that they have to have received 3 "Return to sender" letters before you are deemed uncontactable but one of my super accounts decided to give my money to the ATO just because I was over 65 and hadnt made a transaction on the account in 3 years.

 

I do hope you dont get the obsequious Indian gentleman on the Barclays help line who was downright unhelpful for me just 5 minutes ago!

[Parley]

It is all banks.

It is the government forcing them to do it.

[Rallyman]

It took me 2 years to close my Barclays account load of inept idiots

I even asked them to donate the £100 to charity that was left in my account and they made a hash of that

[fifi69]

A bit different but I had a friend who had a HSBC account closed with no prior warning.

 

As it turned out it was a mistake...but nobody at the bank could say why.

 

Like others have said, once it was deemed closed it was out of there banks hands, went to some holding area. It took them months to get their money back. The worst thing was they were on holiday at the time and went to withdraw some spending money and that's when the found out something was wrong.

 

someone else I know got a call from their bank trying to get them to take out a credit card. They declined the offer. Not long after Their account was also closed. When the eventually got to the bottom of it, the bank has closed it because it was a standard saver account, these people had no debits, no mortgage, credit card etc. They were told that the bank could legally do this because they were making no money on this account ??

 

and they wonder why people keep their money under the mattress!!

[Slean Wolfhead]

someone else I know got a call from their bank trying to get them to take out a credit card. They declined the offer. Not long after Their account was also closed. When the eventually got to the bottom of it, the bank has closed it because it was a standard saver account, these people had no debits, no mortgage, credit card etc. They were told that the bank could legally do this because they were making no money on this account ??

 

 

Banks can do this, they're making no profit on the account so it's bad for business. There's nothing to say they have to provide a place for you to keep money.

Barclays have become pretty dreadful though, I had similar problems with them.

I actually applied for a 0% credit card as per their advert, to keep them happy, and they sent me one at about 7% interest instead. I closed all my accounts and moved elsewhere in the end, they didn't want me to be in credit because they earned nothing off me.

[Slean Wolfhead]

I do hope you dont get the obsequious Indian gentleman on the Barclays help line who was downright unhelpful for me just 5 minutes ago!

 

You can have hours of fun with that lot. They speak English very well because they're reading from scripts and are well-practiced, but their comprehension of English is dreadful and they get themselves into an awful mess if you ask them a question of your own.

[vickyplum]

Barclays do seem to be particularly dismal. I first opened an account with them after leaving school and out of habit / misplaced loyalty, kept it until about four years ago (total years as customer = approx. 18), moved to Co-op, and now am with First Direct. The former two have the benefit of actually having clearly spoken, vaguely helpful people at the end of the telephone, if needed. Co-op online banking functionality used to be terrible though, don't know if it still is. Long gone are the days when I could call my actual Barclays branch, direct!

 

I've also been receiving Barclays statements for the person who used to live in my apartment, for a year now. This is despite returning to sender several times and on the last two occasions, sending a proper letter to the complaints address.