E
energy69
Guest
hi,
I have had a sole trader account with Bank of Ireland for over 10 years. The account has always being maintained and rarely have I had an overdraft. It is "my name T/A business name" account. Two and half years ago myself and two friends set up a Partnership account under a company name. After 12 months the business folded and the account was left inactive apart from a small debt of €600. Due to financial reasons and tieing up loose ends the issue was mislaid and forgotten about. All along I have continued trading, sometimes with little activity with the original bank T/A account.
After moving address and realising my details had not being updated I notified Bank of Ireland and all my accounts where updated. In March the partnership account was changed to my name and address. In late April I was contacted by BOI and the issue of the €600 debt was brought up on the inactive account. I explained that I was currently having some financial probs and was currenty looking for work and was hoping to get it sorted shortly. In mid-June I was contacted by a rep of Credit Operations and told that if I didn't make some form of payment that legal action would be taken. I authorised them over the phone to take €200 from my current account, this being my original sole trader business account, to pay part of the debt. I agreed with the rep that I'd do my best to pay the remainder within 30 days. This did not happen due to financial reasons.
I left for Italy for 2 weeks to do some charity work and a week after my return, last Friday evening I tried to take money out of my ATM. The account had insufficient funds and there was only €32 in the account.There appeared to be a couple of thousand missing. I thought there was some computer error or money had being withdrawn fraudently. I went in to my branch today. Got a mini-statement and found €1,931.83 had being withdrawn. I didn't know what for and my branch were unsure why. They gave me a contact number and person to ring. They also notified me a letter had being sent out on the day I left for Italy.
I rang the number and found I was speaking to the same rep I spoke to in June. He told me that due to the debt of €400 the bank had decided to stop doing business with me and had proceed a 21 day notification of closure of my original T/a account. The €1,931.83, why this amount and not the full amount, had then being transfered by them to the account in debt and the funds taken for the money owed. I was to say the least shocked, that a bank that I had being customer of for over 14 years with had done this without any effort other than an unregistered mail to my address. All my diret debits and standing orders where assigned to this account. The rep in Credit Operations stated that they had done everything in their legal rights to do it. He did at one point state that he didn't think the funds had being transfered or that he hadn't authorised it and he seemed to agree after some discussion that perhaps it was not the best solution to the issue.
When I got home I searched around my shared house and found two mails under other mail. One stating the 21 days notification of closure of the account and an other stating that the debt outstanding within 7 days was to be handed over the legal department. Both had being within a day of each other.
My question is, is it legal for a Bank to close an account with only a letter of closure? Obviosuly it is. Secondly, this is the one that feels weird. Can they then transfer the funds after closure from one T/A account to another
T/A account and then clear their debt that way. I had no problem when I got funds to pay the debt although doing it this way seems really bizarre and in some way illegal. Is it?
I also spoke to the Manager of Credit Operations and he said they had done everything legally and were everyway within their rights to do what they had done. He did not seem to care about the situation or the details of the situation only to clarify that I was in the wrong and they were in their rights.
Any suggestions or thoughts you have on this manner is much appreciated.
Sam
I have had a sole trader account with Bank of Ireland for over 10 years. The account has always being maintained and rarely have I had an overdraft. It is "my name T/A business name" account. Two and half years ago myself and two friends set up a Partnership account under a company name. After 12 months the business folded and the account was left inactive apart from a small debt of €600. Due to financial reasons and tieing up loose ends the issue was mislaid and forgotten about. All along I have continued trading, sometimes with little activity with the original bank T/A account.
After moving address and realising my details had not being updated I notified Bank of Ireland and all my accounts where updated. In March the partnership account was changed to my name and address. In late April I was contacted by BOI and the issue of the €600 debt was brought up on the inactive account. I explained that I was currently having some financial probs and was currenty looking for work and was hoping to get it sorted shortly. In mid-June I was contacted by a rep of Credit Operations and told that if I didn't make some form of payment that legal action would be taken. I authorised them over the phone to take €200 from my current account, this being my original sole trader business account, to pay part of the debt. I agreed with the rep that I'd do my best to pay the remainder within 30 days. This did not happen due to financial reasons.
I left for Italy for 2 weeks to do some charity work and a week after my return, last Friday evening I tried to take money out of my ATM. The account had insufficient funds and there was only €32 in the account.There appeared to be a couple of thousand missing. I thought there was some computer error or money had being withdrawn fraudently. I went in to my branch today. Got a mini-statement and found €1,931.83 had being withdrawn. I didn't know what for and my branch were unsure why. They gave me a contact number and person to ring. They also notified me a letter had being sent out on the day I left for Italy.
I rang the number and found I was speaking to the same rep I spoke to in June. He told me that due to the debt of €400 the bank had decided to stop doing business with me and had proceed a 21 day notification of closure of my original T/a account. The €1,931.83, why this amount and not the full amount, had then being transfered by them to the account in debt and the funds taken for the money owed. I was to say the least shocked, that a bank that I had being customer of for over 14 years with had done this without any effort other than an unregistered mail to my address. All my diret debits and standing orders where assigned to this account. The rep in Credit Operations stated that they had done everything in their legal rights to do it. He did at one point state that he didn't think the funds had being transfered or that he hadn't authorised it and he seemed to agree after some discussion that perhaps it was not the best solution to the issue.
When I got home I searched around my shared house and found two mails under other mail. One stating the 21 days notification of closure of the account and an other stating that the debt outstanding within 7 days was to be handed over the legal department. Both had being within a day of each other.
My question is, is it legal for a Bank to close an account with only a letter of closure? Obviosuly it is. Secondly, this is the one that feels weird. Can they then transfer the funds after closure from one T/A account to another
T/A account and then clear their debt that way. I had no problem when I got funds to pay the debt although doing it this way seems really bizarre and in some way illegal. Is it?
I also spoke to the Manager of Credit Operations and he said they had done everything legally and were everyway within their rights to do what they had done. He did not seem to care about the situation or the details of the situation only to clarify that I was in the wrong and they were in their rights.
Any suggestions or thoughts you have on this manner is much appreciated.
Sam