Have abbey behaved lawfully

[ICY]

I split from my ex some years ago, she lives 20 miles away from where i moved to, and has never lived in the town i live in.

 

we had a joint bank account with Abbey which got passed to me and her name was removed from the account.

 

Everything was fine for a while, until a fw weeks ago when a bank statement for her dropped through my wifes mums house, in my exs name.

I was staying at her house for a while for a while and my ex had this address for me as she wanted to know where the kids would be when they were with me.

 

Now what i need to know is how to deal with this, i was going to just go down to the bank with the statement and complain, however i am not so sure if this is the correct way to go about it. Would this give them a chance to cover up there cock up.

 

As i see it there are 2 possible scenarios

 

1. she has somehow put her address down as being at my mother in laws, for whatever reason i dont know.

2. Abbey have opened the account and somehow managed to link it to me and have incorrectly entered her address as being mine.

 

Either way it is my Data Protection Act

 

Any advice would be appreciated as to how to proceed, should i go to Information Commissioner office, the police or make an appointment to see the bank manager and express my concerns.

[psm]

Are you sure she isn't trying to reclaim bank charges on your joint account.

[ICY]

dont think so, it is a completely new account

[chelseaboy]

Sorry Ice, can't help you with that one....... sounds like fun though!!!!!!!!!!!

[ICY]

One things for certain CB, someone will pay for this.

 

If ex has done it on purpose then i hope she gets done for fraud, and if she has then the bank also have serious questions to answer as to why they allowed an account to be opened without proof of address, which there is no way she could get in that address.

[Lula]

Whoa there, before you go off on one, go to the bank with the envelope and ask them to check their records and see what they hold for the name/address etc and see what happens first, if they say that the account was opened in your ex's name and your mother in laws address then contact the police as it will probably be a case of fraud.

[Lula]

DO NOT give the bank the envelope LOL you may need it. Of course it may well be an Abbey FU.

[ICY]

Need to compose a letter to abbey as got nowhere with local branch, and i now want proof of everything sent, cant do this with a meeting or phone call, am also considering wether to contact IC or police, however for these i will wait on abbeys reply to my letter.

Any ideas how to go about thi letter ? help would be appreciated about now.

[Lula]

Hi Icy, how did you know that stuff had been sent to your ex's house? did you get it back? Did you go and see Abbey? what did they say?

[ICY]

it hadnt gone to exs address it has actually gone to current mother in laws house, where ex has never lived, she doesnt even know where the town we live is, in fact i only stayed at MILs for a short while while me and wifey were waiting for mortgage to come through

The bank account opened is a new account opened in my exs name in my mother in laws address, my MIL is really worried with things being sent to her house, my ex is the type of person to do dodgy dealings, and we are wary of what else she may have got in false address.

 

Bank wont tell me anything as its not my account, which is why need to keep everything in writing, they wont be able to fob me off so quick then(hopefully)

[Lula]

I dont think that there is anything that you can do about it, I think that your mil has to do something about it, perhaps report it as a possible fraud at the police station, I will ask the mods and other pinks if they can help

[Lula]

perhaps your m-i-l should go to the bank with letters that have arrived at her house, after taking photocopies of course

[gizmo111]

You also need to put a notice with the CRA's.

I can't understand how the account was opened without proof of address.

Have you mentioned this account to your ex?

[ICY]

Allready been to the bank and they were worse than useless, really didnt care.

I dont know how the account has been opened, but it has, me and my ex are not exactly on speaking terms, and we certainly arent in a position to discuss the matter.

 

I am asking advice on behalf of MIL, she will be dealing with it and putting her name on any letters ect as it is her address

[Lula]

Well the bank really should be talking to your mil as it is her address, she should go in there armed with her proof of address and I would advise you to look up the banking code to see what it says about this. Also you mil should get a free credit report from experian and see if it has had any impact on her credit rating, If the bank refuse to talk to her there should be someone else to complain to, let me do a bit of ferreing

around and see what I come up with

[ICY]

Ta lula

[Lula]

Well I have had a scoot around to see what there is and I can not find anything regarding this particular problem. When a bank account is opened they usually check with CRA's to see that the details match and that they are not a "bad risk", so I would download your mil's credit reports asap to check.

 

If she is registered on there (your ex I mean) as an associated name then we have a problem, you mil should go into the bank and talk to the manager, because there will have been something very wrong in their checking procedure, I would also advise you to check on the electoral register in the local library to make sure that your ex isnt registered at that address.

 

If you have no joy at the bank, tell the bank that you will be going to the FSA and the police and do it, usually the threat of this is enough to galvanise them into action, let us know how it goes.

[ICY]

Have looked on roll and her name is not listed at MILs in fact she is still registered at the address we used to live at.

I wrote to Abbey couple of week ago and have received the template reply asking for 4 weeks to look into it, however today a leaflet addressed to ex was delivered to MILs house offeringsome insurance deal or other so obviously they havent acted on my letter as they havnt stopped mail being sent to MILs address in my exs name.

Have had statements every month since october this account was set up new somewhere around september time which is around 3 years since we split up, so they cnt have simply got mixed up with me and her, this to me is a clear case of fraud, as there is no way they can link her with my MILs address when she opened the account.

[ICY]

My MIL has received a letter from Abbey, as follows

 

 

Thank you for your letter received on 15th January 2008, regarding received post at your address for another Abbey customer.

 

Due to the Data Protection Act, I am unable todiscuss any details of this customer or account with you, however, be assured that we have stopped any post being sent to your address for this customer. Please accept our apologies for this not being done sooner.

 

In recognition of the inconvenience you have been caused in this stop not being placed earlier, I have arranged to send you a cheque in the amount of £30, as a gesture of goodwill. This is in full and final settlement of your complaint and will be sent within the next ten working days.

 

I am confident that I have been fair and have taken into account all the points you made in your letter, but if you have any additional points that you would like to discuss, please call 01908 680 130. I have enclosed a leaflet about the Financial Ombudsman Service, in case you are not happy with my investigation or decision. If so, you should contact them within six months of the date of this letter, enclosing a copy of it, as they would need this for their investigation.

 

Thank you for your patience and i am truly sorry for any upset we may have unintentionally caused you

[ICY]

So it looks like a good result, what could make it better is my ex being charged with fraud, but thats up to the bank i guess (doubt it will happen)

 

So the cheque has now arrived, should we go ahead and cash this cheque, is this the end, or is there any further action i should be taking ...