Loan taken out by my ex partner in my name

[abanaza]

Hi, Very new to this, but have spent a few days reading some of the forums and am very impressed with what I have seen.

The problem I have is that while I was still married (although separated), my ex-partner took out a loan with Northern Rock for £14000.00 and forged my signature on the application. The money was paid into her own bank account and I had no knowledge (or benefit) from any of the money. She made the repayments from the same account the funds were paid into.

The first I realised of this loan was when she had to submit a form E for the financial side of the divorce. When all of the financials were investigated, we discovered that she had taken out two loans over a 4 month period, one for £6000.00 which was in joint names, and one for £14000.00 which was in my name only. For both loans she had forged my signature. I had no benefit, or knowledge of these what so ever. The money has simply disappeared.

When my solicitor investigated further, he dropped a bit of a bomb shell on me saying that there were moral and legal issues here as if I reported the fraud to Northern Rock they would insist I reported it to the police and, if she was found guilty, she would undoubtedly loose her job. If I did nothing then I would have to pay off the loans. If she lost her job I would be liable for a much larger amount of maintenance (we have three children who live with their Mom 4 days each week). At the moment I give her £500.00 each month in maintenance for the children, if she lost her job this was estimated at over £650.00.

Since the divorce, I have managed to pay off the loan that was in joint names (£6000.00) by borrowing the money from my parents, however I am really struggling to pay the loan that is solely in my name (£14000.00) and it is going to end up pushing me financially under.

As my options are very limited, the question I have is, surely Northern Rock should have confirmed the signatures before offering the money, they didn't even make an attempt to call me to verify the application. They simply handed over the money with no questions. Do I have any grounds for questioning Northern Rock over the loan, without having to report a fraudulent act to the police?

[jansus]

Gosh - a real predicament

 

I am not going to even attempt to give you advice as I am not qualified to do so. Just some thoughts running through my head.

 

I thought these days a fraudulent loan application would be very difficult especially because of money laundering rules.

 

Who witnessed the signatures - or was it all done by post ?

 

A couple of thoughts - if you could prove the fraud - and I mean prove it- for example the signature is obviously not yours is not enough on its own - but if NR say a passport was produced as ID ( you dont have one ) or if you were abroad on the day the loan was signed etc etc. Then you could use their complaints proceedure and go the the FOS for help?They can not force you to go to the police - but I appreciate that it would be difficult to substansiate the claim without doing so.

 

Or as a last resort try bad publicity threat to expose their negligence.

 

You could send a SAR letter for all details of the loan but what ever you do dont send them a letter without your signature crossed through so they can not copy it anywhere.

 

Actually not sure if you would need a SAR or CCA ?

 

Hopefully you will get some more helpful answers soon.

[gizmo111]

I'm not sure where y our solicitor is coming from re; maintenace as this should be based on your income, not hers.

I doubt very much NR will be interested in any fraud claim unless you are prepared to go to the police... your ID could easily have been verified electronically. I assume this is not a secured loan.

[abanaza]

The signature on the application looks nothing like mine, it is completely different. When I originally contacted Northern Rock they said that when the loan application was made, they would have called me to verify the loan as it was a postal application and this was procedure. I informed them that I had not been contacted. They then told me that this conversation would have been recorded. I asked to hear a copy of the recording to which I was told they would get beck to me. When I called a few weeks later to see what was going on I was told that it had not been possible for them to access this recording at this moment in time!

The divorce settlement was based on the combination of both of our incomes and all assets and a 60/40 split in my ex-wifes favour. I was told by my solicitor that if I reported the fraud to the police and as a result she lost her job, it would upset the balance and I would incurr larger maintenance fees and a bigger initial settlement payout. Northern Rock told me that in order to investigate it further I would have to contact their fraud department and also report it to the police. At the end of the day, what ever has happened, I cannot jeapordise the security of my children, so reporting a fraud to the police is just not an option. My fight has to be with Northern Rock.

[gizmo111]

At the end of the day, what ever has happened, I cannot jeapordise the security of my children, so reporting a fraud to the police is just not an option. My fight has to be with Northern Rock.

 

And if you push NR they are likely to prosecute anyhow.

[jansus]

It seems really that you may have to get your ex somehow to take responsibility for the loan- or do you think that she knows that you are unlikely to get her into trouble for the fraud.

 

you could get full details of how the NR let the fraud happen by an SAR - but all that would do is give you the evidence you need if you want to proceed with the complaint.

[abanaza]

OK, thanks for the help. I will write to NR and ask for copies of all agreements and all other correspondance. Am I within my rights to request copies of audio or transcripts of recorded conversations? Thanks for your help. Stuart.

[jansus]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/516-1-data-protection-act.html

 

 

I think you can adapt the SAR letter to ask in particular for the information you require .

 

Also if you sign any letters make sure you cross through your signature to make sure it is not copied .

[abanaza]

Coming back to this (after some months), I have discovered that the loan was taken out pre april 2007. on the agreement NR show an apr of 5.9%, however, the monthly paypments shown on the agreement do not calculate to the apr shown. is this something i can go back to NR with to dispute the agreement?