Black Horse

[stu997]

Hi all,

 

Following an extremely messy seperation and subsequent divorce from my wife nearly 3 years ago,

something has come to light whilst going through the financial settlement.

 

This is also extremely messy as she is totally unreasonable with everything.

 

I took on the marital debt when I seperated, which stands in the region of 24k.

 

One of these debts is loan off Black Horse which is in joint names.

It was taken out as a deposit for a conservatory.

 

As with all the other debts I am dealing with, my ex-wife is denying all knowledge.

 

Unknown to me at the time, she had contacted Black Horse after we had separated,

and told them I had forged her signature on the application.

This only came to light when I saw it in her financial statement.

( I will say at this stage, my ex-wife is not the brightest and she will blatantly lie about anything in order to achieve financial gain.

How she can lie through her back teeth as she does is beyond me!!!).

 

Once all this came to light, I contacted Black Horse and asked about the fraud investigation.

They informed me that the fraud investigator had been unable to prove fraud and the case was closed.

I asked for a letter confirming this outcome.

 

The letter I received did not say anything about the fraud investigation,

just that they wished to confirm my ex-wife had been removed from the account.

I rang them back and eventually got the letter confirming the result of the investigation.

Interestingly there were no signatures at all on the original loan application.

 

I then turned to the fact of my ex-wife being removed from the account.

My solicitor wrote to Black Horse asking them for the reasons behind my ex-wifes removal from the loan.

( I had given them written permission for my solicitor to have full disclosure as she was acting on my behalf)

 

Black Horse wrote back to her stating it was a "Business Decision" and they would not provide any details under Data Protection.

I then wrote to Black Horse, requesting all the details as being the joint account holder,

my ex-wife was not afforded the luxury of the Data Protection Act. I heard nothing.

 

2 days ago I phoned them to see what was going on.

 

It was apparent they were squirming and nobody could give me any answers

as to why my ex-wife was removed from this joint loan,

with no authorisation,

agreement or even consultation with myself.

 

They informed me they had escalated the complaint and a senior complaints manager would contact me.

 

Yesterday I had that phone call, and the attitude had completely changed.

The manager was very abrupt and told me it was a business decision

and under data protection they would not tell me why they had done this.

He asked if I was going to make a complaint to which I replied I already had.

He just said fine, I will send you the final outcome letter and hung up.

 

So what I am asking....

1, Are Black Horse able to remove my ex-wifes name from a joint loan,

without any consultation or agreement by myself, being the other joint name?

2, As a joint name on the loan, is my ex-wife still protected by Data Protection?

3, Do Black Horse have to provide me with the reasons behind their decision?

4, Have Black Horse been unlawful in anyway with their actions.

5, What should I now be doing about it?

 

I have been in touch with the financial ombudsman in regard to this.

The case is in its early stage so it will take some time for them to investigate and reach an outcome.

 

Do I have grounds to take legal action against Black Horse for what they have done, or is it a totally legitimate action?

 

This joint account is the only one that linked my wife to the £24k of marital debt.

 

As she has denied all knowledge and taken the actions she has which resulted in Black Horse dong this,

it am effectively in the situation where these debts will probably not be taken into account at the Financial Settlement,

leaving me £24k worse off!

 

Thanks very much Black Horse!!!

 

Yur help and advice woill be greatly appreciated.

 

Many Thanks in Advance.

[filrobbo]

Don't pay them any money till its sorted out

[stu997]

I can do that, but I still want to know if they can do what they have and whether I can take further action against them

[stu997]

Ok... take it I will have to go somewhere else for answers... has this forum gone down the pan in regards to advice??

[filrobbo]

Sorry I cart answer the question but I would of thourght they would have to let you now that is what is happening I think you have done what you can at this point have you got ant charges on the loan that you my be able to claim back.

[AndyOrch]

Simple answer is ...no they cant remove her from the joint loan...unless there is a Transfer of Equity processed but you would have been involved for that to happen........your Solicitor which handled your divorce should deal with this matter.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[stu997]

Thanks for that Andy.

I have spoke to my solicitor in regards to this. She put me in touch with a solicitor that deals with this type of thing.

With my fees already running at nearly £10k I simply cannot afford to use her services at present. If I establish that I have an excellent chance of taking successful legal action against them then I could pass them costs over. This is why I am trying to get opinions before I take that step.

i have complained to the financial ombudsman so will see what they have to say as well