www.iva.co.uk

Hi,

First Post, so be kind.

My wife and I are in the process of going into an IVA. When we first started the process we were told to change account and setup direct debits etc. to the new account. My wife set the DD's and our pay to go into her Lloyds account because she has no creditors that are linked to Lloyds banking group. However, I have a Lloyds credit card that we plan on adding to the list of creditors.

This evening we tried to use my wife's Lloyds account that has all the money we have in the world in, but it was declined. We presumed there was an issue with payment system but my wife called them anyway. They've blocked her account even though the money is still showing as being present. They won't let her get to any money and have said she has to call Monday morning to discuss matter because we called after that department had gone home.

So my question is, are Lloyds bank able to block my wife using her bank account when she has no link to creditors other than me, even though we've not entered the IVA yet.

Banks should not freeze accounts because of IVA's -- however they sometimes do it in error, treating the situation as if it was a bankruptcy ---- they should correct this error if that is the case.
Some banks,however, are just anti - IVA, in which case they should close the account and give you the funds, rather than freeze and retain.

Fri Mar 15, 2019 7:35 pmFoggy wrote:

Banks should not freeze accounts because of IVA's -- however they sometimes do it in error, treating the situation as if it was a bankruptcy ---- they should correct this error if that is the case.
Some banks,however, are just anti - IVA, in which case they should close the account and give you the funds, rather than freeze and retain.

So they are not allowed to just take my wife's money for us never to see it again when I've got a credit card with them that we are planning on including on our joint iva?

Fri Mar 15, 2019 7:57 pmCarra_Rud wrote:

So they are not allowed to just take my wife's money for us never to see it again when I've got a credit card with them that we are planning on including on our joint iva?

As far as I am aware, no, they are not. After all, at the present time the credit card has not, I assume, gone into default, so they should have no reason to. However, there is a danger that they could use funds in the account to offset a debt in default, even if not supposed to, which is why clients are advised to move to a non-creditor related bank. I have not seen it happen, but I have seen accounts frozen in error --- an error which is usually quickly rectified.

Fri Mar 15, 2019 9:40 pmFoggy wrote:

Fri Mar 15, 2019 7:57 pmCarra_Rud wrote:

So they are not allowed to just take my wife's money for us never to see it again when I've got a credit card with them that we are planning on including on our joint iva?

As far as I am aware, no, they are not. After all, at the present time the credit card has not, I assume, gone into default, so they should have no reason to. However, there is a danger that they could use funds in the account to offset a debt in default, even if not supposed to, which is why clients are advised to move to a non-creditor related bank. I have not seen it happen, but I have seen accounts frozen in error --- an error which is usually quickly rectified.

When we approached the IP and company we're planning on using to setup IVA, they both advised that we could move all our finances to my wife's Lloyds account as she doesn't have any account that belongs to Lloyds banking group that we're planning on including on IVA, even though I do. So we were only following their advice.

Hopefully come Monday they will release funds and we can setup all the DD's in another account.

An issue with Lloyds freezing accounts happened to me when I had got my creditor meeting date set. My ex had been using a joint account with them, I had a credit card with them. I had signed papers to have my name taken off the joint account 2months before starting the IVA process, but it wasn't actioned. As soon as Lloyds knew I was planning an IVA, when they were notified of my creditor meeting, they froze the account because my name was on it. He found out on a Friday night and couldn't do anything about it. On the Monday we both had to go into branch to get his money released, all the woman did was phone stepchange and then she sorted it, his money got moved to a new account.

Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:18 amMrs_Brown wrote:

An issue with Lloyds freezing accounts happened to me when I had got my creditor meeting date set. My ex had been using a joint account with them, I had a credit card with them. I had signed papers to have my name taken off the joint account 2months before starting the IVA process, but it wasn't actioned. As soon as Lloyds knew I was planning an IVA, when they were notified of my creditor meeting, they froze the account because my name was on it. He found out on a Friday night and couldn't do anything about it. On the Monday we both had to go into branch to get his money released, all the woman did was phone stepchange and then she sorted it, his money got moved to a new account.

That's good to hear and from what we've seen on Web since last night, not unexpected. Your experience is exactly the same as ours apart from we're not separated.

Thanks to both of you guys for you help.

Hi- my partner has exactly the same issue... did you get the funds in the end???

Fri Mar 15, 2019 7:30 pmCarra_Rud wrote:

Hi,

First Post, so be kind.

My wife and I are in the process of going into an IVA. When we first started the process we were told to change account and setup direct debits etc. to the new account. My wife set the DD's and our pay to go into her Lloyds account because she has no creditors that are linked to Lloyds banking group. However, I have a Lloyds credit card that we plan on adding to the list of creditors.

This evening we tried to use my wife's Lloyds account that has all the money we have in the world in, but it was declined. We presumed there was an issue with payment system but my wife called them anyway. They've blocked her account even though the money is still showing as being present. They won't let her get to any money and have said she has to call Monday morning to discuss matter because we called after that department had gone home.

So my question is, are Lloyds bank able to block my wife using her bank account when she has no link to creditors other than me, even though we've not entered the IVA yet.

Did you get the funds back/ access to your account- my partner has exactly the same thing and is absolutely distraught- they’ve even taken her kids bank accounts- is this right?

Just to add that your IVA's will be interlocking not joint. You will make just one payment each month.