Santander have blocked my account after SFE payment

Hello,

So I went to check my bank account this morning as it said SFE has been paid and I have been without both money and food for a few days now. When I tried to login, it says access is blocked due to suspicious activity and when I called them they said that it's because of a large credit being applied by SFE. I said surely they can see where it's from and can check with SFE themselves? I have spent an hour stressed out on the phone to them and got nowhere. They said I need to upload proof of SFE and a load of other proof, I asked how long it will take and they said atleast 48 hours. WHAT DO I DO? I HAVE NOTHING. I even told them this and their answer pretty much was 'you'll have to wait nothing we can do'. I have a hospital appointment tomorrow back where I am from and the train is over £100. I need to attend this as I have waited YEARS on a waiting list for this appointment and I have no access to any money at all and I HAVE NO FOOD. I can't cope right now. Before anyone says "Can't your relatives send you money or you use another bank account" No, they can't. My WHOLE account is blocked so I can't receive or use or anything. I have no friends here so it's not like I could just borrow cash. I am 9 hours away from home and I need that train tomorrow for the hospital. I do NOT have any other bank accounts and have no options at all right now. Can someone please give me some advice on what to do or inform me if this has happened to anyone else?

Hi there. Unfortunately, this is something you will need to take up with your bank as this is a bank issue and SFE don't have any control over this. You can also speak with your university if you are needing help as they may be able to offer support. Thanks, Leah.

Reply 2

enghejirgalang

1

Exactly the same issue happened to me.

Original post by elliefitz

Hello,

So I went to check my bank account this morning as it said SFE has been paid and I have been without both money and food for a few days now. When I tried to login, it says access is blocked due to suspicious activity and when I called them they said that it's because of a large credit being applied by SFE. I said surely they can see where it's from and can check with SFE themselves? I have spent an hour stressed out on the phone to them and got nowhere. They said I need to upload proof of SFE and a load of other proof, I asked how long it will take and they said atleast 48 hours. WHAT DO I DO? I HAVE NOTHING. I even told them this and their answer pretty much was 'you'll have to wait nothing we can do'. I have a hospital appointment tomorrow back where I am from and the train is over £100. I need to attend this as I have waited YEARS on a waiting list for this appointment and I have no access to any money at all and I HAVE NO FOOD. I can't cope right now. Before anyone says "Can't your relatives send you money or you use another bank account" No, they can't. My WHOLE account is blocked so I can't receive or use or anything. I have no friends here so it's not like I could just borrow cash. I am 9 hours away from home and I need that train tomorrow for the hospital. I do NOT have any other bank accounts and have no options at all right now. Can someone please give me some advice on what to do or inform me if this has happened to anyone else?

Have you managed to get this resolved?

Reply 4

elliefitz

OP

12

Original post by normaw

Have you managed to get this resolved?

Nope. I have tried to call them again today and was on hold for over an hour before I hung up in frustration. I had to call the hospital and they've told me they will be in touch but no idea when that will be. My mum is fuming at them too, it's just one big mess. I was meant to go to a concert tomorrow too. Can't sell the ticket so another £400 gone.

Reply 5

elliefitz

OP

12

What happened???? Please tell me the outcome and how long it took if you feel comfortable! I am so stressed at the minute. Stuck in London with no money or food at all and my mum is disabled with low income so unable to help. The university hardship people are closed until Monday too.

Reply 6

enghejirgalang

1

Santander asked me to submit:

1.

Evident of source (SFE entitlement letter)

2.

Passport

3.

Offer from the university

But they told me need to contact SLC directly and verify the payment and unblock my account.

Reply 7

elliefitz

OP

12

Original post by enghejirgalang

Santander asked me to submit:

1.

Evident of source (SFE entitlement letter)

2.

Passport

3.

Offer from the university

But they told me need to contact SLC directly and verify the payment and unblock my account.

Thanks for informing me of what you need to provide. They have asked me to provided evidence of source and that's it for now. I am rather worried they will ask for more after what you have told me. I have no photo ID so that'll be a problem as I need to order a replacement (pretty sure i dropped it somewhere) but I can't exactly do that now since the card is blocked. I can definitely provide proof of the offer from uni but a bit worried about the timescale. They told me 48 hours. No update up to yet. :frown:

If yours hasn't been sorted yet, I hope it does soon!

Original post by elliefitz

Hello,
So I went to check my bank account this morning as it said SFE has been paid and I have been without both money and food for a few days now. When I tried to login, it says access is blocked due to suspicious activity and when I called them they said that it's because of a large credit being applied by SFE. I said surely they can see where it's from and can check with SFE themselves? I have spent an hour stressed out on the phone to them and got nowhere. They said I need to upload proof of SFE and a load of other proof, I asked how long it will take and they said atleast 48 hours. WHAT DO I DO? I HAVE NOTHING. I even told them this and their answer pretty much was 'you'll have to wait nothing we can do'. I have a hospital appointment tomorrow back where I am from and the train is over £100. I need to attend this as I have waited YEARS on a waiting list for this appointment and I have no access to any money at all and I HAVE NO FOOD. I can't cope right now. Before anyone says "Can't your relatives send you money or you use another bank account" No, they can't. My WHOLE account is blocked so I can't receive or use or anything. I have no friends here so it's not like I could just borrow cash. I am 9 hours away from home and I need that train tomorrow for the hospital. I do NOT have any other bank accounts and have no options at all right now. Can someone please give me some advice on what to do or inform me if this has happened to anyone else?

Hey @elliefitz

I think in this situation it may be best to see if the University can offer you any temporary financial assistance. Possibly you can see if they can give you finances for the ticket and then you can pay them back perhaps? I am aware that a lot of universities have schemes where they help out and assist with student travel costs and maybe this can apply to that also.

I hope this can help you!

Brandon - Student Rep

Reply 9

elliefitz

OP

12

Original post by enghejirgalang

Santander asked me to submit:

1.

Evident of source (SFE entitlement letter)

2.

Passport

3.

Offer from the university

But they told me need to contact SLC directly and verify the payment and unblock my account.

Well, I had a phone call today from them saying they have made the decision to close all my accounts and they are refusing to give me access to the student finance payment as they 'haven't verified it's real'. I have no idea why any of this has happened?? It happened to my old bank account too, I had inheritance from when my father passed away and they thought the big payment was fraud. I am unsure what to do to even get my SFE payment now as it is in the bank account that is being closed.

Reply 10

random_matt

20

The big banks are not great. That money will return to SFE if it is real. My advise is to open an account with Nationwide.

Reply 11

elliefitz

OP

12

Original post by random_matt

The big banks are not great. That money will return to SFE if it is real. My advise is to open an account with Nationwide.

Found out that wasn't even the problem, they transferred the money to my Revolut account so that's fine for now. Just a little worried about my PIP payment/UC as UC are asking me to go into the job centre with the bank card to confirm the change of bank and obviously I am very far away from there, so going to have to pay for the train for that soon. UC wants to see my entitlement for SFE too, guessing that this will be reduced to 0 which is fine for now, unsure if I even want to stay in uni at this point! I tried to call PIP, on hold for 3 hours and during that it hung up for no reason, did the same thing again but for 2 hours. Every time I try to call, I get cut off on their end I'm guessing. Could probably ask my mum to do it for me, but I need to be with her when she does it so I do not know how that is going to work.

Anyways, the real problem is that my old bank account with Barclays got closed in 2023 due to the fact I received two large payments, both from different companies. One was from Serco and the other from RoyalLondon Insurance. It was death in service payment and inheritance/pension from my father. Both these payments added up to around 21k so I can understand that this would be very alarming coming into the bank account of someone who usually has no money and only has 1 regular payment going in which was PIP at the time. The really irritating thing is they closed it without any notice, they said they sent a letter asking me to send documents about the origins of the money and if I didn't the account would be closed in 60 days. I did not receive any letters at all, the only way I knew it was blocked was when I tried to login to Mobile Banking and use my card. I asked them for proof of them sending the letters and asked why they didn't contact me by email too and they had no reply to this. Long story short, they kept hold of some of my money for a year because they had 'lost' the money. How is that even possible? I got it out in the end but the money had been lost for that long in some dormant account apparently. No apologies or anything, quite disappointing.

After this, I thought that would be the end of it all and I knew that Barclays had the impression the money was money laundering or fraud. They DID not contact me at all to inform me of anything, I had to make contact with them once I noticed being blocked.

I was not informed of anything else and was told to open another bank somewhere else, so I did with Santander. Fast forward to now, the same thing happens. Strange right? When I called Santander yesterday they informed me to contact CIFAS. I was extremely alarmed when they said that and quite annoyed to be honest. I tried to contact CIFAS, couldn't get through as they had no proper number and the only one I could find is only open at certain hours and days. I sent them an email though, just waiting for a reply. Santander told me to access a file or something to do with them, I asked why and they informed me that another bank may have flagged something to them and they are taking precaution. So, all of this hassle because of Barclays. I am wondering, do I make a formal complaint? I have already tried to but got no reply.

Reply 12

Doomotron

18

Have a look at this and see if any of it can help:
Complaints about banks and building societies - Citizens Advice

I've been with Nationwide for a while without any issues so I'd recommend them once all of this is over.

Reply 13

elliefitz

OP

12

Original post by Doomotron

Have a look at this and see if any of it can help:
Complaints about banks and building societies - Citizens Advice
I've been with Nationwide for a while without any issues so I'd recommend them once all of this is over.

Perfect! Thanks so much for this. I will definitely open an account with Nationwide if I need one again!

Reply 14

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

I would make a formal complaint to Barclays if their only attempt to contact you went astray and you were never given the chance to show where the funds came from. It sounds as if the SFE payment triggered a review of your other account and then they spotted the CIFAS marker.

NB. Barclays can't just 'not reply' to a formal complaint. They have X amount of days to respond, (details on their complaints page) after which you can refer the case to the obudsman.

Reply 15

random_matt

20

Original post by Doomotron

Have a look at this and see if any of it can help:
Complaints about banks and building societies - Citizens Advice
I've been with Nationwide for a while without any issues so I'd recommend them once all of this is over.

I opened up an account when I was 13 and I have been with them ever since (26 years).

(edited 1 week ago)

Reply 16

elliefitz

OP

12

Original post by Admit-One

I would make a formal complaint to Barclays if their only attempt to contact you went astray and you were never given the chance to show where the funds came from. It sounds as if the SFE payment triggered a review of your other account and then they spotted the CIFAS marker.
NB. Barclays can't just 'not reply' to a formal complaint. They have X amount of days to respond, (details on their complaints page) after which you can refer the case to the obudsman.

Yeah, I checked my email. It said that they responded to a complaint made by a Barclays Worker, this was when I could finally withdraw some of my money. I remember the letter now. It just said "We are sorry you are not satisfied, rest assured we will use this feedback to improve".

Reply 17

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by elliefitz

Yeah, I checked my email. It said that they responded to a complaint made by a Barclays Worker, this was when I could finally withdraw some of my money. I remember the letter now. It just said "We are sorry you are not satisfied, rest assured we will use this feedback to improve".

I think it’s worth complaining again as that was only about the account closure, you weren’t aware that you had a CIFAS marker at that point which only happened as they didn’t give you a chance to evidence where the funds came from.

Reply 18

martin7

20

Original post by elliefitz

Yeah, I checked my email. It said that they responded to a complaint made by a Barclays Worker, this was when I could finally withdraw some of my money. I remember the letter now. It just said "We are sorry you are not satisfied, rest assured we will use this feedback to improve".

It sounds like Barclays treated your complaint without about as much seriousness as if you'd grumbled that you had to wait 5 minutes in a queue to speak to a cashier. Did their reply make any mention of the Financial Ombudsman Service? If not, then it sounds like they didn't send it through their formal complaints process.

So I would agree with @Admit-One. You need to use Barclays' formal complaints process -- details of which you can find at https://www.barclays.co.uk/complaints/

Before you make the complaint to Barclays, make a subject access request to Cifas to see what is recorded against your name, and who recorded it. It does sound like Barclays have recorded a Cifas marker, but you need to check. See https://www.cifas.org.uk/dsar for what to do.

When you come to making a complaint against Barclays, you need to include the following:

1.

They didn't contact you (or that if they did, the letter didn't reach you). They could have contacted you by email/phone as well as by letter, but they failed to do so.

2.

They "lost" your money, and it took an inordinate amount of time for them to find it and return it.

3.

Assuming they returned the money to you in full, it would indicate that they felt that you had a right to it

4.

If they did register a Cifas marker, depending on what type of marker it was, you can argue that it wasn't appropriate for them to do that and that you want it removed. (For example, if it was a marker for "misuse of facility", then having money you were entitled to deposited into your account the account was not being misused.)

5.

Your previous complaint was acknowledged (you had an email indicating that they had considered it) but was not recognised/treated as a proper complaint and was not routed through their complaints process.

6.

The Cifas marker has caused you significant inconvenience and has resulted in your being turned down by another bank.

You say you could "finally withdraw some of my money". Is the Barclays account still open? What has happened to the rest of the money? Have you taken steps to get written confirmation from Serco and Royal London Insurance to confirm that the money that was paid to you was money you were entitled to?

Reply 19

elliefitz

OP

12

Original post by martin7

It sounds like Barclays treated your complaint without about as much seriousness as if you'd grumbled that you had to wait 5 minutes in a queue to speak to a cashier. Did their reply make any mention of the Financial Ombudsman Service? If not, then it sounds like they didn't send it through their formal complaints process.
So I would agree with @Admit-One. You need to use Barclays' formal complaints process -- details of which you can find at https://www.barclays.co.uk/complaints/
Before you make the complaint to Barclays, make a subject access request to Cifas to see what is recorded against your name, and who recorded it. It does sound like Barclays have recorded a Cifas marker, but you need to check. See https://www.cifas.org.uk/dsar for what to do.
When you come to making a complaint against Barclays, you need to include the following:

1.

They didn't contact you (or that if they did, the letter didn't reach you). They could have contacted you by email/phone as well as by letter, but they failed to do so.

2.

They "lost" your money, and it took an inordinate amount of time for them to find it and return it.

3.

Assuming they returned the money to you in full, it would indicate that they felt that you had a right to it

4.

If they did register a Cifas marker, depending on what type of marker it was, you can argue that it wasn't appropriate for them to do that and that you want it removed. (For example, if it was a marker for "misuse of facility", then having money you were entitled to deposited into your account the account was not being misused.)

5.

Your previous complaint was acknowledged (you had an email indicating that they had considered it) but was not recognised/treated as a proper complaint and was not routed through their complaints process.

6.

The Cifas marker has caused you significant inconvenience and has resulted in your being turned down by another bank.

You say you could "finally withdraw some of my money". Is the Barclays account still open? What has happened to the rest of the money? Have you taken steps to get written confirmation from Serco and Royal London Insurance to confirm that the money that was paid to you was money you were entitled to?

Thanks for the detailed reply! I will do exactly everything you have said and I truly appreciate your assistance. In regards to finally withdrawing the money, the bank account is still closed with Barclays and was at the time. I had to go into branch over 9 times and each time I would get told someone would call me to let me know when they have found out where the money is being kept. They said this would take 5 days max each time, they didn't contact at all so I kept going in until I was finally able to, it took the manager over an hour on the phone to other Barclays workers to figure it all out. I have both physical letters and PDF files of the money from Serco and Royal London. I would of obviously uploaded this if they gave me the chance.

As well as this, I am not even counting in the fact it took hours of my time to go into branches each time and cost money on travel.

I totally agree with everything you have said, I do not feel this has been handled in the correct way and I shall ensure to make another complaint after doing the CIFAS request to ensure it 100% is Barclays. If they handle it in the same way again, it will be being raised to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

I am unsure why I didn't go to the Financial Ombudsman Service straight away after the first complaint response, it would have been a lot easier!

My sister in law is a management position within Barclays (the company not a branch) and she agreed that I should be complaining again and their response is unacceptable. She has been very apologetic, but obviously it is not her fault in the slightest. I am glad of her advice and everyone else's here.

Santander have blocked my account after SFE payment

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