If you and your partner have a joint account with an overdraft, a joint loan – or even a joint savings account — beware! Your bank may not do what it’s supposed to when you and your partner split up. I get regular emails and comments from women who’ve broken up with their partner and whose bank hasn’t been helpful – or worse – when they’ve asked what they can do to protect their finances.
What can happen?
I was contacted by Jo, who is splitting up with her husband. While they were married they’d not had debt problems. But Jo’s husband didn’t have a good credit history and had asked Jo to keep her name on the joint account while their finances were being sorted out to improve his.
Overdraft problems
Jo contacted SavvyWoman because her husband had applied for a £10,000 overdraft, without her knowledge, and had run up a debt of £2,700. When she went to her local Halifax branch, she was told there was nothing they could do. A month later she contacted the bank again, after her husband had withdrawn another £900. And, after being told a second time nothing could be done, took out £5,000 herself to stop her husband from using the whole £10,000 overdraft facility.
Halifax froze her account some weeks later and, when she complained, offered her £50 in compensation and waived overdraft charges. Since I contacted Halifax on Jo’s behalf, they’ve increased this offer to £150. I found Jo’s case pretty shocking and think Halifax should not pursue Jo for the £900 that her husband withdrew after she told the bank about the dispute.
What banks should do
Banks should take reasonable steps to help couples manage joint accounts if they are splitting up or if there is a dispute. This means that if you ring your bank or go t the local branch and say you’re in dispute:
- They should offer to convert the account to one where both of you have to agree any transactions, or
- They should offer to freeze the account.
SAVVY TIP: Bear in mind that if you freeze an account, both of you have to agree to unfreeze it. That means that if your partner or husband wants to make your life difficult, they can refuse to agree to unfreeze an account and you wouldn’t be able to access any of the money that is in it.
What banks do
Banks’ procedures vary. I’ve contacted their press offices to find out what the banks would do if a couple with a joint account was to split up (called ‘telling the bank there’s a dispute’ in their jargon). It’s worth bearing in mind that even where their policy may seem reasonable, it’s more than possible that staff in the call centre or in the branches may not know the rules.
- Barclays: If a customer tells the bank there is a dispute, they will be asked if they’d like to convert the account from ‘either to sign’ to ‘both to sign’. All cards and regular payments are cancelled, telephone banking is suspended and online banking withdrawn.
- Co-operative bank: If we’re told of a dispute, the bank can block or suspend the account so that any subsequent payments or withdrawals would need the authority of both joint account holders. Telephone or internet banking may be suspended.
- HSBC: If you tell the bank there’s a dispute, the bank may take this as a notice that the account should be changed to ‘both to sign’. If so, internet banking may be suspended.
SAVVY TIP: Unusually, HSBC says that until all the cards are returned, card transactions (including those carried out via self-service machines) will go through the joint account as normal. This is different to most of the other banks who say transactions shouldn’t go through once you’ve told them about the dispute.
- Lloyds Banking Group (includes Lloyds, Halifax, Bank of Scotland): If you tell them you are in dispute you can ask for the account to be frozen or to have transactions approved by both parties. The bank is not allowed to do this automatically.
- NatWest/RBS: If you tell the bank of a dispute, it will look to get confirmation from you and your partner about how you’d like the account to operate. One partner can ask for the account to be converted to ‘both to sign’. Telephone and online banking would be suspended.
- Santander: Either party can contact the bank and it will change the joint account so that both parties have to sign for any transactions. Once this has been done, neither you nor your partner will be able to view or make online transactions.
Watch out
If you and your husband or partner are splitting up and you are worried about a joint account:
1. Check that the bank does what it says it will. I’ve spoken to women whose bank hasn’t frozen an account when it’s promised to. Keep a record of phone calls, emails etc.
2. Be aware that both of you have to agree to unfreeze an account. If your partner is unlikely to agree to this, freezing it in the first place may not be the best option.
3. Find out whether changing the way the account operates from ‘either to sign’ to ‘both to sign’ means that telephone and online banking are suspended or withdrawn. If not, find out if/how you can revoke access to them.
4. Make sure that you won’t be held liable for any transactions after you’ve told the bank about the dispute (except for cheques that may have been written but not paid in/cashed). The bank shouldn’t insist that plastic cards are returned before transactions are blocked.
Closing a joint account
Banks will normally only let one person’s name come off the account if they have received confirmation in writing. This can make life difficult if your ex won’t write to the bank. If your bank doesn’t have up to date contact details for him, they may not accept address details from you (due to ‘data protection laws’).
What I’d like the banks to do
I’d like banks to be much clearer about what a couple’s responsibilities are if they take out a joint account, and to make sure their own staff do what they’re supposed to if a relationship breaks down. I’d like banks and building societies to:
1. Give couples much clearer information about what could happen to any debts on a joint account or mortgage when they first sign up.
2. Contact both parties for their explicit agreement if a bank is going to add or increase an overdraft on a joint account or increase the borrowing on a joint mortgage.
3. Let one partner safeguard themselves by changing the joint account so that both have to agree to all future transactions, and for this to be the default option.
4. Make sure all staff are aware of the rules so that consumers aren’t told there is nothing the bank can do, or given incorrect information.
What do you think? Please leave a comment in the box below if you’ve had experience of joint accounts or if you agree that the banks and building societies should do more.
Related articles:
Over half of adults don’t know the rules on joint accounts
Understanding your rights if you have a second credit card on an account
Joint debts: what to do if your relationship breaks down
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Well done Sarah for intervening on this case.
This once again shows that banks are not working to reasonable set standards and that the staff many times don’t apply the bank’s own policy.
I am dead against having joint accounts. I believe that women need to maintain their financial independence, just in-case of a split etc, it also protects their credit rating. I love being in-charge on my own finances.
Hi Roland,
Thanks for your lovely comment – it’s much appreciated. I have to say that I was fairly appalled when Jo got in touch. What was worse was – not only did the bank say that there was nothing they could do – which was incorrect, they then proceeded to tell her about another customer who had been in and who was getting divorced, and who was losing her home because of her ex husband’s debts. Sort of ‘if you think you’ve got it bad, you should have heard about this customer’. Appalling and unprofessional behaviour on all levels!
Hi Trudes
Thanks very much for your comment. Having heard a number of terrible stories of problems with joint accounts over the years, I can completely understand why some couples don’t have them. My parents never had joint bank accounts but there were no financial secrets between them. If things are OK between you and your partner/husband, a joint account can make paying for joint expenses much less hassle, but if things go wrong, they can go very wrong indeed…
My ex-husband left 3 years ago and we now have no contact at all after a very acrimonius divorce. We had a joint account at the time he left that was overdrawn and I agreed to pay this back myself and close the account down eventually. However apparently my ex has now taken out an IVA and the bank has frozen the account without my knowledge and I can no longer pay money in to it. I received a ‘final demand’ letter and they have threatened me with debt collectors if I do not pay in full within 18 days. This is impossible for me as a single parent.
I don’t know which way to turn and am furious that the bank have lied about previous correspondence to me regarding this. I have tried ringing them and although I had a job to understand the accent of the man I spoke to, he basically was the one to tell me about the IVA!
Please help. I will ring the bank tomorrow (Monday) and try and get some more answers.
Hi Claire,
I’m really sorry (although, sadly, not completely surprised) to hear about your experience. I’ve come across cases where banks haven’t done what they said they’d do or haven’t been truthful/clear about what they and others should do. If you’d like to email me at sarah[at] savvywoman [dot] co [dot] uk and mark your email ‘joint account problems’, I’d be happy to take it up with the bank and see if I can help.
Hi.My husband & I have begun the process of an IVA,but we are supposed to have 14 days to think about it.It has only been 7.They told us to open a new bank account as our HSBC overdraft was being included.We didnt get the oppertunity to complete this as it took 3-5 working days after our signed forms were returned,for the new account to be useable. HSBC has already been informed of our pending creditors meeting & frozen our account.They released the funds in excess of the overdraft ficility,which they have removed,rather than be included in the IVA.Now leaving us with £800 less of my husbands wages this month & cannot meet everyday living expenses or secured creditors,which the IVA was supposed to be helping us to avoid.
Hi Debi,
Sorry to hear that. I’m afraid it’s not something I can give you advice about, but I hope you get it sorted. Have you arranged this directly or involved a debt advice agency such as Stepchange or National Debtline?
I have just discovered that my ex (in process of a divorce) intends to remove his name from our joint current account, from which all our DD’s are set up. Nat West tell me that he cannot do this without my written consent, but having read so much on the web, I have my doubts and so am unsure? Can you clarify? PS We split up 12 months ago but have kept our joint current account, in hindsight, perhaps this was not a good move.
Hi Frightened rabbit in headlights,
Thanks for your question. I would have thought it would be very difficult for your ex to take his name off your account without you knowing about it or agreeing to it. Banks are quite reluctant to close accounts or change them without both partners agreeing. In the terms of what can go wrong, it’s more likely to be that the bank won’t do something that one partner has asked them to do (such as freeze an account) than that they will. I wouldn’t recommend that you keep the joint account if the relationship has broken down, but your ex can’t just have his name taken off if you don’t agree. Have you changed the ‘mandate’ so you both have to agree to new payments or money coming out? If not, I would suggest that you do this,otherwise he could take money out without you knowing about it (and so could you…!).
Hi,
I’d like some advice please. My husband & I are separated-2 years in June & I want to sort out our finances before we divorce in June. Problem is, the joint account (which I have never used). O can’t get my name off it because he is always overdrawn & it needs to be ok credit, plus, he is spending beyond his means so he probably wouldn’t have the income for the bank to give him the same overdraft terms as it currently goes of both our salaries. Meanwhile, my credit is being affected by his bad credit which means he can’t buy our house off me which means, we will have to divorce with those two things ongoing. And I’d rather be free of him altogether! Tricky when you have kids but as free as I’ll get! Is there any advice you would give? Thank you.
Daughter verbally asked for info on what to do re joint account as her and her husband were divorcing. They promptly froze the account without authorisation. She was left with direct debits for home not being paid and her salary was due to be paid in the next day!
Dear Crommie
Thank you for your comment. I’m rather horrified by that. The banks have certainly been pretty bad at not acting when they should have, but they shouldn’t go ahead and freeze someone’s account without their permission. You should tell your daughter to complain to the bank and, if she’s not happy with the response, to take this up with the Financial Ombudsman Service. If you’d like to email me with details of the bank in question, I’d be happy to contact them on your daughter’s behalf. My email address can be found on the ‘contact SavvyWoman’ page.
We have a joint account which my partner had not used since 2009. I now have a debt relief order, but a debt collection agency are chasing my partner. Its not his debt, its mine. How, if possible can I prevent them from chasing him? Help!
Hi Acanofworms,
Thanks for your question. I’m afraid that if your partner’s name is on the account or debt then he is equally liable for it, even if he hasn’t used the account for some years. My understanding is that he would be liable for the part of the debt that wasn’t included in the DRO (but this is general guidance only – not advice). I get lots of emails about this from women who are in the position of your partner, but where the relationship has broken down and the ex partner isn’t willing or able to help them. Have you arranged the DRO with a debt advice charity? It may be worth talking to someone like National Debtline or Stepchange, to see if there’s anything they can suggest.
Hi – I have a joint mortgage savings account with my soon to be ex partner with Nationwide. I’d like to freeze the account as I’m worried he will withdraw all of the funds (the acct only needs one signature to release the money – how I allowed it to be setup this way I don’t know, I don’t remember it being discussed when we opened the acct). Will nationwide also freeze the other joint acct we have which our bills are paid out of too? I keep getting different advice whenever I speak to Nationwide – the employees don’t seem to know what they would do either!
Hi Anon,
Thanks for your question. Rather than freezing the account, I would suggest that you change the way the savings (and your other joint accounts) are set up so that you both have to agree to any money being taken out of it, or payments made. One of you can generally freeze the account but both of you have to agree to unfreeze it. If your ex were to decide to be unco-operative, this could cause problems in the future. If Nationwide agrees to this, I’d get it in writing.
I’ve split from my husband and the only thing we have in joint names is a lloyds joint account. This account has all the bills paid from it. I would ideally like to keep it, it has an overdraft of £950.
I am planning to go to lloyds this week to get some advice on how to do this.
Would you advise to close it instead?
Thanks
Hi Diana,
Thanks for your question. I’m sorry to hear that you’ve split from your husband. There are two options I would suggest: the first is that you ask Lloyds to change the account so you and your husband both have to agree to have any changes to payments or any increase to the overdraft limit etc. Direct debits and standing orders that have already been set up should not be affected, but do check. If you would prefer, you can close the joint account and open a separate account. You would both have to agree to do this and any overdraft would have to be paid off. The advantage of doing this is that you could then contact the credit reference agencies (Callcredit, Experian and Equifax) and ask for a notice of dissociation, which means that your credit reference files would no longer be linked. This is important because if, for example, your husband’s credit rating were to get worse, it could affect you when you apply for credit in your name only. Let me know how you get on and go
Dear Sarah
Thank you for your reply. I went to lloyds yesterday and they said my ex husband and I will need to make an appointment to change the details but the overdraft will have to be cleared first.
Hi Diana,
Thanks for the update. Did Lloyds offer to do anything with your account in the meantime (such as change it so you both have to agree to further withdrawals or an increase in the overdraft)? You may have been offered this option and not felt you needed it, but I’d be interested to find out. Good luck. I hope it all goes well for you.
Hello, I divorce about 8 years ago, just recived latter from dept collecter, about my ex husband and I joint account over darft charches. I didn’t know he was still useing the account, how I can clear my self from this sitution. Many thanks
Hi Marry,
Thanks for your question. I’m sorry to hear about the situation you find yourself in. That must be very worrying for you. When you and your husband divorced – what happened to the joint account? Did you talk to the bank or discuss what you would do with it? How much does the debt collector say you owe and what are they saying they’ll do? If you can give me some more information, I’ll try and see what I can do to help.
Thank you so much getting back to me. When we sapareted, he freeze the account at least that what he told me. £218.10 is the dept. Dept collectors will send me more details about what is money spend on. Do you thin we still have joint ac in HSBC or because of dept account been chanceled. Many thanks
Hi Marry,
Normally, one person can freeze an account but both people have to agree to unfreeze it. If I were you I would contact HSBC bank to find out more details about when the debt was run up and the status of your account now. If your name is still on the account, you and your ex husband are each liable for any debts on it. But I’d be interested to find out whether the bank is chasing your ex husband for the money. Also, did you have a formal financial settlement when you divorced and did you decide then who would pay off which debts?
I am divorcing husband, and have left the home, but still contribute to a joint account to pay my share of home & contents insurance liability. So far, husband has used this account only for utilities, insurance, etc, but also for paying tradesmen who carry out work there. My brother advised me to get the joint account frozen. I didnt want to do this, because husband gets very frustrated with paper and admin work of any kind. Can I get the £10,000 overdraft removed, and if he does go into debt with it, am I liable? I left the home 6 months ago.
Hi Maggie,
Thanks for your question and I’m sorry for the lengthy delay in replying to you. I wouldn’t recommend that you get the account frozen because, while one of you can freeze the account, you both have to agree to get it unfrozen. I would instead suggest that you get it changed so that you both have to agree to take any money out or spend any money from the account (make sure that online or phone access is revoked as well). I would also recommend that you talk to the bank, as a matter of urgency, and ask for the overdraft facility to be removed. If your husband goes into debt each of you is responsible for the entire debt on a joint account and the bank can pursue whichever partner it wants to. Could I ask who the account is with? I’ve had a number of emails from women where the account has had a £10,000 overdraft facility and there’s one bank’s name that has come up each time.
Thanks
Thank you for replying Sarah. The a/c is with NatWest. We have had it for 38 years. I had the o/draft removed now, but they tell me he can re-instate it at any time. Also that I need his signature/approval for my name to be removed from the account. His behaviour has been such that I have no confidence that he will agree to it. Thanks again.
Hi Maggie,
Thanks for the reply to mine. I think the bank has given you some duff information. If you’ve told a bank that you and your husband are splitting up, they should take additional care with the account and make sure that neither of you can run up debts without both agreeing.
I’ll check with their press office (I won’t mention your name) just because my understanding is that you shouldn’t be left in a potentially vulnerable situation when you’ve told them you and your husband are getting divorced.
Thanks Sarah.
Even before I’d posted in your forum, I had spoken to someone at a call centre, posing the same question, ie how could I get my name taken off the account. The operator didn’t know but said she would pass it on to Queries Department. I received flowers from them a week ago, “for your patience in dealing with your complaint”. It wasn’t a complaint either, but it’s becoming one now, as they still haven’t got back to either of us! Regards… Maggie
Hi Maggie,
Thanks for the update. How frustrating! I’m afraid I haven’t heard anything yet and I’ve been out of the office for a couple of days.
I’ll get onto it when I’m back.
Sarah
My partner discovered his ex wife had taken her name off a joint Halifax account (he hadn’t used for over 2 years) without him knowing and had left a standing order for £1000 per month to another of her accounts and the bank hadn’t got his contact details to tell him. When I tweeted them to ask their policy they told me they would need both parties to approve the account holder change. This didn’t happen and he ended up with £3000 of debt he had no hand in spending. Naturally she refused to pay it back. That had clearly been the plan all along. The banks need to take more responsibility and follow the policies they tell their customers they have.
I am divorcing my husband therefore our joint account has been frozen, it’s a Halifax ultimate reward so has a monthly charge of around £15 and is £430 overdrawn as the account charges and overdraft charges keep pilling up, is there anything I can do to remove my name, change the type of account or close it without his permission even if it means paying off the overdraft myself?
Hi Zoie,
I’m sorry to hear that you’re getting divorced and that you’re having problems with your joint account. My understanding is that with most banks you’d both have to agree to close the account or to convert it to a sole account.
However, it is worth checking with Halifax to see if you could switch the account to a different type or close it without your husband’s signature as not all banks work in exactly the same way.
If you can’t close it, you could ask the bank to freeze the account, although you and your husband would both later have to agree to unfreeze it. So, for example, you could pay off the overdraft which would stop the charges mounting up, but it wouldn’t do anything about the £15 monthly charge.
Let me know how you get on as I’d be interested to hear how helpful, or otherwise, Halifax is.
I received a statement from the Halifax when I was abroad showing a substantial amount had been removed. I contacted them and they said my husband had removed it to a new account in France. We were splitting up at this time. I was told I should have contacted them within 6 weeks and they would have been able to stop the transfer. However, I received the statement AFTER the 6 weeks, so they were no longer responsible. This was a joint account and they would allow told either of us to take it out. I would have thought that someone should have queried the large amount – £80,000 and going into a single account before releasing it?
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My husband and I have a joint Nationwide account. We are splitting up. Today I did a CHAPs transfer as I’m buying a house for myself. He was with me. As he is the first named ac holder the bank insisted on naming only him on the form. Almost as if I don’t exist! Most of the money in the account was mine. He’s now going to go around telling people that he bought the house for me! I’m really annoyed with the bank. Why should the 2nd account holder, usually the wife, be completely disregarded.
Hi Rea,
Thanks for your question. I’m not surprised you’re annoyed – I would certainly be if I was in your situation. Just to be clear, do you meant that on the CHAPS transfer form it looks like the money is coming from his account alone (rather than a joint one) into yours?
If I’ve understood correctly, that seems very wrong. I’d be happy to look into this further.
Thanks for alerting me to this as it wasn’t something I was aware of.
Hi Sarah
I’m attaching a copy of the form that Nationwide clerk gave me. Account holder was shown as my husband only. When I pointed this out to the clerk he said it was because my husband was named as 1st account holder. The account has always been in joint names ever since we opened it. As I was the one transferring the money I had to show my ID etc and sign the form yet it was done in my husband’s name and he wasn’t even asked for anything!! How is this supposed to be fair?
Got divorced 7 years ago. Asked Abbey (now Santander) to remove my name from two joint accounts. They only closed one. Discovered that second joint account was still joint after 5 years because there was a problem with the account and the bank couldn’t get hold of ex (who lives at the old address where the account is registered) and phoned me on my mobile. I was really shocked and went to local branch where I was told that a mistake had been made but that they couldn’t do anything now without his consent to have me removed. I wrote to them to make sure there was a paper trail and they never responded because they said in branch they can only write to the address where the account is registered despite the fact that I verified my identity and address with the local bank manager. I still don’t know whether I have been removed from the account. It was our main business account at the time and ex does a lot of tax fraud and dodgy stuff abroad so can’t trust. I was able to look at the account activity in the branch and it was still his main active business account. Then 2 months ago I received a letter from intelligent finance addressed to both of us telling me about some standard account changes. I had asked them to remove me from the account in 2009 when I was renting between house moves and am certain I never gave them my new address. Certainly never received any correspondence from them since 2009 (7 years ago!). Again I was shocked that this had not been resolved and dug out old correspondence. Last one from march 2009 from IF saying they needed to talk to me on the phone about removing me from the account. Easy for them, no paper trail after that! I am absolutely sure I phoned them then but have no proof of course. I wrote to ex about what he needs to do (account hadn’t been used since 2009, so unlikely he was aware of its existence) to get me removed and had letter from IF today that they are unable to remove me because they have not been instructed by him. You pay £25k for divorce and then you are still liable for someone else’s dodgy finances in perpetuity because he can’t be bothered to make an phone call! I thought we were adults in a western civilised country that treats us as individuals with basic rights. But no. Similar but resolved story post-divorce when I was waiting for payout and he increased monthly mortgage payment without my consent although I was still joint owner of the house until payout transaction completed. I wanted to talk to mortgage lender and they refused to talk to me because we were divorced but my name was still on mortgage. If something had happened to him while I was waiting for money from him I would have been liable. The answer online to these problems always seems to be court but why should we have to pay for something that’s not our doing? Looking at this article seems to suggest that mainstream banks have better policies and dodgy banks (in our case abbey/santander, IF and Northern Rock) just hide behind cheap ‘can’t do’ policies. You get what you pay for..
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My friends husband has removed his name from their joint account without her consent, leaving her with over £3000 worth of overdraft. What can she do?
I’m am having problems closing a joint account with Barclays, we split over 5 year so ago but at the time the joint account was all I had so we kept it open temporarily, then he moved country, now I dont know where he is, have no contact info for him
but the bank says I need a letter from him to close the account!. I explain the issue but they don’t care
I split up with my partner last year and we are in the process of selling our house. We have a joint account which we both pay into to fund the mortgage and other joint expenses. I have just been looking through my bank statements and noticed that my standing order for the usual payment towards the mortgage has been rejected by the beneficiary bank, which is our mortgage provider. I have been to the bank and they have informed me that the account has been blocked, therefore no payments can go in or out. I find this somewhat concerning as we have a mortgage repayment to make, and other direct debits, including insurance for the property utility bills. I also cant pay any funds into the account to cover the mortgage as they wont accept bank transfers! It would appear they have acted on his instruction and have failed to inform me of this. Is this normal procedure for Lloyds Bank ?
Hi, my husband and I divorced over 15 years ago now and we had a joint account with Nationwide here in the UK in 1997. We moved to the USA. When we split he stayed in the USA and I came back, bringing his bank card with me (he had emptied the account just before I left, so I obtained the card off him). I did try to take him off the account once I was back in the UK but they wouldn’t do this unless they had it in writing from him, which was never going to happen. I have now used this account for years, after changing my surname and it still in his but all cards and statements came to my home address in the UK. I have never been in contact with him and the only activity on this account was mine, direct debits, salary going in etc. then all of a sudden yesterday, I went online to check things and swap some money from this Nationwide account to another and the joint one had completely disappeared!! I called the Nationwide this morning and they told me that the account had been frozen, luckily I had only 9p in there as I had transferred some to the other account (this isn’t joint). I asked why and they said that it is due to the other named account holder, and it will stay frozen until they see something in writing from him. What is this all about after all these years? Please help
Vicki Ward
My partner of 9 years had one possible two affairs in the last 18 months. The last affair started whilst I was in hospital this year. I am disabled, 64 and semi retired. We live in rented accommodation in both names.He is due a insurance payout. We have a joint account however since the affairs I set up my own account and I transfer with his agreement a portion of his salary monthly to help with the bills which are all in my name except the rent which is joint. During our time together I have paid for holidays, his clothes and anything else he has wanted. If I asked him leave, would I be legally ok to take a small portion of money from our joint account and transfer it into my account. Ie £3000 out of £9000. Is there any legal out back on me he could have? . We have no other savings.thank you .
My partner of 9 years had one possible two affairs in the last 18
months. The last affair started whilst I was in hospital this year. I am
disabled, 64 and semi retired. We live in rented accommodation in both
names.He is due a insurance payout. We have a joint account however
since the affairs I set up my own account and I transfer with his
agreement a portion of his salary monthly to help with the bills which
are all in my name except the rent which is joint. During our time
together I have paid for holidays, his clothes and anything else he has
wanted. If I asked him leave, would I be legally ok to take a small
portion of money from our joint account and transfer it into my account.
Ie £3000 out of £9000. Is there any legal out back on me he could have?
. We have no other savings.thank you .
Ive been divorced three years and had a joint account which I tried to get my name off based on what the bank TSB told me to do which was to fill out a form and both me and my ex sign it which we did they did not except his signature as we had both moved away I phoned him and he said he would contact the bank as they had excepted my signature but not his unfortunately a lot of bad stuff happened between me and my ex we stopped communication , my son who had moved with him came back to live with me and my daughter , I worked long hours to look after my family and got into debt . I phoned the bank to see if my name was still on the account my ex had not contacted them I asked for advice from the bank on what I could do but they basically said it was my problem. Now I have moved on met someone settled but recently got sent a debt collectors letter saying im responsible for a debt of £1300.00which my ex has run up while hes been living with another woman , they cant get hold of him so they are coming after me to pay the amount , I have no savings I dont own anything im still paying off my own debts but I do have a job. Ive tried contacting whoever I can on this but citizens advice, the TSB, spoke to a family solicitor who was rubbish but basically they are saying I will have to pay , I really cant believe I have no rights here , the statements quite clearly show the overdraft was paid off by him at one point but then its his card thats been used for all the transactions in the overdraft and over, the account is now frozen by the bank and I have the financial ombudsmen looking into it .