My bank account was closed after a £10 transaction [LBC Legal Hour]

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]Manny in Potters Bar, good evening, Manny. Hello, good evening, Daniel.

[00:00:04]Thanks for taking my call. How can I help you?

[00:00:06]Lovely. Just wanted to talk about an incident I had um cuz I'm a taxi driver. And so, I dropped off two gentlemen last bank holiday. And um after I dropped them off, one said he was going to go back the other way with me. Um and he asked how much it would be. I said it would be £10. So, he said, "Can I transfer it?" I said, "I'd prefer cash." But he said transfer was all he had, so he transferred me £10. Job done.

[00:00:28]The next day, I tried using my card and the card wouldn't work. So, I didn't think anything of it. It didn't work again the following day, so >> So, your your credit card?

[00:00:37]Uh debit card. Debit card, right?

[00:00:39]>> Yes. So, at this point, I thought there could be an issue. So, I phoned the bank and they they told me there was an issue due to a £10 transaction. The long and the short of the story is this happened last Monday, but by the Wednesday, they'd sent me an email saying my bank account had been closed because of this £10 transaction. It's left me in a really difficult position because I don't know what to do. I've raised a formal complaint with the bank. Um I'm due to go in there on Monday, but I just wanted to find out what I could do and what my >> I'm really confused. Did this guy transfer £10 to you or not?

[00:01:07]He did.

[00:01:08]And for and because he transferred £10 to you, your bank has closed your bank account.

[00:01:14]Correct.

[00:01:15]And what explanation have they given for that?

[00:01:18]They said the transaction has been flagged as a fraudulent transaction.

[00:01:25]Okay, that's really weird.

[00:01:27]Really weird.

[00:01:28]>> I I I have absolutely no idea, Manny. Um this sounds like a someone at the bank acting like an idiot rather than a a legal problem.

[00:01:36]>> I'm so I'm so shocked because I thought if there was a problem, at least reach out to me, ask me about the transaction, ask me for more information, but you don't just go from saying there's an issue due to a transaction and then closing the account within a couple of days.

[00:01:49]>> bizarre. Okay, so I I I don't have any wonderful um solution to [laughter] you.

[00:01:54]Um you can complain to the financial ombudsman who'll probably say that was a really stupid thing of the bank to do and pay money 50 quid, 100 quid compensation. That doesn't solve your problem today. Where's your money sitting? Have you got all your money in your current account back?

[00:02:07]Correct. So, I've got all my money in my account and they said they'd they'd give me some time to take it out. But the main issue here is I've got a payment coming into my account next Wednesday and they said, "Well, we're not going to be able to receive that payment." The people making the payment are saying to me it's too late. They can't change the details. Okay.

[00:02:23]>> Okay. So, in reality in reality in reality, that payment's just going to bounce back to them and hopefully they'll pay you the following week once it's bounced back.

[00:02:31]Um yeah, assuming they're they're proper sensible people. But uh as for why the bank closed your account, I've just got no explanation.

[00:02:38]It sounds it sounds bizarre, absolutely bizarre. Yeah. You can't sue a bank for closing an account. A bank is entitled to close close uh somebody's account for any reason as long as it's not discriminatory, like sex or race or or age. But um so a banking is quite entitled to say, "Manny, we don't want you as a customer anymore." But if they do so in unreasonable circumstances, the financial ombudsman can award you some compensation. It's not going to be much.

[00:03:03]Um I I I don't have any good solution for you here, Manny. Just what what a weird bank.

[00:03:09]Yeah, really really really strange.

[00:03:11]Really really strange. Oh, I wonder.

[00:03:13]Someone's Someone's just texted Someone's just Someone's just texted. Um do you have a personal bank account and have you told or has your bank somehow realized you're running it as a business?

[00:03:25]Against terms and conditions.

[00:03:28]Right. I see. So, um it's a personal bank account, correct? And you're running and you're putting business payments through it.

[00:03:36]Well, that's literally I'd say the literally only payment that's ever gone into my bank account through that nature. Just that one payment. And if if they did have an issue with me, they could have contacted me to say Ah, okay.

[00:03:46]So, this this is slightly different. Um thank you to whoever texted that in. You didn't um put a name. Oh, I see, it's from Mike. Um, thank you, Mike. So, right, that's a really good point. So, if the bank realized that this is a business payment, although how they'd know that I don't know, cuz even if it came from a company, it could just be a refund of something. But, if the bank realized that, they are entitled to close your account, and you won't have been entitled to compensation because you breached the terms and conditions.

[00:04:12]Um, a few people are sending some quite interesting stuff in, um, Mhm.

[00:04:17]Uh, Jim has said, "Banks have been known to do this, particularly challenger bank."

[00:04:21]Don't name the bank, but is it a challenger bank?

[00:04:24]Um, no, but I'd say not not one of the top high streets.

[00:04:28]>> Okay. Um, another possibility is that when the sender sent the money, they could have ticked a little box saying it's a business bank account, and that alerted the bank. Um, this this could be the issue actually, Manny, now now we're thinking about it. Um, Okay. And if that's the case, you're not going to get your 50 or 100 quid from the financial compensation author financial um, ombudsman. Okay. But, I think the answer is just get get a new account as quickly as you can, and don't filter business payments through it.

[00:04:54]Yep, absolutely. Mason, thanks for your help.

[00:04:56]>> All right, thank you, Manny.