A WOMAN who had savings in an Isle of Man-based bank says she has hit a dead end in her search to find thousands of pounds in her passbook account which appears to have vanished without trace.
Shirley Goodhew, 74, who now lives in Australia, has been involved in a long-running battle to trace £13,678 of savings that were held in her Alliance and Leicester International passbook account.
Santander, which took over Alliance and Leicester in 2008, says it cannot find any record of the account.
She lodged her complaint with the Office of Fair Trading but again drew a blank after being told the financial ombudsman scheme cannot investigate cases which are more than six years old.
And it appears she may not be alone with the UK Financial Ombudsman Service saying it has received a worrying stream of complaints regarding passbooks from a range of banks.
Mrs Goodhew was living in Colchester when she opened an account with Alliance and Leicester. In 1990 she went to live in Dubai and informed the bank of her new address.
She moved to Australia 12 years ago but kept the account going to use when on holiday in the UK.
The last transaction was made in April 2000, by which time the account showed a balance of £13,678.55.
However, when she called in to the bank to close her account and withdraw her money during a visit to the UK the following month, she was told that bank had been acquired by Santander.
She then handed over her passbook at Santander’s Colchester branch only to be told that they had no knowledge of her account.
Back at home in New South Wales, she wrote to Santander, who replied saying they could not trace the account on their systems and suggested it must have been closed some time in the past.
They wrote: ‘In some circumstances, a passbook, card or certificate will provide evidence of the continued existence of an account and in these instances, we will be able to trace the account through historical records. However, the holding of an un-cancelled passbook does not prove the existence of an open account. Santander does not insist on all passbooks being returned to us prior to the closure.’
In another letter, the bank said it was only legally obliged to hold records for six years.
They referred her to the UK’s Financial Ombudsman Service who informed her that they could not investigate her complaint as Alliance and Leicester International is registered in the Isle of Man.
The British Bankers’ Association also investigated on her behalf but again drew a blank.
Finally, Mrs Goodhew wrote to the island’s financial ombudsman scheme who replied to say her complaint fell outside the time limit.
Contacted by iomtoday, Santander confirmed it is looking into the case.