I am about to lose my home and don’t know where to turn. My partner and I took out a second £40,000 mortgage through Nationwide last year. It was to be paid into my partner’s account, but it didn’t arrive. I made several calls to Nationwide, which stated that the money had been paid, but refused to confirm the recipient’s details, citing data protection.
The system wouldn’t allow me to access my online application, and it was only when direct debit confirmation arrived through the post I realised the loan had been paid to my son’s new Lloyds account. I’d accidentally inputted his account number along with my partner’s name on the mortgage application. My son said he had not received any money and I spent the next five weeks vainly trying to trace it. But eventually, it was discovered that the £40,000 had gone into my son’s account five weeks previously and that he had spent it.
My life has been horrific since then. My son strung me along as my life was falling apart, and is now facing a criminal trial. I am the guarantor for his flat, so if he stops paying the rent I will be liable for that, too. Lloyds has not responded to Nationwide, or to me. Why can a bank make a bank transfer when the name doesn’t match the account number? And why will a bank alert me if an odd amount is spent, yet my son, a new Lloyds customer on the minimum wage, can receive and spend an enormous amount in a single day without any scrutiny?
We now have to repay the lost loan and the debts it was supposed to cover. I’ve lost everything, including my son.
