Santander: Man loses £3k and can’t get money from bank

A disabled ex-police officer has been unable to access his money for more than a month after Santander froze his card over unauthorised withdrawals.

Tony Hawkins, of Llandysul, Ceredigion, found more than £2,000 had been taken from his account.

His friend David Morgan, who contacted Santander on his behalf, called the bank “uncaring” for failing to resolve the issue.

Santander said it was “reviewing the right support options” for him.

The unauthorised withdrawals have since risen to more than £3,200, forcing Mr Hawkins to borrow from friends in order to afford food.

It has been reported to Dyfed-Powys Police, which said it was investigating.

Mr Hawkins’s debit card was frozen by Santander in August, leaving him without access to funds to pay for food and other essentials, while the bank investigated.

He uses a wheelchair because of spinal problems and he has very limited speech and movement after a series of strokes.

He was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2018 for his campaigning work on behalf of disabled people.

Mr Morgan, 72, a retired police inspector, was first alerted to problems by his friend in July.

“Tony pointed out he’d had deductions made from his bank account,” he said.

“He showed me his mobile phone. He told me he hadn’t authorised these. I kept asking him ‘are you absolutely certain’, and he said ‘yes’.”

Mr Morgan contacted Santander on 2 August but the bank said it could not discuss it as he was not the account holder.

He also reported the matter to Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, but was told there were “no useful lines of inquiry”.

Mr Hawkins is unable to use online banking because of his disability. A few days later, a carer who purchases goods for Mr Hawkins, informed him that his debit card no longer worked, leaving him without access to funds.

Mr Morgan said it had caused real difficulties, with Mr Hawkins having to borrow money from the local authority and friends to pay for essentials.

“She (the carer) was not able to draw out money to buy food for him,” said Mr Morgan.

“He has been relying on loans from friends and we got in touch with his social worker at Ceredigion council and she arranged for a loan for Mr Hawkins while we’re trying to sort this problem out with Santander.

“The strange thing is despite stopping the use of his card, money is still going out of his account – sums he has not authorised.”

Santander told Mr Hawkins it would discuss the matter only in person with him. Mr Morgan accompanied his friend to the branch in Carmarthen for an appointment on 30 August, but the matter could still not be resolved.

“Mr Hawkins informed me he had no forms of identity as his driving licence had gone astray,” said Mr Morgan.

“Santander said (to) take correspondence from the local authority, utility bills and on top of that I found, on the internet, an article from the Tivyside Advertiser which included a photo of Mr Hawkins being awarded the British Empire Medal.

“I got a local solicitor to sign and stamp it as a true likeness. They (the branch) said it wasn’t enough and they couldn’t deal with the matter.”

Mr Morgan said the case highlighted the difficulties faced by disabled people trying to resolve banking issues.

He has applied for power of attorney over his friend’s financial affairs, but the application still has not been completed.

Santander said it was unable to provide any detailed comment about Mr Hawkins’s case as it did not have his permission.

Santander said: “We are reviewing the right support options for our customer.

“Santander has a range of options in place for customers who need more tailored support, and we would encourage customers to contact us to discuss these either in branch, over the phone or via our digital channels.”