2015 - 2016

Other

Other

Mr X had two complaints – one about permissions to make changes to joint accounts and the second about transferring KiwiSaver funds from one provider to another.

Mr X and his cousin had a number of joint bank loans secured by a jointly owned property. The bank allowed his cousin to take out loan repayment holidays without Mr X’s permission. Mr X complained saying the loan agreements required consent from both parties to make changes. He said he had previously advised the bank not to make changes his cousin requested to the loans without his permission.

We found there was no requirement for joint consent to make changes in the loan agreements, and no evidence Mr X requested the bank not allow his cousin to take out loan repayment holidays.  However, it seemed the bank may have incorrectly told him joint consent was required and we considered that had he known this was incorrect, he probably would have told the bank not to allow his cousin to take out loan repayment holidays.

Because the property the pair owned was sold and sale proceeds not yet allocated, we advised Mr X the appropriate forum to address the permissions issue was through impending court-directed allocation of surplus sale proceeds.

Mr X also complained about his daughter’s KiwiSaver fund being transferred to another provider by her mother, without his consent.

We considered the bank ought to have obtained his consent before authorising the transfer. We noted it had been made aware of issues between Mr X and his daughter’s mother regarding the child’s care, and the transfer form from the other KiwiSaver provider required permission from both parents.

However, we did not consider Mr X’s daughter had suffered any financial loss as a result. We suggested the bank review its procedures around actioning a request to transfer children’s KiwiSaver funds in the future.