Bank not obliged to write off debts after closing customer’s accounts

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Bank not obliged to write off debts after closing customer’s accounts

Categories:

Closing accounts,

Summary:

Stacy complained that the bank had acted unreasonably and unfairly by closing her accounts. She also said she should not have to repay her debts to the bank because a bank, when ending a customer’s relationship, had to write off all that customer’s debts.

Published:

April 2024

Our investigation

We told Stacy a bank could end its relationship with a customer at any time, and we were satisfied that, in her case, the bank had followed an appropriate process in doing so, and it was not required to write off her debts. We also told Stacy a bank could give a customer sufficient time to refinance a debt elsewhere and, if the customer did not refinance within that period, seek full repayment of the debt. It could also allow the loan to remain in place until the customer was able to refinance.