Yahoo Finance ‘Barclays mistakenly froze my account – then told me to visit a foodbank’
A severely ill Barclays customer was left with no cash for Christmas and told to go to a food bank after the lender froze her account without warning.
Carole Railton, 73, was waiting for major heart surgery when Barclays first blocked her account on July 19. The issue continued for weeks, forcing her to borrow money from friends and family to cover food and medication costs.
Barclaycard, one of the lender’s subsidiaries, then sent her a private message on X, formerly twitter, directing her to a foodbank instead.
The message, seen by The Telegraph, said “there are external companies that may also help you during this time”, and included links to charities and food banks.
They added: “I’m aware you’re unable to leave the house at the moment but if someone was able to help you with this it may be useful to you.”
Later, on a phone call with Barclays where Ms Railton explained her serious health issues, a member of staff offered her links to NHS mental health resources.
She claims that another staff member said the bank had eight weeks to resolve the problem. Banks have two months to respond to an official complaint before the customer can take the matter to the Financial Service Ombudsman.
Since July, Ms Railton says that her account has been blocked multiple times, leaving her without access to her own funds. In August, the lender paid her £500 in compensation.
However on December 18, it blocked her account again. Ms Railton has had to borrow money from friends to buy food and presents for Christmas.
“I am so stressed out and have so much to do, yet I can’t access my money,” Ms Railton said.
“There have been 42 touch points with Barclays since July, and there is still no resolution, and here I am back again with the same problem only weeks later.”
On Thursday, Barclays finally agreed to unfreeze Ms Railton’s account.
A spokesman said: “The protection of our customer’s funds and data is our highest priority.
“During July and November restrictions were applied to protect our customer’s account after our systems detected potential suspicious activity. Soon after speaking to our customer, the restrictions applied to the account were removed.
“A new debit card was arranged, and a payment of £500 was accepted in August. Following the recent complaint, we have offered £175 which remains available to be accepted for the inconvenience experienced.”
Ms Railton claims that Barclays also blocked transfers to her new Nationwide account. The bank, however, claims this is not the case.
The Barclays spokesman said: “I can confirm there are no restrictions on the customer’s account. The customer’s account and card should function as normal and have full access to their funds.”
Barclays has come under fire this year for debanking charities and church organisations.
Two separate groups, the Cumbria Deaf Association and Wakefield District Sight Aid, a charity based in Yorkshire, said the bank suspended their accounts in October after key information was not kept up to date.
According to data from the Financial Ombudsman, there were 5,519 complaints about the lender between January and July – the highest figure of any UK bank during this period.
Recommended
Why it might be time to ditch your bank – and switch to Monzo, Revolut or Starling
