We’re veterans trying to buy a wreath. Why did Barclays shut us out?

Barclays has closed our community bank account but £543 is still locked inside it, despite many attempts to get our money back. The Manchester branch of the Submariners Association has banked with Barclays for 15 years without any trouble until a letter arrived in the post in November 2022.

“Some of your account information needs updating. Please read this and reply within 30 days,” the letter read. “It’s very important that all the information we have about your business is up to date.”

As the treasurer, the letter was addressed to me. I was very puzzled. We are not a business, we are a small community group of ex-submariners. We hold monthly meetings and reunions and pool money together every year to lay a wreath on Remembrance Day to honour our friends and comrades who died fighting for our country. We’ve had a community account since 1995.

I thought the letter had been sent in error so I ignored it. But the same letter kept arriving in the post, asking me to reply within 30 days with the information it requested. I called the bank, who told me the letter had not been sent in error. I was sent a form to fill out but half of the information it wanted was not relevant to us at all as a small community group. Barclays wanted to know where we sold our products, whether we did business abroad … but we don’t do any of that. Nevertheless I filled out the forms and handed them in personally to my local branch.

The next month I received the same letter again, asking me to provide more information about our business account. I rang Barclays who said the forms had never been received, so I had to fill them out again. But the same thing happened. In January last year Barclays sent the letter yet again. Barclays, again, lost the form and so for the third time I sent the information in March.

In May Barclays sent a letter telling me our account would be closed. The bank had made attempts to contact us to confirm our business details, the letter said, but as we had provided no response our account was to be closed. In October Barclays shut the account and sent a cheque for the remaining balance of £543.

The problem is that the cheque was made out to the closed account, so I couldn’t cash it in. I’ve sent many emails and made many calls to Barclays asking it to make the cheque out to me, so I can return the money to members. To no avail. It has been six months now, can you help?

Banks will often ask for up-to-date information about accounts but what should have been a simple process has turned into an unnecessarily stressful saga for you.

You are frustrated that you filled out the forms three times only to be told each time that they had been lost. All you want is for the association to be given its money back, so you have enough cash to buy a wreath for Remembrance Day this year.

Barclays has two categories it uses to differentiate its customers, personal or business accounts. Associations fall into the business category.

I can see how it can be confusing to receive a letter asking about your business account when you hold a community account. No wonder you thought it was a mistake and initially ignored it.

But Barclays has a different version of events from yours. The bank did admit that the first form you returned was not sent to the right department, which caused delays. But it insists it did not receive some important details it required from you, hence the account was closed in October.

It also found no record of you requesting that the cheque be made payable to another name.

Barclays said: “We only ever close an account as a last resort after multiple, repeated communications over the course of many months. We do, however, recognise that there were some delays when processing the documents our customer sent us.

“Funds belonging to an organisation are made payable in the name of said organisation unless we receive communications from the customer requesting otherwise. In this case we have no record of receiving such a request.”

At the very least, there seems to have been a severe breakdown in communication between the two of you but I’m pleased to say that Barclays has reopened your account and has provided £150 to you as a goodwill gesture.

I’m pleased that this has put an end to an unnecessarily long, drawn-out saga, and you will be able to lay a wreath without worrying about your association’s finances on Remembrance Day.

Banks may close your account for any number of reasons — and they are not legally obliged to tell you why.

Your account may be shut if large sums of money are leaving or being deposited into your account, if you’re making big purchases overseas or if financial crime is suspected.

Sometimes it can be hard to open another bank account if you’ve had yours closed. You can appeal against the account closure with the Financial Ombudsman Service and you can also use this service if you are a small business with a turnover of below £6.5 million.

My perfume went missing … and not a sniff of compensation

Nearly £400 of toiletries went missing on my flight back from Zanzibar to Heathrow but my insurer, Axa, won’t pay out.

My partner and I flew out for a ten-day holiday in Kenya and Zanzibar in May and before we left he surprised me with a £280 bottle of Chanel perfume he bought in duty-free at Heathrow.

On our return I put the perfume in my suitcase along with a £60 hairspray and £46 deodorant because they exceeded the 100ml hand luggage liquid restriction. I checked my baggage in. When I arrived home, I opened my suitcase only to discover these three items had disappeared.

British Airways flew us back for the final leg of our journey from Nairobi to Heathrow. I put a claim in with British Airways for the missing items but it was rejected on the grounds that the items I was claiming for should not have been placed in my checked-in luggage. I was told to contact my travel insurer, which was Axa.

Although I provided proof of purchase for some of my possessions, Axa rejected my claim and also said the items should not have been kept in my checked-in luggage.

I’m upset that my claims have been rejected. How else would I have transported these items home?

• Your consumer rights explained• ‘Compensation for cancelled and delayed flights: everything you need to know

This seems a very poor reason for rejecting your claim. In most cases, liquids have to be in containers of 100ml or less to travel in your hand luggage. You had no choice but to put your expensive toiletries in your suitcase — had you put your them in your hand luggage, they would have had to have been dumped in the bin.

I asked Axa and British Airways to investigate. It turns out a mistake had been made while Axa was dealing with your claim.

It listed your items as valuables, which was an error. Perfume and toiletries such as these do not fall under this category. Axa has now accepted your claim of £279.50 and has also sent you £150 in compensation.

I also asked British Airways to investigate why it rejected your claim for compensation. It has sent you £216 to cover the cost of some of the missing items.

You’re happy that your claim has now been accepted and went straight to Harvey Nichols to replace the lost items.

If you are unhappy with the way your insurer has handled your claim, you can submit a complaint. It will need to respond within eight weeks. If you are still unhappy with the response or do not receive a reply, contact the Financial Ombudsman Service. If it takes up your case, it will help both sides to resolve the issue. If it rules in your favour, you may be awarded compensation.

You also have a right to claim compensation from your airline if your luggage is lost or damaged, but do complain quickly. Some airlines state you have to claim within seven days of your flight. Receipts will usually be asked for if your claim is more than £1,000.

If you have connecting flights with different airlines, you can claim compensation from any of them. Most airlines expect you to claim with the airline for the final leg of your journey.

If your claim has been rejected or you are unhappy with the outcome, you can take your complaint to the Civil Aviation Authority.

Jill Insley is away

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