Co Derry man in limbo as bank suddenly closes business account

A County Derry man has been left with less than two months to repay his Covid-19 bounceback loan after the bank closed his business account without warning.

Odhran Fleming, a personal trainer and nutritionist, first noticed problems with his Ulster Bank business account in June 2022, when letters and emails about missed payments began to arrive.

“I knew I had money there, so I went on to check and realised my bank account wasn't there,” said the Limavady man.

“The only thing that was there was my bounceback loan, so I contacted the bank who told me to go into the branch.

“The branch pushed me off to another number, who pushed me on to someone else and then someone else, and no one was actually giving me answers.

“Answers to why it had happened, how long I would be without an account and if I was ever going to get my money back.

“I made a complaint to the [financial] ombudsman who told the bank they had eight weeks to get back to me with a reason for why this has happened.

County Derry bank closure marks the 'end of an era'

A local businessman said banking outside the town could take the guts of an hour.

“After that, the account came online again about two weeks later, but they had until September 8 to issue a response.”

Documentation seen by the County Derry Post shows an email from Ulster Bank responding to Mr Fleming's complaint on July 1 2022.

A further letter from Ulster Bank dated August 30 2022 informed Mr Fleming that the had 'decided to cease' the 'banking relationship' from October 29.

On October 11, another letter from the bank to say the previous letter had been sent 'in error' and that Odhran was to 'disregard' the correspondence.

However, less than a week later – on November 4 – a further letter arrived from Ulster Bank informing Mr Fleming that his account would be closed on January 3.

“Last week they removed my business account again,” said Odhran, who runs Nutri-Train in Limavady.

“That's affecting my payments for rent, electricity and everything I pay through that. If I pay anything personal, it can't go through taxes.

“I've missed phone bills, affecting credit scores and there is no reasoning, no support, nothing. It's 'we are going to take your money and you have to wait til we get it back to you'.

The now-closed Ulster Bank branch in Maghera.

“I had never missed a payment in my life for anything and now I've missed two that they've fined me for. My tax for the car never came out; I was fined for being on the road with no tax, that I was unaware of.

“I'm getting these fines because it's their fault and they are still unable to provide rationale. I've had missed payments for the personal training app that I use.

“I've missed payments for equipment that's out on finance and I'm trying to explain this to them; they are messing everything up here.

“I had to find a new app, which took two, three weeks because I had no bank account. I lost clients because they didn't want to wait three weeks for their trainer to come back to work.

“It's been a real mess at the minute, but last week was the final straw. I was going to pay my electric bill and I had no money to pay it through my business account.

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The group said such a move would be a 'gesture of goodwill'.

“How many other people is this happening to? I'm still at home; I'm only 27. My bills are car insurance, tax, facilities, rent, electric, rates.

“If someone has a wife and children, and a mortgage, that's a serious thing that they're going to be left with. This needs to be stopped asap.”

Odhran said that the situation and the resultant stress has taken its toll on his health.

“I've just started a Master's degree there in September and have just been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and it's just stress after stress.

“More stress means my Crohn's flares up, I don't sleep at night, I'm not digesting food properly and it's all over the place at the minute.

“It feels like Ulster Bank have just looked at a small person and thought: 'they're not going to do anything, we'll brush it off with another letter'.

“I want them held accountable,” he added.

A spokesperson for Ulster Bank said they could not comment on individual cases, but said regulation was a 'matter of priority'.

“Like all UK regulated banking institutions, Ulster Bank is subject to legal and regulatory requirements, and we treat compliance with them as a matter of priority.

“This may mean Ulster Bank is required to delay or refuse to act on a customer’s instructions, and suspend or restrict a customer’s accounts and services.

“The bank does not make any comments on the specifics of this case,” they added.