Monzo have just closed my account and now all my money is frozen for 2-weeks - 4 weeks so thats every penny i have frozen - and im a single parent … i was trying to transfer money into another account - what can I do ? I wont be able to live and feed my child and myself …
There’s nothing you can do sadly.
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Sorry to hear about this.
You will have to wait until they finish the investigation I’m afraid. Do you have a credit card or another bank account you can use in the mean time?
There isn’t anything anyone on the community forum can do with this matter.
Hopefully https://www.trussell.org.uk/ may have a food bank near you.
I wouldn’t count on monzo releasing the funds at 4 weeks. Not even sure why they ever need to hold it so long.
Also worth speaking to your bill providers and explain the situation, alongside opening a basic bank account elsewhere and having wages/benefits paid there instead.
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- Contact local charities about food banks
- See if you can borrow from a friend, or get an advance from your employer into another bank account
- Speak to any mortgage provider, landlord and any creditors explaining you won’t be able to make any imminent financial commitments.
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There’s no point in complaining, banks are given total freedom to hold your money hostage, at anytime; for any reason and generally without a set investigation upper limit.
As annoying as the ‘you must have done something dodgy’ line which will come here at some point is, banks can and do close accounts / freeze funds in some cases without the account holder actually committing a fraud or receiving bad money, however a majority of cases fall under the latter scope.
Based on other cases expect to wait upwards of 8 weeks for a decision, you can probably receive a small compensation for undue delay by complaining but they aren’t required by law to do so unless it was ruled by the Ombudsman.
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Not true,
Generally 42 days max unless it’s a requirement for the National Crime Agency, which they’d never tell you if that would the case.
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It’s no doubt irritating and probably distressing but unfortunately Monzo can’t allow the lack of food story and suchlike to hinder their regulatory responsibilities. I’ve fortunately never been in this kind of situation and I’m certainly not seeking to diminish its fallout but as previously said all you can do is wait and possibly change the destination of your salary/wages/benefits to another bank or building society in the interim if you possibly can.
Happy 6th Forumversary! 
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lol Thank you. I shall celebrate appropriately this evening.
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Happy cake day
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That’s not true either, Monzo in 2023 had thousands of cases spanning over an average of 60 days / 2.5 months for a closure or release decision, this is not an official stat or claiming to be before anyone rushes to their defence however the notion that every case is resolved within 42 days is simply not true and if we are being fair by including every bank, the average is up to 90 days with a minimum of 1, meaning there is no definitive timeframe however the Ombudsman is known to side with the customer if said process takes more than 6 weeks with evidence that it was not frozen due to customer negligence since account freezes can be placed also by receiving Faster Payments from flagged accounts under the APP system.
How long can a bank freeze your account for suspicious activity?
It is most likely to be resolved within a couple of weeks. However, if the NCA are investigating you may not hear anything for up to 42 days. After the expiry of that period the Bank must normally release the bank account unless there is a court order.
It was actually 42 days not 62.
I’d have to search harder for more context but that’s the general rule.
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No one said that until you said it, though.
Don’t worry, it’s not an official stat. Just one he made up.
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Speak with Your Bank: To find out why your account was closed and your funds were frozen, contact your bank right away. You can visit a branch, call, or email to accomplish this.
Examine Account behavior: Look for any unauthorized or odd behavior on your account that may have caused the freeze. This can assist you in giving the bank further details.
Resolve Outstanding Issues: Make plans to settle any outstanding debts, loans, or other financial responsibilities that may have led to the account’s closure.
Nice AI response. You didn’t even try to make it sound like something a human would write.
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We didn’t need a ChatGPT response…
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