Can banks take money for debts?

If I missed a payment on my credit card, personal loan or mortgage can the bank take cash to cover it from any other accounts with money in them?

Unfortunately, the simple answer to this is yes.

If you're under the assumption that the money carefully stored in your bank and savings accounts is safe and untouchable, think again.

Your financial institution has the right to take money from your other sources to pay off outstanding debts, provided these accounts are all within the same institution.

The right to 'set off'

Although you could feasibly call this stealing, the official financial jargon for this action is 'setting off' or 'combining accounts.'

All banks have the right to do this and many take it, outlining the precise nature of their own rules in their terms and conditions.

For example, here's how Barclaycard's small print has described the rule of 'setting off' in the past:

8.1 If:
(a) we owe you money on a current, savings or other account under this agreement or another agreement with us; and
(b) you have failed to pay us any amount you owe us on an overdraft, Personal Reserve, credit card, personal loan (including a mortgage) or any other credit agreement you have with us, we may use the money we owe you to reduce or repay the amount you owe us. This is called a right of "set off".

However, even if the rule isn't mentioned in the terms and conditions of your product it doesn't make any difference; banks actually have an automatic right to 'set off' even if the action isn't mentioned in the small print.

It's somewhat similar to their right to hold a main credit cardholder liable for debts on an additional card: they might look different to you but to your bank that makes little difference.

The most alarming part of this is that the bank also has the right to take the money from your account without letting you know.

In fact, they often prefer to take action without prior notice to prevent the debtor from simply moving their money out of the account before the bank can touch it.

They only have to notify you after money has been taken.

When is it a problem?

According to Citizens Advice, more and more people are being hit with this little known power.

Between 2007 and 2009 the number of 'setting off' cases the charity dealt with jumped up by 25%.

Although some may reason that it is fair enough for a bank to take money that is rightfully theirs, this action doesn't take into account the other more pressing priorities that might be facing a customer.

Paying rent, for example, may be impossible if a bank decides to take an unexpected sum from your account.

And keeping a roof above your head is a much more pressing problem than debt repayment.

In other ways, too, setting off can cause financial nightmares and severely disrupt the careful planning of anyone on a tight budget.

Being unaware of the bank's action is the most dangerous part, as it could mean more bank charges rack up through unknowingly dipping into an overdraft.

What's the solution?

There are a number of different ways to avoid being caught out by this rule.

First, it's worth noting that a bank should only take money from your current or savings account if you've both severely defaulted and made no effort to solve the problem.

The simple act of contacting your bank over a missed payment and working towards a solution should, therefore, mean that it decides against the extreme measure of setting off.

If you have been communicating with the lender and were nevertheless hit by setting off it could well be worth complaining to your lender, see the section below for more details.

Holding your debt in a different institution to your assets is another simple solution.

This will mean you'll always know where your money is.

However, it can be hard to determine exactly what signifies a 'separate institution' owing to the amount of mass conglomerates that have sprung up recently.

Make sure you check this carefully before opening an account or moving your money around.

Moving money to different banks

If you decide to take this measure, remember that it is usually easier to move savings than to move debt.

Make sure to browse around for the top deals and transfer any direct debits over to your new account, many current account providers can do this automatically as part of a 'switching service'.

Debt advice

If you have had money taken from your account in a time of extreme crisis and your bank aren't listening to you or you fear that the right to set off may be used against you there is help available.

Our full sources of debt advice article lists many face to face, phone and online debt advice services which will be able to help.

It's also worth noting that banks must make extra provision for their most vulnerable customers.

Complaining about setting off decisions

Finally, the Financial Ombudsmen Service (FOS) is a free, independent service for banking complaints and the next step for those who feel that the right to set off has been used unfairly against them.

Although they cannot dispute a bank's right to set off, they can assess your situation and demand money back if you've been treated unfairly.

They do this by looking at any discussions between you and your bank during the period leading up to the set off to see whether the bank took appropriate action to make the consumer aware that it was concerned about the unpaid debt.

The FOS has offered consumers compensation in the past when it found that banks had used the right to set off unfairly by failing to enter into a discussion about the debt payments and caused the customer distress.