A mortgage broker has spoken out after Starling Bank froze his business bank account for two weeks, leaving him with no access to money normally used for payroll and operating costs.

The broker, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that his account was frozen unfairly after some mistakes made by Starling.

The problems started when the broker was added as a person of significant control (PSC) on his wife’s business, and then she as a PSC and director of his business.

The first request triggered a response from Starling for additional ID information on his wife, as the couple both have personal and business bank accounts with Starling.

The broker expressly told Starling he did not want a joint account as a result of any of the checks, and was told by the bank that this would not happen.

However, upon logging in to his online banking he found he could view his wife’s bank account within his own bank account.

This included alarming information on balances, transactions and so on.

When Starling then asked for additional check information on the broker, he refused, as he wanted the original mistake to be fixed first.

On 4 September, Starling said the intermediary had 90 days to provide the information, or his account would be closed. That deadline was then shortened, to October.

On October 2, the account was frozen by Starling, leading to considerable cost and inconvenience to the broker.

For example, he had to use his personal savings to pay for business expenses, and had to set up another bank account in order to do so.

The broker said: “Direct debits could still be paid, and money could come in. I couldn’t use my debit card, and couldn’t pay myself dividends or salary, I couldn’t take any money out. All my proc fees, I couldn’t get access to any of the cash.

“Two of my business subscriptions were bounced and I had my subscriptions frozen. Then I had to pay for them personally. We are a trading business, and not being able to access tools is a concern.

“I fully understand Starling’s KYC and PSC obligations. The story, in my view, is about what happens when legitimate regulatory processes collide with a customer’s concerns over financial-data access — and whether freezing an otherwise functioning business account is a proportionate response while those concerns remain unresolved.”

He adds that he felt ignored by Starling despite multiple emails and telephone calls about the issue. He also feels that some Starling emails were so impersonal and unhelpful that they seem to have been generated by AI.

On 13 October, the man had a call from Starling’s complaints team and his account was suddenly unfrozen.

A Starling Bank spokesperson said: “We’re really sorry for the issues this customer faced. All issues have now been resolved, and we’ve offered compensation and taken steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

If you are a mortgage broker struggling with debanking or a frozen bank account, please message [email protected].