A building contractor says he was left with just £1.50 to live on after NatWest blocked his self-employed support grant without warning.
Jacques Van Schalkwyk, who recently opened an account with the lender, said he had no access to money for 24 hours, as a result of the fraud flag in August.
Like three million other sole-traders, he applied for the government's Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) after losing work due to lockdown.
The HMRC grant was approved within days - but on August 6, it was rejected by his bank.
"Work has been incredibly difficult," Jacques, who lives in Glasgow, told Mirror Money.
"I was a Nationwide customer until lockdown when I moved to NatWest," he said.
"Nationwide don't offer bounce-back loans as they're a building society, so instead, I applied to open a business account with NatWest.
"However, they rejected my application and said I was only able to open a basic NatWest personal account instead. I did this and it worked."
But on August 6, Jacques, who has been trading as a bathroom fitter for more than 15-years, discovered his account had suddenly been frozen.
"I was lucky enough to have work at the time," the 44-year-old said. "Things had picked up slightly.
"I was on a job and I needed to but materials to finish the work, but then I discovered my account had been suspended. I had to make an excuse to the client as it looked incredibly strange. I couldn't believe it myself.
"NatWest had frozen my account because of HMRC's £4,000 self-employed loan and they refused to tell me why.
"I couldn't go into the branch, and over email they kept passing me to different departments.
"I showed them all the proof I had about my application and the grant from HMRC - but they started questioning me about it.
"They asked me what I was going to spend the money on. This was after HMRC checked my eligibility for the grant and processed it accordingly. I could barely afford £1.50 milk in the shop.
"I applied for that money to help pay my bills - I shouldn't have had to explain that to my bank."
Jacques said he went 24-hours without access to money and is yet to receive an explanation or apology from NatWest.
"We open and operate all accounts in line with the relevant laws and regulations for the safety and security of our customers,"a spokesman told Mirror Money.
"We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused to Mr van Schalkwyk and have since removed the restrictions which were temporarily placed on his account."
Jacques has since been able to apply for a bounce-back loan, however, he is concerned about how the Chancellor's next self-employed grant will support him and other freelance workers.
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"The government is offering to pay just 20% of our income, that's £200 a month for me. I get £100 Universal Credit to pay my rent, but how am I supposed to live on just £300 a month?"
He says the unemployment crisis is set to have long-term effects on his business.
"People don't have money lying around anymore, and they certainly aren't looking to invest in their bathrooms.
"This, coupled with social distancing and the household restrictions means my job has become almost impossible."
