Bank Error in my favour collect £1323.74

Harrrrrrry

In January I moved out of my rented house and had by deposit paid by bank transfer. In early Feb I then recieved £661.87 into my account from the same letting agent, I kept it, then in early July I recieved another £661.87. I have just recieved a letter from them asking for it back.

Where do i stand, I dont really have the money to pay them all at once, do I have to pay or not and if I do can I pay them something silly like £10 a month?

hm71_2

I don't know how this works, but I have to be honest & say I would have called them after the first error. I think deep down you knew it wasn't your money to keep. Although I defy anyone not to be tempted to keep it. I'm sure someone will be along soon to advise you.

talana

If you find a bank error in your favour, rule 1 - don't spend it!
They will discover the error eventually and ask for it back, that doesn't surprise you surely?

So where do you stand? You have to pay it back, why would you think otherwise. It's not your money.
Feel free to ask them your options for paying it back, but I suspect they won't be interested in anything other than immediate repayment in full.
Why did you spend it?

[Deleted User]

Of course you have to pay it, do you really think they would just go "oh it's ok, you keep it then"

Depending how reasonable the letting agent are is going to decide what they do. I couldn't imagine they would accept a small token payment each month, more like breaking it down into three would be more realistic.

If they aren't then not only have you committed a crime by knowingly spending money that isn't yours, you could be in bother with that, or they could go civil and take you to the small claims court for the entire amount + interest + fees etc.

Echoing the above poster, why did you spend it if you knew it was a mistake?

asandwhen

If you do not have the money they will take you to the small claims court - You will then be able to say to the judge that you can only afford £10 a month and he may agree this but you will get a CCJ meaning your credit will be shot for the next 6 years.

Harrrrrrry

Of course it does not surprise me, but was obviously hopeful they would never notice! Hindsight is a wonderful thing, yes I should have maybe phoned them or kept it safe somewhere but hey I had fun with it thats the main thing!

So a letter back to them saying something like, I have looked through my accounts and found this to be true but never actually noticed at the time I therefore cant pay you in full now but how about I pay you an amount each month for a few months?

Is that the right course of action?

Paul_Herring

Turn this around...

If you deposited £661.87 a while back and through your own error it went astray, why should the person who did actually received it be able to keep hold of it? Why shouldn't they return it immediately?

...but never actually noticed at the time...

~£700 is not such a small sum that you can claim 'oh I didn't realise it wasn't mine...'

talana

So a letter back to them saying something like, I have looked through my accounts and found this to be true but never actually noticed at the time I therefore cant pay you in full now but how about I pay you an amount each month for a few months?

As I said before, feel free to ask them but don't be surprised if they want immediate payment back in full. I doubt they'll believe that you didn't notice - be honest nobody "fails to notice" an extra £1323 in their account.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, yes I should have maybe phoned them or kept it safe somewhere

Yes you should have. You could have kept it safe in a savings account and earnt some interest on it until such time as they asked for it back.

but hey I had fun with it thats the main thing!

Well I hope your fun was worth it because now you could easily end up in court because of it and with a CCJ if they don't go easy on you.

Harrrrrrry

I was actually asking for advice not a telling off!!!!

I'm not that stupid to think that I have not done wrong!!!

talana

I was actually asking for advice not a telling off!!!!

And with respect you've been given advice.

I'm not that stupid to think that I have not done wrong!!!

Statements like "do I have to pay it back or not", "I was hopeful they'd never notice" and "I had some fun with it that's the main thing" might argue against that.

System

Is the letter from the bank or the letting agent?

If its the bank, they will just take it from your account when money gets paid in.

If it's the letting agent, it will cost them more than £661.87 in legal fees to recover it, I would imagine, as they are hardly going to go to Court themselves.