wrongly transferred money to my account

moneyman81

hi
i have received a payment which i shouldnt have received. from another bank..

will i have to pay this back? or will i be able to keep it if i transfer it to an offshore account?

just wandering
thanks

~Beanie~

No you can't keep it and yes, you will have to give it back.

LongTermLurker

but as you won't know who it's come from, it's fair (imo) to wait for them to ask for it back (which they will do - there was another post on this subject a couple of weeks ago, but that poster foolishly spent it and ended up being chased towards the courts...)

Phone your bank and query it, so it's recorded, and then ringfence the money until asked to return it.

natweststaffmember

LongTermLurker wrote: »

but as you won't know who it's come from, it's fair (imo) to wait for them to ask for it back (which they will do - there was another post on this subject a couple of weeks ago, but that poster foolishly spent it and ended up being chased towards the courts...)

Phone your bank and query it, so it's recorded, and then ringfence the money until asked to return it.

can you explain the term "ringfence the money"?
You can ask the bank to remove the money from your account and return it to where it has come from.

LongTermLurker

natweststaffmember wrote: »

can you explain the term "ringfence the money"?
You can ask the bank to remove the money from your account and return it to where it has come from.

in my experience, when I've phoned my bank and asked "where's this money come from?" they haven't been able to say more than "BACS" or "CHAPS" - they only see what I can see online (I know they ought to be able to trace the source, but that's what staff have told me on the phone).

"Ringfence" means to make the cash unavailable, either formally or - in this case - just ignore it, possibly moving it to somewhere that pays high interest, but definitely ensure you can always repay it at minimal notice. At some point they will ask for it back, but in the meantime you will be earning interest; as I understand it, they have to ask, unless it's come from the same bank in which case they can transfer it back. It would be worth knowing if it came from the same bank, I guess, before transferring it out.

I know some people may have a problem with this concept, but I don't - it's someone else's mistake and you've informed your bank of the mistake, which is as much as you can do. If the bank can find a way to return it to its rightful owner, then fair enough, but until that happens it will stay in your account whether you want it to or not, so I'd just gratefully accept the interest

natweststaffmember

Thanks for that. It makes sense imho and its moved out of the account so you cannot spend it. All perfect sense(providing it is the same bank, of course).

YorkshireBoy

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Thanks for that. It makes sense imho and its moved out of the account so you cannot spend it. All perfect sense(providing it is the same bank, of course).

I disagree. If the error turns out to be an internal one (perhaps a keying error by a clerk), then the bank will more than likely just pull it back*...perhaps leaving the account holder in an unauthorised overdraft situation.

Better to ringfence the money in a 'virtual' sense and leave it where it is in the current account IMHO.


* A&L specifically cover this eventuality in their T&C's. To paraphrase...if they realise on the day, they'll just undo the transaction and you'll never know because it won't appear on your statement. If they realise sometime later, they'll undo the transaction and let you know via your statement...some time later!

LongTermLurker

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Thanks for that. It makes sense imho and its moved out of the account so you cannot spend it. All perfect sense(providing it is the same bank, of course).

No, providing it isn't the same bank - say the OP and the sender or intended recipient are with Natwest (for argument's sake) and Natwest put the money into his account in error. OP sees this and moves it temporarily to Kaupthing Edge and "ringfences" it - by that I mean he just makes a mental note that it's not really his money, just like stoozing a 0% cc deal - but when they realise, Natwest could just slide the money back out, possibly making him overdrawn.

On the other hand, if it involved 2 banks (Natwest and Halifax) then Halifax would have to request it from Natwest, who would either pass the request on to you or give Halifax your contact details (for their solicitor). In this case, you have advance notice and can move the money back out of KE before it's withdrawn from your account.

LongTermLurker

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I disagree. If the error turns out to be an internal one (perhaps a keying error by a clerk), then the bank will more than likely just pull it back*...perhaps leaving the account holder in an unauthorised overdraft situation.

Damn you beat me to it :mad: - but I said that at 13:15:

as I understand it, they have to ask, unless it's come from the same bank in which case they can transfer it back

YorkshireBoy

LongTermLurker wrote: »

Damn you beat me to it :mad: - but I said that at 13:15:

I'd like to say I was just reinforcing what you'd said, but then again I might have missed that in your earlier post!...sorry.