Advice - Money paid into the wrong account for months

BaileyB

Hi,

Posting this on behalf of a friend who as asked for some help.

They know someone who set up a standing order (afaik) and had the sort code and account details off the person who was requiring the payment and then set the payment up. Now 4 months later the person they were paying (a small business) has asked for the money. Now they were shocked at this and when they checked everything they found out they had the wrong sort code. So they then asked the bank who they were paying and they refused to tell them. Now this is a very large sum around £10k.

They going to the police to see what they say but thought i put it past you to see what protection if any they have.

sorry i dont have alot of info atm

Lokolo

Of course they don't have to tell them who the person is, don't be silly. It goes against Data Protection Act.

However, what they can do is get the money back. The person who has been getting the money will have undoubtly spent it (because people are idiots.) even though the money isn't theirs. However tell your friend to explain that the moneys been going to the wrong person and they would like it back, as it is a fault that the money is not theirs.

As the amount is large it may take some time getting it back (money laundering etc.) but your friend is entitled to it all back.

Go to the bank, explain moneys been going elsewhere and you want it back. And make sure they know that is genuinely was a mistake with the sortcode, take proof of the account it was meant to go into, how much etc.etc.

soolin

It isn't as simple as that though, bank transfers are 'sent' not requested and they are sent at the senders behest and cannot just be recalled. Sellers on ebay love bank transfers as once we have the money nothing at all can charge it back.

Without the name and address of the person who has received the money they can't be made to give it back..you would need a court order of sorts to get the bank to release this information and even then as you sent it willingly it might not be straightforward.

One thing worth checking though is whether the number your friend was given was given correctly or whether there was a msiatke in the keying. If your friend was supplied with the wrong number and can prove that then the problem surely lies with the business expecting the money as they gave the wrong info, if however your friend keyed it wrongly then they need to get proper advice, not just internet ramblings, about how best to get this back, if it is at all posisble.

McKneff

The money is likely in a suspense account and has not been paid out to anyone.

This happened with my company.

The sort code given (wrongly) was a bank that the account no. (correctly) was not an account no. relevant to that bank. the bank (with the wrong sort code) doesnt know what to do with it (yes, i know it should send it back, but it doesn't) so puts it into a suspense account.

Keep plugging away at the bank that it was sent from

soolin

After 4 months if the payment had not reached an account it would have just bounced back.

BaileyB

Thanks everyone will pass the info on.

McKneff

Ours didnt bounce back, thats what we thought but we actually had to request it. I know it sounds incredible but it happened.

markrally

can any one help ?
I withdrew money from an internet betting site but provided the wrong sort code ( last digets) the account exists ! my bank has explained that they can not assist ( natwest ) and the internet site have stated that whilst they will investigate, if the account is valid there is little hope of retrieving the money. Is there anything i can do ?

jonesMUFCforever

markrally wrote: »

can any one help ?
I withdrew money from an internet betting site but provided the wrong sort code ( last digets) the account exists ! my bank has explained that they can not assist ( natwest ) and the internet site have stated that whilst they will investigate, if the account is valid there is little hope of retrieving the money. Is there anything i can do ?

Stop betting as this site is for moneysaving not lining bookies' pockets

pvt

Mark,

Repost your question on a new thread instead of hijacking a 2 year old one with an incorrect title.

I don't agree with the online bookie's view that if they transferred it to a valid bank account then there is nothing that can be done. They can still contact their bank and tell them they used the wrong details and would like the monies recovered.

There is little that you can do though, without the cooperation and goodwill of this Internet bookie. They did what you instructed them to do, so have little comeback.

Even if the account turns out to be non-existent and the money is returned to them anyway, would they tell you?

pvt