Would you keep it?

dougjustdoug

This actually happened to me with £1600 deposited into an online sportsbook account. Decided not to tell them and to leave it there for 6 months. At the end of month 5 they reversed it. Denied!

Mike_Jersey

I believe that if you "cannot reasonably believe the funds to be yours" it is illegal to keep them. What's "reasonable" depends on the cash flow in your account and the description used by the bank. If you have heavy activity, the amount is not unusual and the bank uses a non-descript wording then you could argue that you also made a mistake and believed the money was yours. Otherwise you must not spend it. What responsibility you have to report it, and how quickly, however is less clear.

us,thecat&thedebt

this happened to my mum in 1990 for a few grand she didnt use a card ect back then and didnt notice the credit for 6 months!!! she left the money there and never said nothing the money is still there!!! she doesnt use the account any more as she has a proper current account now with the same bank...
after 15 years i think she still too scared to touch it!!!!!!!!!

mandy.harman

Well, Martin?

(I've opted to withdraw the £1000 and put it in a HISA, if the bank wants it back I'll transfer it - IN 3 DAYS, the same time they take for an 'instant' electronic transfer!)

Gingham_Ribbon

I would report it straight away and want nothing to do with it.

If I bought something with it, I'd feel bad every time I used it.

To quote Phoebe from Friends, if I bought a pair of shoes with it, with every step I'd hear 'not mine, not mine, not mine...'

But they twist enough money out of people that I wouldn't blame anyone for pocketting it, particularly if you've tried to give it back and they've been useless.

ince

i have a bit of experience from the other end of this.

some of our money was sent to the wrong account. the mistake was noticed within 24 hours but the person had withdrawn some of the cash and used it and refused to return it.

both our and his bank got involved and we got the police in as well. caused a lot of trouble for the person but all was well for us in the end and all the money was returned.

i would never use money in my account that i was not expecting to be there. it is theft and the consequences are not worth it.

Savvy_Sue

ince wrote:

i have a bit of experience from the other end of this.

some of our money was sent to the wrong account. the mistake was noticed within 24 hours but the person had withdrawn some of the cash and used it and refused to return it.

both our and his bank got involved and we got the police in as well. caused a lot of trouble for the person but all was well for us in the end and all the money was returned.

i would never use money in my account that i was not expecting to be there. it is theft and the consequences are not worth it.

That's been my 'worry' with the money which appeared in my account unexpectedly: someone else might be NEEDING it right now - especially before Christmas! - and I'm not going to cause unnecessary problems for them or for me.

ceebee_2

I mentioned on a previous thread that an error between banks transfer left me with £200 in both accounts, one correct and one incorrect. As I had advised both banks about the error Before they corrected it, I have done nothing more.

The money is still in the incorrect account, earning interest. I await developments.

MonkeyGirl

I wouldn't really do any of the options I would do a mix of two. I would leave it in there for a few weeks to see if it got taken back as after all it was an error and someone is bound to be missing it. If it hadn't been touched I would then ring the bank and query. If they came up with some stupid reponse like its and error in the system and we can't find out who it belongs to I would then move it into a savings account and use it as rainy day money.

MonkeyGirl

bbruce

If you can control your urge to spend it, just pretend you didn't notice it. After all, the banks have far more than you. If another customer suffers, the bank will have to placate them.
A friend's payslip was unusually large one month as British Gas had ADDED all her deductions. She sat on it until they got privatised, then spent it.
A few years ago, I noticed my bank had paid Barclaycard twice so I complained. They said sorry, then proceeded to debit ME again. It was a struggle to get the charges refunded - no chance of flowers!
Another time, I took a letter from the bank which said £800 had been received (which I had been expecting) into the branch to ask when it would appear on my account. They said it would be a couple of days and kept the letter. A week later, I went to the branch again as nothing had appeared. I mentioned the letter which they denied existed (moral - take copies of everything). I had to wait 10 months until it was sorted with all refunds of charges and interest. They did apologise in writing but had destroyed my confidence in them so I vowed never to do banks any favours.