Internet banking. Money sent to wrong account!

AmandaDB

Can anyone advise me as to my rights please?
I ommitted a number from my bank account when giving my details to someone to pay me.
They got my name and sort code right but when trying to pay into an account with only 6 digits instead of 7, they assumed (as many of us including myself) would do that the account just needed a zero in front.
Now this money has gone into someone else's account and the bank say that as it was not their fault, all they can do is ask that person to return it.
As this unknown person does not have the same name as me, surely this could be construed as a bank error? Surely all three components of a bank transfer have to match up??
Thanks for any help.

YorkshireBoy

This is in no way a "bank error", so you're relying on goodwill from everyone involved.

Only two sets of information are required; sort code and 8-digit account number (and a 'reference' for some types of account). The recipient's name is not used or required.

All you can hope for is that the recipient agrees for the money to be returned. If they don't, you could write the recipient a personal letter, hand it in to their bank and ask them to forward it on.

CDes

See if their bank can do a payment trace then they should send a letter saying the money was definitely paid into this account, then they can take it up with the receiving bank.

rb10

You can be 99% certain that the money will not have gone into someone else's account, but into a 'holding' account instead.

This is because with an 8-digit account number, the last digit is constructed from the other seven using an algorithm. It is often called a 'check digit', as it basically checks that the first seven digits have been entered correctly. This makes it virtually impossible to send money to the wrong account.

Therefore, the sender's bank will have sent it to the sort code given (i.e. to your bank), but they will have been unable to apply it to an account, so will have put it in a holding account instead.

The sender's bank should be able to follow this up, and trace where the money has gone, and so therefore recover it. This may however take a little while! Good luck.