friend deposited money with wrong details

want2bmortgage3

a friend owed me some money but used the wrong sort code when filling in the deposit form. i think the sort code he used wasnt even a valid one (from googling the number). can he get this money back or get the number corrected?

soolin

If the account the payment was sent to is invalid it will bounce back, the bank should be able to help.

However, if it is valid then there will be very little that can be done as bank transfers cannot be recalled due to an error , that's why ebay sellers love them so much. As soon as the money clears in the recipient account overnight there is nothing at all bar a court order for fraud that will get it reversed.

martinman3

As you said he used a deposit form does that mean he made the deposit in a branch of your bank ?
If he did and the sort code really was invalid it may be possible to get it back as he still has the stub to prove it. But if the sort code was valid but the account no. is someone else's I would think it is lost unless there is an account name written on the stub which does not match the name on the account no.

dzug1

OK - a bit tongue in cheek, but ---very soon we shall get a post from someone saying that the bank has made a mistake and deposited a sum of money in their account and saying 'it's there* mistake why shouldn't I keep it?'. And loads of posts in reply saying they shouldn't.

The posts here say probably not recoverable - how do we reconcile the answers?


(*they tend to spell it that way for some reason. )

soolin

dzug1 wrote: »

OK - a bit tongue in cheek, but ---very soon we shall get a post from someone saying that the bank has made a mistake and deposited a sum of money in their account and saying 'it's there* mistake why shouldn't I keep it?'. And loads of posts in reply saying they shouldn't.

The posts here say probably not recoverable - how do we reconcile the answers? (*they tend to spell it that way for some reason. )

That's because the two questions are different.

In the first instance, can I reclaim a bank deposit made to the wrong account, the answer is no..you cannot automatically get the money back.

The answer to the question someone has paid money into my account by accident can I keep it, technically the answer is ' no one can force you to return it' but being MSE most of us would see this as more of a moral question and say no, it should be returned.

Money is recoverable but only if the recipient notices it is there and questions it, or just tells the bank it is a mistake and to send it back. A dishonest person, or even just a chancer could not be forced to give it back but here we always assume people ar ebasically moral.