[new] bank error credited me with over £40,000!!...

honeymonster748

I know what I need to do.
I am a family man, have 2 kids and a wife and am currently in the process of a Visa application for migration to sunnier shores (which I wouldnt want to jeapardise).

A theft or fraud case doesnt bear thinking about so I know I need to make the call.

Ask yourself this though, if somebody plopped over £40,000 in your bank account and over a month later it was still there, would you not be even a little bit tempted to try and find some loophole somewhere that would mean you could keep it?
No the money is not mine, but the banks get no sympathy from me. They are paying ludicrous bonuses and losing shareholders money on bad risks gambling on overseas markets without carrying out any due dilligence.
I 'lost' (sorry -had stolen) £4000 earlier this year on Bradford & Bingley shares when the Government decided to step in and (I quote) "take" B&B.
They then immediately flogged off the profitable part of the company- again giving ex-shareholders diddly squat.
They managed to subsequently come up with ways to avoid doing the same with a number of other banks, but will B&B shareholders get a penny in compensation?... I doubt it.

You read about banks making 'errors' and I guess you always wish it would happen to you.
When it does, you would rather it hadnt.

glider3560

I think the best thing for you to do is write a simple letter to your bank, stating that there was £40,000 paid into your account in error and that you'll happily repay the amount on 14 days notice.

Then put the money in a high interest account. When they ask for it back, pay it back. In the meantime, you've been earning interest on the money.

Oh, and don't forget to enjoy yourself abroad

Lokolo

I would not keep it no.

I would put it in a savings account to earn interest off it and inform the bank that if they want it back please tell me where and when and I will do.

If someone in the street came upto you and said "Oh I think you dropped £200" and gave you the money - would you keep it? (assuming you had dropped no money)

And shareholders - well thats the idea of shares, theres risk. *sigh*

natweststaffmember

honeymonster748 wrote: »

I know what I need to do.
I am a family man, have 2 kids and a wife and am currently in the process of a Visa application for migration to sunnier shores (which I wouldnt want to jeapardise).

A theft or fraud case doesnt bear thinking about so I know I need to make the call.

Ask yourself this though, if somebody plopped over £40,000 in your bank account and over a month later it was still there, would you not be even a little bit tempted to try and find some loophole somewhere that would mean you could keep it?
No the money is not mine, but the banks get no sympathy from me. They are paying ludicrous bonuses and losing shareholders money on bad risks gambling on overseas markets without carrying out any due dilligence.
I 'lost' (sorry -had stolen) £4000 earlier this year on Bradford & Bingley shares when the Government decided to step in and (I quote) "take" B&B.
They then immediately flogged off the profitable part of the company- again giving ex-shareholders diddly squat.
They managed to subsequently come up with ways to avoid doing the same with a number of other banks, but will B&B shareholders get a penny in compensation?... I doubt it.

You read about banks making 'errors' and I guess you always wish it would happen to you.
When it does, you would rather it hadnt.

I owed my local council money(not anywhere near 40K though) so I moved the money to another account while I sorted it out. I never ever said I wouldn't repay it and asked them to invoice me/tell me how to pay the money back and duly did so.
I know what I would do if I knew the money wasn't mine, I would move it so I couldn't spend it and i would be telling the bank exactly what I did and why I did it, so that I didn't spend what wasn't mine. Does that make sense?

hayley11

The thing that strikes me is that you are suggesting you are quite an honest person and yet you've had this money since some time in June and you haven't rung the bank to arrange to give it back.

I honestly couldn't sleep until i'd sorted it out, somebody could be getting into a lot of trouble over this. I know it wasn't your fault but it's your fault you still have it now.

Extant

Sooner or later, this is going to come to light, and it's probably going to be sooner. Naturally, you're disgusted they haven't chased you for it yet - because you would chase for that quickly. But banks, dealing in billions at a time, will have a small mountain of differences to look through, and it can take a while to come to light.

No bank is just going to write off £40,000, though. They will come for it, and if it's there they'll just take it. If it isn't, you can reasonably expect a very quick and stern demand for it back, followed by legal action which they will win (plenty of precedent on this, and most banks will have a legal team/member who deals specifically with these very cases).

If you have a lot to lose, i.e. a visa application, wife/kids, etc. then 40k isn't worth it. It's a lot of money, yes, but you have a lot of money here.

If you really wanted to play the situation, open a new high interest account at another bank. Move it to that bank. Let it sit, and then ask to be compensated for your time and stress.

If six years from now, they still haven't asked for the money - it's yours, enjoy.

vet8

hayley11 wrote: »

The thing that strikes me is that you are suggesting you are quite an honest person and yet you've had this money since some time in June and you haven't rung the bank to arrange to give it back.

I honestly couldn't sleep until i'd sorted it out, somebody could be getting into a lot of trouble over this. I know it wasn't your fault but it's your fault you still have it now.

Why should it be up to him to ring the bank? It is their fault not his.

Suppose he was away on an extended holiday or, like a lot of people did not check his bank account frequently. It is very possible that a lot of people would not even realise they had this money in their accounts. I know people who say they never bother to check their bank statements!!

The bank made the error, it is up to them to sort it out. It is not the OP's fault at all, he should make no effort to repay it, why should he? The bank should make the effort to take it back and he should profit from it any way he can. Why not? Can you see a single bank going out of their way to help you?

sabretoothtigger

Didnt some people in australia end up with a million by accident and they just ran off with it, not sure if they caught them yet

hayley11

vet8 wrote: »

Why should it be up to him to ring the bank? It is their fault not his.

Suppose he was away on an extended holiday or, like a lot of people did not check his bank account frequently. It is very possible that a lot of people would not even realise they had this money in their accounts. I know people who say they never bother to check their bank statements!!

The bank made the error, it is up to them to sort it out. It is not the OP's fault at all, he should make no effort to repay it, why should he? The bank should make the effort to take it back and he should profit from it any way he can. Why not? Can you see a single bank going out of their way to help you?

Oh come on, do you honestly think it's right that he hasn't repaid it? I don't know how people can be justifying it. Yes the bank made an error, it's a human error, we are all capable of it. Doesn't mean it gives the OP any right to this money, or gives him any kind of moral high ground. And i'm pretty sure if the OP did the decent thing and rang the bank, they would sort it out pretty damn sharpish.

Your second paragraph is all well and good but it doesn't apply because the OP does know about it.

Extant

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

Didnt some people in australia end up with a million by accident and they just ran off with it, not sure if they caught them yet

A bank error resulted in a couple erroneously being given a NZ$10m overdraft by Westpac.

A large portion of the money has been recovered, but the couple is now on the run, and their New Zealand-based business and property has been repossessed. So yes, they're living on the run.

I wouldn't say that's worth it for £40k...