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MYsterious credit in bank account dilemma!
Kittenonthekeys
Posts: 314 Forumite
I'd be very grateful for anyone's experience of the legal standing on this issue.
Checking my current a/c just before Christmas, I noticed that it had mysteriously been credited with over £2,500.
Querying it with my bank as unusual activity as I had not been expecting such a sum and did not recognise the originator, my bank assured me that it had been intended for me as my account no. and name had been correct. They advised me to leave it in my current a/c until I heard back from them.
I did so, but still not having heard back three weeks later, I rang them again. The bank assured me that they had checked with the BACS centre who confirmed that the funds were mine to either spend, save or do what I wished with. I placed it in a savings account where it remains untouched.
I asked the bank for a letter confirming that the money was mine but they refused to issue one, saying that it belonged to me by virtue of the fact that it had been paid into my bank account with the correct details and that they would retain a recording of our telephone conversation, should I need to refer to it at a later date.
Three weeks later, I received an email from the originator explaining that the funds had been paid to me via 'a slip of the finger' during an online banking procedure and had been intended for someone else, so please would I mind refunding it? (The originator was someone who had purchased an item from me online a few years ago but had apparently never deleted my details from their banking list.)
I wrote to my bank to inform them and their reply was to please let them know if I wished to refund it and they would make the necessary arrangements. No reference as to whether I was legally obliged to do so.
I do recognise there is a moral obligation but my question is, is there a legal one?
My personal opinion is that In view of the fact that I spent considerable time on this and made every possible effort to follow the correct channels by reporting this error which had occurred through no fault of my own, and was subsequently (mis?)informed by my bank that the money was mine to spend (a right I happened to choose not to exercise) I can't help feeling it is now the bank's responsibility to reimburse the originator.
What would you do and what's your view?
Checking my current a/c just before Christmas, I noticed that it had mysteriously been credited with over £2,500.
Querying it with my bank as unusual activity as I had not been expecting such a sum and did not recognise the originator, my bank assured me that it had been intended for me as my account no. and name had been correct. They advised me to leave it in my current a/c until I heard back from them.
I did so, but still not having heard back three weeks later, I rang them again. The bank assured me that they had checked with the BACS centre who confirmed that the funds were mine to either spend, save or do what I wished with. I placed it in a savings account where it remains untouched.
I asked the bank for a letter confirming that the money was mine but they refused to issue one, saying that it belonged to me by virtue of the fact that it had been paid into my bank account with the correct details and that they would retain a recording of our telephone conversation, should I need to refer to it at a later date.
Three weeks later, I received an email from the originator explaining that the funds had been paid to me via 'a slip of the finger' during an online banking procedure and had been intended for someone else, so please would I mind refunding it? (The originator was someone who had purchased an item from me online a few years ago but had apparently never deleted my details from their banking list.)
I wrote to my bank to inform them and their reply was to please let them know if I wished to refund it and they would make the necessary arrangements. No reference as to whether I was legally obliged to do so.
I do recognise there is a moral obligation but my question is, is there a legal one?
My personal opinion is that In view of the fact that I spent considerable time on this and made every possible effort to follow the correct channels by reporting this error which had occurred through no fault of my own, and was subsequently (mis?)informed by my bank that the money was mine to spend (a right I happened to choose not to exercise) I can't help feeling it is now the bank's responsibility to reimburse the originator.
What would you do and what's your view?
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Comments
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I would BACS it back to the poor sod who's finger slipped and not look for a loophole, legal or otherwise that would enable me to keep it
:heartpuls baby no3 due 16th November :heartpulsTEAM YELLOWDFD 16/6/10"Shut your gob! Or I'll come round your houses and stamp on all your toys" The ONE, the ONLY, the LEGENDARY Gene Hunt :heart2:0 -
Id send it back to them as legally the money is not your whether the money was sent to you in error or not, and the bank have no right to tell you its yours because it isnt.Im an ex employee RBS GroupHowever Any Opinion Given On MSE Is Strictly My Own0
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You have no moral or legal obligation to return it UNTIL you spend 1p of it then it becomes theft.
I would rather sleep at night!0 -
Kittenonthekeys wrote: »This is the money saving site I'm on, isn't it?
Yeah its legitiment moneysaving it isnt a site to help people to commit crime.Im an ex employee RBS GroupHowever Any Opinion Given On MSE Is Strictly My Own0 -
As I had a tough time convincing the bank that I knew nothing about the money and that they subsequently (incorrectly or not) told me I could keep it, then surely they should be taking at least some of the financial responsibility for their misleading advice?0
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Yeah its legitiment moneysaving it isnt a site to help people to commit crime.
I haven't committed a crime, don't intend to commit a crime and haven't asked for help to commit crime. I didn't ask for this money and after all, it was my bank - the fine, upstanding institution that it is - that informed me I could keep it, so presumably they're the criminals.0 -
OK, returning it. Kept a copy of my statement for posterity as it's the biggest bank balance I've (n)ever had.0
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You like your sleep then LOL :TKittenonthekeys wrote: »OK, returning it. Kept a screenshot of my statement for posterity as it's the biggest bank balance I've (n)ever had.0 -
Yeah, and my liberty
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