Child benefit paid into wrong account

charlottecake

Hello. I am absolutely gutted. After quite a battle with the child benefit office, we finally managed to get our claim backdated to september 05 and had written confirmation that they'd paid the money into our account. It has not arrived in our account owing to one digit out on our sort code. Our origional application form had the right details but during a phone call last nov I gave them the wrong sort code but didn't realise. I am devestated. Child benefit say they will investigate but its not looking good. The co op bank origionally said that if I could get dates, reference numbers and exact amounts of money paid they could trace the money and put it back into our account. She then spoke to her supervisor who said that this was not the case, that it was the fault of the child benefit office and that it would have to be them that recalled the money. The first woman at the bank said the money would be in a holding account, the second woman at the bank said that it had been paid into somebody elses account but traceable. Are we as stuffed as I think we are? I can think of nothing else, to have come this far with child benefit and got them to back date the claim only to have this happen. They do not seem in the slightest bit perturbed that they have deposited a huge amount of money into a persons bank acount that is not entitled to child benefit. Totally mortified. Is there anything we can do? Many desperate thanks!

ChishyChoshy

You gave them the wrong details and think it's their fault?

mellymoomoo

And that was supposed to be a useful comment was it. Good grief.

Charlottecake, can I ask if you ever got it sorted since this has just happened to my sister too.

DX2

mellymoomoo wrote: »

And that was supposed to be a useful comment was it. Good grief.

Charlottecake, can I ask if you ever got it sorted since this has just happened to my sister too.

As she just posted about this today I don't think it's sorted. :cool:

aimee0763

charlottecake wrote: »

Hello. I am absolutely gutted. After quite a battle with the child benefit office, we finally managed to get our claim backdated to september 05 and had written confirmation that they'd paid the money into our account. It has not arrived in our account owing to one digit out on our sort code. Our origional application form had the right details but during a phone call last nov I gave them the wrong sort code but didn't realise. I am devestated. Child benefit say they will investigate but its not looking good. The co op bank origionally said that if I could get dates, reference numbers and exact amounts of money paid they could trace the money and put it back into our account. She then spoke to her supervisor who said that this was not the case, that it was the fault of the child benefit office and that it would have to be them that recalled the money. The first woman at the bank said the money would be in a holding account, the second woman at the bank said that it had been paid into somebody elses account but traceable. Are we as stuffed as I think we are? I can think of nothing else, to have come this far with child benefit and got them to back date the claim only to have this happen. They do not seem in the slightest bit perturbed that they have deposited a huge amount of money into a persons bank acount that is not entitled to child benefit. Totally mortified. Is there anything we can do? Many desperate thanks!

The child benefit office would have record of where the money was sent and at what account and sort code surely it cannot be that hard for them to retrieve the money back it should be down to them to get that money back and how on earth did they owe you money from 2005 todate? please you do not need to answer me it's just a five years of owing you child benefit is a very long time. Did they send you a letter stating where the money was sent? normally they would tell you what account the money was sent to and on what date. You will need to seek advice the child benefit office must give you the necessary details of where they've sent your money that money belongs to you it is your right to have it they cannot just fob you off, you must make sure you get it.

I wish you luck and hope you reeive this fund as soon as possible.

aimee0763

ChishyChoshy wrote: »

You gave them the wrong details and think it's their fault?

Whether she gave them the wrong details or not that money belong to her she is entitled to it it is their duty to give her the necessary informations where they've sent the money so she can get the money she is owed.

ChishyChoshy

aimee0763 wrote: »

The child benefit office would have record of where the money was sent and at what account and sort code surely it cannot be that hard for them to retrieve the money back it should be down to them to get that money back

They acted on the details given to them, it's not their fault or responsibility at all to retrieve it. It's now a banking matter unless the payment was returned to child benefit they don't have any power to retrieve money from the accounts of others. The lesson here is to double check when giving important information.

mellymoomoo

Can I ask what it is with people posting sarcastic comments on here? Get a grip for goodness sake, havent you got better things to do with your time. Pathetic.

For those of you who are on this forum for genuine reasons, I will update this post if my sister does indeed manage to get her problem resolved. Thanks to those who provided useful info too.

hermum

Charlotte, who said that you gave the wrong sort code? Have the benefits agency listened to the tapes of the phone conversations, probably not, it could just as easily have been the person inputting your info into the computer who got the number wrong. Whichever way round they must have documentation of acct & sort code that they paid the money into, as the people who made tha payment I would have thought that they are the only ones who can find out where it's gone & do something about it. Was your sort code correct on any of the documentation they sent you?

AnxiousMum

Whenever I get a notice from Child Benefit when a change is made etc., (ie notified of child staying on at school, turning 19 etc.) doesn't it say on the letter where the money has been deposited? It would certainly be on the award notice wouldn't it?
A horrible thing to have happen, but if they have deposited the funds to where they were told to, they can ask the bank to return the funds, in which case I know Barclays will write to the recipient and ask if the funds can be taken back out. This happened when my ex paid child support twice in one month, (bank error) and he asked for one of them back. As he was in arrears, I said no to the bank with regards to taking it back out, and they couldn't take it.

The OP said that they gave the wrong bank account details in the original post - Child Benefits have simply done then what they were instructed to do. I think you have to see if they will request the funds back, but if given the wrong information, I think it's wrong to put the at fault.

charlottecake

Many thanks to almost everybody who has been very helpful. Many interesting points were raised. The origional application form made in 2005 has the correct bank details on it and child benefit have infact made three paymets successfully into the account. I think the error with the sort code happened during a telephone conversation, following which we did not receive documentation detailing changes to bank details. Had we have done I would have been able to check the new details and spot the error. The letter child benefit sent in January 2010 stating that they would pay gave the date of payment but again, did not specify the account details it would be sending it to. That seems bizarre now that you have pointed it out. On telephoning the bank today, I was advised to provide dates, amounts of money with reference numbers of each payment, that the money is traceable and that once this info is received they would be able to transfer the funds. Then the advisor spoke to her supervisor who said the advise she had given was incorrect and that it was down to the child benefit office to sort it out and that the bank could not do anything. Child benefit have said they will investigate. It is a nightmare and keeping me from asleep. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Night