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Cypher

"finding" would imply you didn't know who it belong too. Which I don't think would apply in this case.

johnofhertford

grade15 wrote:

any solictors here?? we need ur brains for a sec....
or a judge..if we have one...
i'm sure if this went to court..
you can say..what payment? i didn't realise it till NS&I came knocking! i know.i'm cynical..:dance:..

Except that's not true, and he or she has said as much on this forum, so adding deception to the list of charges.

johnofhertford

The actus reus of theft is usually defined as an unauthorised taking, keeping or using of another's property which must be accompanied by a mens rea of dishonesty and/or the intent to permanently deprive the owner or the person with rightful possession of that property or its use.

For example, if X goes to a restaurant and, by mistake, takes Y's scarf instead of her own, she has physically deprived Y of the use of the property (which is the actus reus) but the mistake prevents X from forming the mens rea (i.e. because she believes that she is the owner, she is not dishonest and does not intend to deprive the "owner" of it) so no crime has been committed at this point. But if she realises the mistake when she gets home and could return the scarf to Y, she will steal the scarf if she dishonestly keeps it. Note that there may be civil liability for the torts of trespass to chattels or conversion in either eventuality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theft

jimmmyc

I'd put it into your savings account and wait for them to notice the error.
I wouldn't be too concerned about the moral issue or the law as long as you give it back when they ask-which they are bound to do one day especially if you just blew it all on a new car/boat/race horse/etc/etc.

What surprises me, is that they manage to make such errors.

johnofhertford

Absolutely, stick it in your savings account and steal from NS&I, and thereby from the rest of us! Just hope nobody from NS&I reads these message boards and comes after you in full knowledge that you were stealing from them.

stuzhunter

Legally it is theft (though I think it is stupid). After all there are many stupid non sense laws around!. There has been quite a few cases recently where banks have made extra payments (big sum-over £10,000) by mistakes to some account holders. When the banks found out about the clerical error, these people were sued & the court concluded that 'these were thefts'. This case is no different.

YorkshireBoy

Al_Mac wrote:

Link please to such a documented case:rolleyes:

Not exactly what you're asking for Al, but an interesting read none the less...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1668687.stm

grade15

I think i'm turning into a criminal.. :dance:
why do we all pay for ppl's mistakes??
I bet johnofhertford has never done a sin in his life... (good on u)

johnofhertford

It's pretty obvious isn't it? If someone steals from NS&I who do you think pays for it? The answer is NS&I's other customers and/or its owners, i.e. the British taxpayers.

gt94sss2

Page 3 onwards has guidance from the Financial Ombudsman Service about what is judged to the position when a bank mistakenly credits your account with money.

In the OP's case, this isn't identical as its NS&I and not his bank which has made the mistake - however, taking/spending the money with no intention of paying it back would be theft.

Its up to him whether to tell NS&I and pay back the money or wait until NS&I ask for it back - as they will eventually notice (i.e. their finance dept/auditors when balancing their books) and ask for the money back..

Regards
Sunil