Money transferred into wrong account

Barty2011

Dear All,

Any help would be gratefully received. My mum has just cashed an endowment policy from the company it was with (£7,500) to what she thought was her account. She got the last two digits wrong and it has ended up in someone elses account within the same bank.
Does anyone know what will happen with this? The bank is sending a letter but what if the person spends it before they receive the letter? Is it theft if they spend it? The bank don't sound as though they are being very helpful.

Any replies would be gratefully received

Thanks
Tina

jonesMUFCforever

Yes it is theft but that is of little help to your mothe now.
I guess the payment was in electronic form rather than a cheque?

If it was a cheque then the bank have committed an error and should put it right.

If its an electronic payment you have to wait for the other person to repay it and if they don't eventually sue.

ironlady2022

Well firstly they need to go through security with that person and probably ask him o any recent transactions probably large. They need to establish it's not to be expected and then transfer it back. When I worked in the bank, I would trying telephoning the person first and then resort to a letter. If there was no response then I would do the transfer back myself and note both accounts!

Stoneman_2

When I worked for a bank back in 2000, we used to write to the customer that had received the payment in error and tell them that the money would be withdrawn from their account in X amount of days, giving sufficient time for them to recieve the letter of course.

This happened on a daily basis and if we ever had any complaints, we just quoted some banking code (can't remember what it was) that basically stated that we were in the right to take the money back.

System

Maybe you had the right for an erroneous transfer but this money was put in to the account stated on the paying in slip so there has been no error on the banks part. The OPs mum may not have intended it to go there but I don't see how the bank can take any action.

The bank can not take sides. it is the OP's mum's word against the other other account holder and only they can sort it, not the bank.

GothicStirling

!!!!!! wrote: »

The bank can not take sides. it is the OP's mum's word against the other other account holder and only they can sort it, not the bank.

Eh?

How is it one person's word against another? The OP's Mum has the documentation from the endowment policy saying where the money has been cashed to.

Clutching. At. Straws.

SnowTiger

!!!!!! wrote: »

Maybe you had the right for an erroneous transfer but this money was put in to the account stated on the paying in slip so there has been no error on the banks part. The OPs mum may not have intended it to go there but I don't see how the bank can take any action.

The bank can not take sides. it is the OP's mum's word against the other other account holder and only they can sort it, not the bank.

Erm, okay, fair enough.

How do you suggest the OP's Mother contacts the lucky account holder who's received the money to "sort it?"

As far as I'm aware banks are a bit iffy about giving out customers' names and addresses at the drop of a hat.

ironlady2022

It's up to the bank even though it's not their fault. It's impossible to get in touch with the account holder and the bank will certainly not give out details due to data protection.

molerat

I transfer £5000 to someones account to pay for a large purchase. I get the goods. I then tell the bank, with a very plausible story, that I paid it into the wrong account by mistake.

What would you do ?

That is why the bank should not transfer the money back without contacting the recipient and carrying out a full investigation as they could well end up complicit in fraud. Only where there is a clear error on the bank's part should the tansaction be reversed without a thorough investigation.

Sarah_Newton

This kind of an unsolicited money transfer is just some kind of money theft. You should do something about the recipient of the money.

SnowTiger

Sarah_Newton wrote: »

This kind of an unsolicited money transfer is just some kind of money theft. You should do something about the recipient of the money.

LOL.

What do you suggest? Lock 'em up and throw away the key?

Are you suggesting that if someone accidentally dumped £7,500 in to your bank account you would be a thief?