Reclaiming my money that went to the wrong account

Kaoscontrol

Sorry for this being my first post, but being a long time MSE user this seems to be my final resort for advise as I'm currently lost and have no Idea where else to turn

At the moment I'm currently sat here feeling extremly sick to my stomach and just wanting the world to eat me up. I genuinely need bankers advise here; people that understand the system.

The issue in question here is - I got money for my birthday, as most people do. This money was placed in my HALIFAX (HBOS) account. I also own a SANTANDER account, which is my savings account.

Due to the nature of my savings account, I had to ring up to get the sort code, reference etc.

k? fine with this so far? Here come the issues.

I transfered £1400 to the Santander account via the internet. 3 working days go by, nothing turns up. 5 working days go by. nothing. "hmm" one thinks. "give them a ring and find out" - nope, no funds are due to be credited. How odd. Confirmed my details I had were correct.

Went on to halifax......then the doom situation came. Turns out the Reference number, which in this case is the all important number due to the account type, I had written was incorrect. instead of 2 digits reading "52" they read "25" - Input error? human error? call centre error? one can speculate.

SO yesterday I was ringing up both banks. All day, literally ping ponged around constantly. "No sir, because Santander have the funds, it is there responsibility" , "no sir halifax sent the funds, therefore they have to do a recall and trace", "oh no sir we can't do that".
Nobody would give me a straight answer. Every phone call, someone different, with a different answer/solution.

At one point I had a guy go "oh heck, I've seen this before, we just need to fill out this form and it'll all be sorted" untill he then said "oh sorry its taking so long sir, I can't find the form or remember its name off the top of my head, I'll just pass you through to this department and they should sort it"........Department said 'no'.

NOW we are stuck at the stalemate. My parents who got back off holiday at 1am came to play ball with me. We went through the halifax help desk. explained over and over and over that Santander would do NOTHING it is their responsibility. Halifax went through their paces and determined NO ITS SANTANDER YOU NEED TO DEAL WITH.

So at 4:12pm we trotted off ASAP to the santander - got a nice young chap that was like "you've already spoken to the manager today (I'd already been on my own), and she's already told you, it is the halifax's responsibility" After finally getting through to this young chap that Halifax were saying it was them, he rung halifax themselves and we came to this stalemate.

SANTANDER - Will not contact or take the money from this persons account due to legislation and data protection therefore Halifax have to do a recall on the money.

HALIFAX - Will not do a recall on the money or 'bill payment error' as the money went into an actual account, therefore as far as they are concerned the information provided is correct. It is santanders responsibility.

Halifax HOWEVER - if it was a staff error, would be able to recall it immediately, but due to it being my own error....you guessed it....no. I mean, I understand this was my error and what not and I understand in their eyes no error has been made. But there has been an error! surely someone would somewhere take evidence of the fact I am transfering from an account with MY NAME, which I can provide all the details to, TO and account in MY NAME which I can provide all the details to also and show where the error actually is!

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON. WHERE IS THE PROTECTION FOR THE CUSTOMER I am currently £1400 out of pocket. In someone elses account. What the heck can I now do if both banks are saying they cannot touch the money!

I've lost my appetite, I've lost touch with my work due in on monday and I will freely admit I have shed a tear because no one is able/willing to help with a silly little error.

I've been given so many stories from "halifax need to contact us, we'll take the funds out of the customers account, inform them of why and let them argue it if they want"

and then the semi opposite of "Halifax need to contact us, we'll then contact the customer and its upto them if they give it back or not"

Please. Just somebody. Make it all go away


+EDIT+

Yes we have put a complaint in, we had to for halifax to even 'help' - and we have also contacted the financial ombudsman - who are also unable to help A) because it would take 8 weeks, because neither are actually breaking contracts.

whitewing

This thread may help

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/519417

Kaoscontrol

Thanks for the reply, Whitewing.

Sadly in this case it doesn't seem to be the case .

As i've stated - I have asked Halifax to do a recall of the funds. Santander staff have asked Halifax to do a recall of the funds. I've spoken to people on the telephone in the past hour to see if it could be done.

The simple answer they have given to all of us is "it isn't possible"

Due to the information I provided actually being right (it HAS gone into someones account, Santander have confirmed this), then their is no error and no recall can be done due to the error being mine alone.

If staff had made the error, they could of course recall it. One rule for One.....

stuart30

Ok in a nutshell heres what will/needs too happen.

The bank who physically received the money should write too the account holder and make them aware of the mix up.

They will also ask if the account holder will enter into an agreement too have the funds returned too you.

Unfortunately the bank will be at the mercy of the account holder and if the account holder wants too play ball or not.

If the account holder refuses too repay the funds then your only option is seek the advice of a solicitor as it wont be a criminal matter (its neither theft nor fraud) so you will have too pursue it as a civil matter.

Trust me i know.:o

Your welocme too PM me if you want a fuller explanation.

Kaoscontrol

Thanks for the reply also, stuart30.

See this is where I'm being given conflicted reports from both parties involved.

as i've stated - Santander have said - halifax needs to contact santander, santander will remove the funds, explain the situation and allow the customer to argue it with any given proof.

then there is the scenario you have provided. My only gripe here is - if the customer does not read letters, e-mails or doesn't answer phonecalls.......where does that leave me? My money trapped forever. Or if its actually someone that doesn't pay attention to their account. Again, where does that leave me .

Getting a solicitor involved would no doubt cost more than the money itself which is the next issue....i'm a student afterall! more than short on cash and this was money to actually help me pay for my education from throughout my family!

stuart30

Kaoscontrol wrote: »

Thanks for the reply also, stuart30.

See this is where I'm being given conflicted reports from both parties involved.

as i've stated - Santander have said - halifax needs to contact santander, santander will remove the funds, explain the situation and allow the customer to argue it with any given proof.

then there is the scenario you have provided. My only gripe here is - if the customer does not read letters, e-mails or doesn't answer phonecalls.......where does that leave me? My money trapped forever. Or if its actually someone that doesn't pay attention to their account. Again, where does that leave me .

Getting a solicitor involved would no doubt cost more than the money itself which is the next issue....i'm a student afterall! more than short on cash and this was money to actually help me pay for my education from throughout my family!

Ummm well yes..unless you chase the bank that recieved it,but they cannot give the account holders name or any personal details.

They might forward your details too the person who recieved your money if you asked them.

Im sorry too say that it realy is up too the person being honest and being helpfull.

Some will say its fruad or theft..its not,been there so i know how it works.

Im sure they will do the right thing once they know whats happend.

dunstonh

If staff had made the error, they could of course recall it. One rule for One.....

That is not correct. If staff had made the error then the bank would accept liability and pay the money and face the loss themselves (assuming the person who has the money wont repay it). They could not recall it unless it was within a very short window of opportunity.

Yes we have put a complaint in, we had to for halifax to even 'help' - and we have also contacted the financial ombudsman - who are also unable to help A) because it would take 8 weeks, because neither are actually breaking contracts.

A complaint is pointless where there is no wrong doing. The FOS cannot look at your complaint until you have been deadlocked (rejected by Halifax) or 8 weeks have gone by without resolution. The FOS did actually uphold a complaint last year and forced a bank to repay the money due to insufficient warnings on the internet page. However, since then that bank changed its risk warnings and others heeded it as is normal when complaint outcomes become known. Most of the time you would expect the FOS to rule with the bank as they have done no wrong and the error is with you.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON. WHERE IS THE PROTECTION FOR THE CUSTOMER I am currently £1400 out of pocket. In someone elses account. What the heck can I now do if both banks are saying they cannot touch the money!

The banks cannot do anything as the law doesnt allow them to dip into the account and take the money. There is no consumer protection here really as you cannot take action against the person who has the money as you don't know who they are. The banks cannot tell you who it is. All they can do it contact the person and ask them to repay the money. The law is behind the times with these sorts of things.

I know its not what you want to hear but you were very unlucky as most misposts get sent to account numbers that dont exist and get returned. You managed to get one where the account number was valid and open and have an individual that has decided to keep the money for themselves. Unless they have a change of heart, its unlikely that you will see this money again. Sorry, its not what you want to hear.

Kaoscontrol

Thanks for the harsh but ringing true words Dunstonh.

Out of sheer nerves, I've rung up santander again and it turns out a note has been put onto my account. My account and its claims are being investigated by back office service department and I should have some information from them in the next 5 days or so via both letter and telephonecall. Turns out they are trying to get my money back and rectify the error - if the account is an in-active account - a-la money hasnt gone in for over a year/etc or is a closed account, the money should be back to me in 10 days. If that isn't the case - it'll be esculated further.

stuart30

Keep us posted how it goes.

Glane

Hi

I did something very similar to you from nationwide, to a santader account. Both banks were initially placing the responsibility on the other bank

However I rang up the FSA. They were very helpful, it is basically the bank you sent it from's responsibility, and they gave me personal details of the complaints manager in nationwide to make a complaint. As soon as I rang up stating what the FSA have told me, I have had my own personal advisor with a direct number to contact them.

Bsically the bank (Halifax) in your case has to send a letter stating what has happened to this address

Mispost department
Santander house
9 nelson street
Bradford
Bd1 5an

Then Santander have one month to reply, if they do not (which they haven't done for me) then you have to take legal action (which I am in the process of doing) it's not all doom and gloom as the previous poster mentioned, as there are legal avenues to get your money back (so my solicitor states)

Hope this was helpful,

All the best

madwife13

Wonder what happened here in the end I am going through exactly the same experience at the moment apart from the money I tried to transfer to my Santander account was put in the wrong account because I didn't use a generic sort and account number!! As if Joe public would have thought of that before transfering hundreds of pounds?? I expected my sort code to be my banks and my account number to be mine not some codes that everyone should use??????