Badly handled bank error (Santander)

Lauramonkey

I recently had a sum of money paid into my Santander account in error (Bank employee put money into the wrong account). As we were expecting a tax credit payment we assumed that this was it. We spent the money (bills,rent etc not ruthless spending).

I then get a call from Santander saying that the money was placed into my account by error and must be paid back. I said I would have to speak to my husband to organise a plan to pay the money back (we live on a part time wage and have two small children). They said they would phone back after the weekend to get the plan sorted out. They didn't call back or get in touch in any way.

This morning I checked my bank account to see that they have taken the full amount from my account without any notification. Leaving us overdrawn (a high 3 figure sum).

I called Santander to find out what has happened and have had no real answers. They demanded we organise a plan to pay them back. I said we could afford £20 a month (being on a low income). They said this was unacceptable and that the minimum they would accept is £50 a month.
The other option (the one we had to take) was that they would leave us with this overdraft and reduce it by £50 a month. Which still means we are paying it off at £50 a month.

They released the tax credits that had gone into my account this morning so we could buy petrol for my husband to get to work and to buy milk for my 6 month old daughter. They have also given us the overdraft with no interest.

I can't help but feel that we have been given the raw end of the deal considering this was THEIR mistake in the first place.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thankyou

ViolaLass

If you thought the payment was the tax credits, why didn't the tax credits that then arrived in your account cover the payment you were made by mistake? Were they significantly different amounts?

jen245

I dont get this, you receive a award notice telling you how much will be paid and when, and the payments show up as tax credits on statements, so I dont understand how you could have confused the payments

Lauramonkey

We hadn't had our award notice but they have put the money in our account a few times before we have received the notice so just assumed (stupidly) that the notice would arrive in the next few days. The tax credits arrived today (less than the amount) and it is the only money they would release to us to use today (so my husband could get petrol to get to work and a few essential things)

ViolaLass

If you had used the 'mistake' money to buy the things you needed, you shouldn't need the tax credit money and should therefore be able to use it to pay Santander their money back.

Did you know how much tax credit you were going to be paid? i.e. could you have known that the amount you received was wrong?

Lauramonkey

I didn't know the amount was wrong, we hadn't had out award notice from Tax credits yet. All we knew is that we were due a rebate, the thought of a bank error didn't really cross our minds. I feel really stupid now.

I am happy to be paying the money back, after all it wasn't my money. I am just a bit angry with how they have handled it, it was as much their mistake putting the money in my account as it was my mistake for spending it without checking where it came from.

jonesMUFCforever

Well I hope you write a letter of complaint to yourself!

Did you actually look at a statement (whether paper based or online) to see how much was paid in and where from?

noelphobic

I would think it was more likely to be an error on the part of the sending bank (or the sending bank's account holder) than of the receiving bank.

pmduk

noelphobic wrote: »

I would think it was more likely to be an error on the part of the sending bank (or the sending bank's account holder) than of the receiving bank.

As Santander was involved it is almost certain to be their mistake.

chrissie_jay

I have also had a problem with Santander. I wrote a cheque for £17 to subscribe to a club. On my bank statement it had it down as £77. (Easy to see as I don't write many cheques). I rang them and, as usual, spent a long time trying to get to speak to someone. When I did I was told I would have to contact the person it was sent to. I said I needed to make certain as, although it was unlikely, it was possible I had made a mistake. I was told I would be charged £4 for this. I received a letter from them with the copy of the cheque that clearly had £17 and 'Seventeen pounds only' on it. I rang again and eventually got through to someone who said there was no record of my previous phone call (I gave them the time and date) and they asked for the reference on the letter. There was no reference and no name just a scrawled signature. They said it couldn't have come from them because all correspondence has a reference and name. I will be visiting my nearest branch today. I will be asking for compensation. Perhaps £50 and suggest this is deducted from the Santander Boss's bonus at the end of the year.

yummum24

pmduk wrote: »

As Santander was involved it is almost certain to be their mistake.

if you read the op, she does admit that it was her error. she did not check who the money came from, that money was not hers to use and the place it came from is another customer who was waiting for that money. If you are paying £50 p/m and getting an intrest free overdraft (or basically an intrest free loan) that does not affect your credit file in any way, then i cannot see how much more they could have done to help you! And at £50 p/m, that is quite a lot of money that you used. (i work in the collections area of Santander so know what we offer!)