Money sent to incorrect account

jgs

Hi
I am looking for advice on regulations.

I am owed £600 and unfortuntely gave three people an incorrect sort-code (I have accounts with two Barclays sort-codes and gave the wrong one!). £450 has gone into someone elses account.

Barclays have written to this person and they have not responded. Barclays told me that is all they can do so it is looking like I am going to lose this money. It also took them 16 days to do anything about this as I reported it straight away but was passed from pillar to post.

I cannot believe that this can happen. If it was a bank error they would have taken that money straight out of the persons account surely. Surely they cannot condone the 'stealing' of the money as it was not addressed to this other person and yet Barclays are 'letting' them keep it.

I am told by Barclays the next step is for me to take to Finanical Ombudsman. They will also forward a letter from me to their other customer, but it looks like that will be fruitless. Can I sue them in anyway or report this to any authorities?

Many thanks for any responses.
ps. I know it was a stupid mistake of me so I don't need anyone telling me how to transfer money in future!

stclair

As the error was yours Barclays are not responsible and the onus is on you to recover your money.

Since the introduction of faster payments once the account has credited the account the payment can not be recalled.

It appears Barclays are doing what they can to help you however they can not force the recipent bank to return the money.

All they can do is write and say they are sorry but an a payment has been sent in error can we have it back, but the recipent bank would normally contact the account holder if they say no then there not much they can do.

jonesMUFCforever

You can employ a solicitor and get a court order to make Barclays divulge the name and address of the customer.
If they have spent it and do not have a good credit rating your chances of recovering the money is slim and you will be a lot worse off financially.

Sorry to say this but if you gave someone the wrong sort code you may have to write it off - I'm sure you won't make the same mistake again!

jgs

Thanks for your replies. I am just keeping my fingers crossed now!

boo_star

Perhaps another way to look at it would be sending a letter.

If I sent a letter via Royal Mail but put the wrong address on it, would Royal Mail be responsible?

The answer is no, they could contact the recipient on your behalf but nothing more.

I know it doesn't help but it might put things into perspective, that banks have the same limitations that everyone else does.

I hope you get it back though, we all make mistakes afterall.

pqrdef

Surely the people who made the payments need to try to get the money back. On the face of it there's no reason for anybody to give you the money.

CLAPTON

I'm sorry I can't actually help but clearly the law is simply an !!!;
keeping the money is theft; but it's difficult to pursue as the banks won't tell you who the recipient is. They claim they can't under the data protection laws but its never, to my knowledge been tested in law.
Another example of our useless banking regulators

Trajal

I think that this could be notified to the police actually.

If you found a wallet in the street and it had £100 in it but no identification, and you spent that money, they could arrest you for 'theft by finding'. I'd consider giving local plod a call to see if there's any validity in pursuing it from this angle, if they are vaguely interested - because let's be honest, spending money that isn't yours is dishonest - then they might consider approaching the banks on your behalf as part of a criminal investigation.

I don't think it's been done before, but I remember seeing an article about something similiar and wondering why the individual concerned hadn't simply called the police.

Of course they might tell you to bog off, however, nothing ventured etc, and if you quote the 'theft by finding' concern of this customer of the bank then they may very well be intrigued enough to get involved.

Either way it sucks, good luck with your recovery of the cash though.

jgs

Thanks again for your replies.

Just to let you know that keeping my finges crossed worked, as did writing a letter to ANOther which my bank kindly sent on to them. I have now been reimbursed with the money.

It is good to know that a) there are good people out there and b) that I won't be making that mistake again!

Here's to a summer of sunshine:j

bengal-stripe

jgs wrote: »

......£450 has gone into someone elses account.

Was it £470 by any chance? Then Rebecca might have received it.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3183864

p00hsticks

jgs wrote: »

I have now been reimbursed with the money.

Glad it all got sorted out for you, but out of interest, did the person who originally sent the money need to get involved ?

I know in your case it was an legitimate error, but it doesn't seem right to me somehow that person A can (whether rightly or wrongly) send money to person B, and that the bank will then deal with an unconnected person C who appears out of the woodwork and says that the money should actually have gone to them ?