Money transferred to wrong account, bank won't pay it back.

zppp

2sides2everystory wrote: »

This is a very interesting conundrum and all moralising aside one would think it might still be possible for the recipient to ask his bank as a matter of normal banking service to return the money to the OP as it was sent in error.

Fact is that it was sent to the account in error, so there is no lie to be told by the recipient.

I do think the OP should desist from any attempt himself at trying to force the issue from his side. Egg on face is the most likely result if he does. Fact is a silly mistake was made and it is one that can only be rectified by the recipient.

I think the recipient could attempt to get this rectified by a simple letter to his bank. A telephone call is more likely to go off the rails.

He can rightly say that someone who has transfered some money on a previous occasion sent the money to that account by mistake, and that person would like it to be sent back asap. Recipient can confirm he has no objection to the matter being rectified that way but is asking the bank to do it because he cannot action it himself because of his unauthorised overdraft situation.

I would be really interested to learn of the recipient's bank's response

For example, would they say
(a) "Sorry but we do not rectify mistakes unless we make them" (unlikely).
(b) "Sorry but because you owe us money we will take it however we can get it - the other guy can whistle for it" (unlikely)
(c) "Sorry but because your account is seriously out of order there will be an administration charge of £100 to do this"
(d) "OK - we've reversed it. Have a nice day"
(e) "OK - we've reversed it, but we are sending the boys round"
or
(f) Something else ...

My bet is on A but they will write to the account holder requesting the account holder send the payment back as it is a mistaken credit.

pmduk

zppp wrote: »

My bet is on A but they will write to the account holder requesting the account holder send the payment back as it is a mistaken credit.

And of course, it can't be done from the overdrawn account!

happs

casper_g wrote: »

It can be reversed, by the person you sent the money to (your friend) returning it. If he can't return it to you from that account because there's no money in it, that's his problem. He'll have to either pay you back on payday, borrow the money from someone else, sell something to raise the funds, come to another arrangement with you e.g. to pay you back in instalments or provide you with goods/service in lieu of the money, or whatever else the two of you agree to.

The guy is in a tight spot and i've no intentions of rocking up to him and saying through no fault of your own you now owe me £100 you don't have. He's a friend and i'm not looking to add to his woes, particularly on account of my own mistakes.

casper_g wrote: »

If you'd posted him a couple of fifty quid notes, and he'd put them in his wallet and spent them down the casino, you couldn't ask the Royal Mail to give them back to you, nor blame his wallet because they weren't in it. As it is, the roles of the postie and the wallet were both played by his bank, and instead of spending it down the casino he's used it to pay off £100 of his overdraft. Otherwise it seems similar to me.

I think you're shading that analogy the way you want. How about this - i posted him a £100 and the postman went to deliver it the same day as an unpaid parcel to the same address that required £100 cod and the postie deciding to take the money out my envelope to cover the fee. I think that is far more analogous to the situation.

antrobus

happs wrote: »

.... I think that is far more analogous to the situation.

And you might well do so, but that's neither here nor there.

Lloyds Bank has correctly credited the funds to your friend's account. It's up to your friend to return the money. That's the legal position. End of story.

If you're not prepared to 'rock up' your friend, then you will just have to accept that you've lost £100. If you choose to try and pursue legal action against Lloyds, the most likely outcome is that you'll risk being classed as a vexatious litigant.

catfish50

happs wrote: »

The guy is in a tight spot and i've no intentions of rocking up to him and saying through no fault of your own you now owe me £100 you don't have. He's a friend and i'm not looking to add to his woes, particularly on account of my own mistakes.

You are right. I'd feel the same way.

suicidebob

happs wrote: »

How about this - i posted him a £100 and the postman went to deliver it the same day as an unpaid parcel to the same address that required £100 cod and the postie deciding to take the money out my envelope to cover the fee. I think that is far more analogous to the situation.

Your analogy is even more ridiculous. The bank didn't take your money and allocate it elsewhere; they did exactly what you asked.

grizzly1911

...........:wall:

happs

suicidebob wrote: »

Your analogy is even more ridiculous. The bank didn't take your money and allocate it elsewhere; they did exactly what you asked.

Meh, potatoes, potatohs.

The story does have a happy ending though, turns out i'm a good few hundred quid better off that i thought. So i'm going to let the £100 slide with my mate and ring fence a small portion of my windfall for a tube of superglue to empty into a Lloyds ATM. Everyone's a winner

:beer:

Cheers to the handful of people that offered sound, reasoned advice. It was appreciated.

Olipro

happs wrote: »

... So i'm going to let the £100 slide with my mate and ring fence a small portion of my windfall for a tube of superglue to empty into a Lloyds ATM. Everyone's a winner

except the poor sod who comes along a few minutes later and gets their card stuck.

bpm_2

Under the terms and condition of any bank account a bank can withdraw money paid in if believed to be mistaken or fraudulent, it does not matter how this money was transferred or in what way. With HSBC it is section 26.7.3, youll have to check for your own bank.