Money in my account from unknown source

Yorkie1

jjlandlord wrote: »

It cannot be theft in any case, as OP has received it.
He has notified the bank, now he should hold on to it in case it is claim.

I would put the cash in a savings account so that it is a least useful and kept as reserve in case the amount must be repaid.

Actually, it could be theft if the OP subsequently deals with the credit balance as if he were the owner, to the detriment to the other's rights. You don't have to be guilty of an original theft to subsequently commit the offence.

I agree with the suggestion to put it somewhere safe where it won't get 'accidentally' spent.

jjlandlord

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Actually, it could be theft if the OP subsequently deals with the credit balance as if he were the owner, to the detriment to the other's rights. You don't have to be guilty of an original theft to subsequently commit the offence.

There has been no theft here, and OP will not ever be sued for theft.
Let's keep our feet on the ground, this is not a competition to sainthood.

Venusflytrap

Wallhart wrote: »

I would expect that any interest you earn on it (i.e in a specific account set up for it) might not be legally yours either.

What if the OP left the amount in the current account it was mistakenly paid into which happened to pay interest on credit balances? Would that interest be legally theirs or not?

I think that the important thing here is 'holding' the money for the required period in case it is requested. I do not think that the OP is legally obliged to return it with interest!

Yorkie1

jjlandlord wrote: »

There has been no theft here, and OP will not ever be sued for theft.
Let's keep our feet on the ground, this is not a competition to sainthood.

Please read my post properly. At no point did I say that the OP had committed theft, I was merely correcting a comment from a previous poster.

I said that, in principle, if a person assumes the rights of the owner over the credit balance - i.e. in a way that was inconsistent with the rights of the true owner - then in theory the offence of theft can be committed (subject to the other elements of the offence also being established) irrespective of how they came by the money.

So, for example, if a person deliberately set out to spend the balance rather than put it on one side, that is dealing with the money in a way that assumes the rights of an owner.

The fact that the money was not originally 'stolen' by the person is irrelevant - see s.3(1) Theft Act 1968.

Oh, and by the way, a person is not sued for theft. They are prosecuted.

vax2002

Could be a scam Get ready to be contacted by someone asking for it to be returned, you repay it then they cancel the first payment, leaving you out of pocket twice.

thenudeone

Open a savings account with the same bank.
Write a recorded delivery letter to your bank telling them what has happened and advising them that unless they inform you otherwise, you will be moving the balance into the savings account so that you can continue to manage your own money without someone else's money being mixed up with it. Advise that if they wish to return the money to the proper recipient after you have moved it, it should be returned from the savings account.
Forget about it.

Any possibility of Theft is removed because there is clearly no dishonesty involved in moving it after you have told the bank what you will be doing.