I gave money away, what can I do?

andrew-the-cat

First of all, yes I'm an idiot.

I tried to transfer some money from my Santander current account to my Lloyds current account via online banking. It didn't go out using faster payments and it has now been 7 days since I made the payment and Lloyds are still spamming me with text messages about being over my limit so I checked my Santander e-banking and what do you know, I've only gone and got 2 of the digits wrong on the account number.

I phoned Santander and they said the payment has gone out and it hasn't bounced so it's highly likely that it has gone into someone's Lloyds account, just not mine. They said there was nothing they could do since the payment was successful and they obviously don't have access to Lloyds customer data etc to see if it was sat in someone else's account, and since it was my fault they can't reverse the payment.

So I called Lloyds and they were !!!!ing useless. I went through all of the security questions etc and I told them the account number I paid the money in to and the account number I SHOULD have paid the money in to, but even with all that info they couldn't even tell me if the money had landed in one of their customer accounts due to data protection. I told him I KNOW it is in someone's Lloyds account because it hasn't bounced back to Santander but he spoke to a manager and apparently wasn't even allowed to check the account to see if it had arrived. He constantly said that he couldn't do anything and that it was Santander who had to act, even though I told him they said they were powerless to do anything since it had already cleared from my account and it was my fault not theirs.

Looking around the internet it seems I'm in the !!!! now really, and it's highly likely I won't ever see my money again. It appears when this happens all the bank can do is send the recipient a letter asking them to transfer it back, but they cannot force them to do anything (even though if the recipient withdraws the money and spends it, knowing it isn't their money, they are breaking the law).

Is there anything I can do?

Thanks

thatsean

Check with Lloyds if it's gone into a suspense account, this could have happened rather than the payment being returned, if this is the case then Lloyds will be able to advise. Otherwise, as you know your options are limited.

ihateyes

thatsean wrote: »

Check with Lloyds if it's gone into a suspense account, this could have happened rather than the payment being returned, if this is the case then Lloyds will be able to advise. Otherwise, as you know your options are limited.

walk into a branch and try to pay £1 into the sort code/acc numbe you sent it to..... if its an invalid acc the cashier will ask are you sure tthats the correct details;)

It is true the other person has to agree to give the money back, but the question is:

If a cash machine spits too much money out, and you spend it/or the bank incorrectly puts money into your account and you spend it then this is theft....

so whats the difference here? the person is still spending money that they know is lawfully not theirs!!

Id try the local plod and see what they would advise..... but then again there is no speeding ticket involvd so they wont be interested

Meepster

ihateyes wrote: »

Id try the local plod and see what they would advise.....

They will simply advise that it is a civil matter and there is nothing, legally, they can do...

anselld

You can validate the account number here ...
http://www.postcodeanywhere.co.uk/demos/bankvalidator.aspx

It will tell you the branch address where the account is held. I would then go in and explain to the branch manager in person.

Incidentally, I have been on the other end of this; received money from unknown source. Went in to bank to report it was not mine but they could not tell me where it came from (data protection!) and refused to do anything themselves to return it!!

andrew-the-cat

Hmm that's interesting. It appears sort code determines the branch where the account is held (I didn't know this). When I searched the details of the account I sent the money too it showed the same address as my own branch but had a little red X and half of the info was missing. Conversely when I put my own details in there it has a green tick and everything shows up.

I guess this means one of two things:

Lloyds are holding my money in 'suspense'
the payment hasn't bounced back yet (if it takes an additional 3 working days to bounce, this would make sense as it hasn't been that long yet).

I'll give it until Friday and if I don't have my money back I'll go into my branch and ask some questions.

lynn2

Good luck Andrew, I hope you get your money back x

pqrdef

Just one more flaw in our really badly designed payments system.

ihateyes

andrew-the-cat wrote: »

Hmm that's interesting. It appears sort code determines the branch where the account is held (I didn't know this). When I searched the details of the account I sent the money too it showed the same address as my own branch but had a little red X and half of the info was missing. Conversely when I put my own details in there it has a green tick and everything shows up.

I guess this means one of two things:

Lloyds are holding my money in 'suspense'
the payment hasn't bounced back yet (if it takes an additional 3 working days to bounce, this would make sense as it hasn't been that long yet).

I'll give it until Friday and if I don't have my money back I'll go into my branch and ask some questions.

as i said go in and ask to put £1 in that account... if its a suspense acc the cashier WONT take the money off you..... if the money is accepted, then ask for the manager

The_Palmist

It took about 12 days for the money to bounce back when I put wrong number in. It was only £200, I was transferring from Lloyds to Halifax. They sent me a letter after 2 weeks saying they could find the account I wanted to put money in.

mustang1

What a nightmare! Can you get Santander to provide confirmation of the payment you have made and then take this to a Lloyds branch and show them the obvious error and ask them to extend your overdraft until this is resolved to avoid all the extra fees. It would show a bit of goodwill on their part and you could always threaten to leave (if you aren't reliant on the overdraft facility).

Good luck!