Mortgage co overpayed me >£50000

JamesW_4

My mortgage co have accidentaly added an extra '0' when crediting my bank account with extra borrowing on my mortgage, they called me and asked for the money back (no doubt if I had banked with them they would have just taken it back, I have heard of this happening even though it is against the banking code). I know that the money is not mine to keep, but I feel sure that if I were to overpay them, getting the money back would be no mean feat. Is there any way I can use this to my advantage?

IvanOpinion

I would definitely be inclined to spin it out for a while to earn a bit of interest. Ask them for written documentary evidence and say that it will take at least 28 days for funds to clear due to the fact that you will have to walk to the bank which is not open on a Saturday and your next week day off is not for another 4 weeks. ;D ;D

Ivan

Poppy9

What about I only have statements 1/2 yearly so I will have to wait until I get the next one to ensure I have an audit trail.  Next statement due January 2005?  Hee hee.

Or I will have to speak to the account manager (yes your other half) who is on a year long retreat in Outer Mongolia.  This person is the only person who can authorise a repayment of this scale?

At the very least you need at least 7 working days to investigate the matter. Then you will need to get a cheque book from your bank as you do not currently have one for that account. This will take about another month to have one printed up. You couldn't possibly allow them to just transfer the money from your account as mistakes happen when nobody is physically writing in the amounts LOL

I hope you transferred the money into an interest paying account straight away!!

Have fun ;D

Reaper

I used to work for a building society and a couple of times the wrong account got credited.

When a large amount is involved typically the saver rushed into the branch and closed their account in the hope that would mean they wouldn't have to pay the money back when it was discovered.

I didn't get involved in the recovery but as you correctly say the legal position is the money is not yours and you do have to pay it back. Moving the money around makes no difference to that.

The key question though is the interest. I seem to remember the building society claimed the interest earned on it was theirs too but I'm less sure of the legal position and whether they ever got it. I'm pretty sure that if you paid the capital back they would not press for the interest unless you made your stalling tactics too obvious or dragged it out for too long.

Humbug_2

I would make sure you charge them for your time. Banks charge insane amounts of money for their time, typically 20 quid for a letter, so you should write to them explaining your charges for your time. So a letter from you costs 20 quid, a visit to your branch costs 30 quid etc etc. Banks are money-grabbing swines intent on robbing us all blind, so if you have the opportunity to do the same to them, then do it. Well, that's my opinion anyway.

JamesW_4

Mmm. The mortgage co have called me about it 3 times now. I actually attempted to pay it back yesterday by visiting my branch as instructed by them, but my branch could not determine the details of the account from which the money had been transferred, so I couldn't complete the transfer. Unfortunately the chap from the mortgage co didn't give me his name or contact details so I can't easily contact him. I may try to call them in a while but I'm not v eager (national rate number, no doubt will be going round the houses for 45 mins trying to find out who I should speak to). It's just a shame that I haven't sorted a decent interest rate current account yet to make the most of the situation.

k_sta

James,

Ask for a written explanation as to what happened with all details and stating that you incur no charges and that they will compensate you for your time.

Tell them to inlcude a netting authorisation allowing you to return the amount after deducting for your time and effort.

I suggest you use the chargin rates they use in there contracts for things like correspondence, non-standard requests and additional bank transfers. Also charge a release fee.

I reckon that it will be a couple of hundred pounds. They usually have a per hour charge for staff time as well.

Tell them you will not pay until you receive a written authorisation for deducting of this amount from the amount you will return.

Then let them stew for a while!

K

mutley74

i would ask for a full investigation on they can make such an error. i bet if it was your fault, they would never forgive you via fines etc.

I think you should ask for some compensation for your time spent dealing with all this matter, that was not your fault, maybe ask for £200, a reasonable amount i would say for the amount in question.

Our mortgage company accepted a £25 cheque for admin fee to cover insurance changes, and then they still charged us via DD another £25. I bet if we made the mistake, we have been charged another fee. Although we have phoned them about the matter, and they said they would rfund, but we had to find the fault and ask for the money back. These major banks seem to take what they can from us consumers.

moneymart_3

I would respond as follows.

Write a letter, stating that you are disappointed that such a fundamental error has been made, and despite already trying to resolve their mistake, you now face further inconvenience and costs in order to rectify their mistake.

Outline that you are looking for compensation in order to cover the inconvenience and costs. Point out that if the situation were reversed, they would charge you x for each letter, plus y for telephone calls, etc etc.

Tell them that you want a written explanation as to how the mistake has been made, and assurance that such an error will not be repeated in the future.

Emphasise that you have already had to take time off work, and that despite all reasonable attempts, you were unable to resolve the issue.

Make it clear that you aren't going to charge them on a "per item" basis, but that under the circumstances, you believe it would be reasonable to expect some compensation. Do an illustration of the charges that you believe they would have made, and round it up or down - i.e. £250 or whatever.

Point out that you look forward to their response in full, and that if their offer of compensation isn't considered reasonable, you simply will not expend any more time and effort to rectify their mistake.

After all, you are perfectly entitled to do nothing - you aren't refusing to give them the money back (after all, you've already tried once!). All you are doing is saying that you will not put any more personal time & effort in unless they pay you for it.

Also give them a contact telephone number for you, and tell them that it is only convenient for them to contact you between (for example) 8.30pm and 9.00pm. After all, they need to play by your terms now... ;D

Loaded_Bachelor

and................ make sure that the contact number you give them goes through to an automated system (based in India):

Also, add some charges on to compensate you for the emotional stress that they have caused you.

libra10

These replies are brilliant