Won 1800 GBP, at at least I thought I had!

hunnycat

Even if a cheque has cleared in your bank it can still be withdrawn for a certain amount of months after. Banks do a quick clearing thing so you get the money but it can still bounce later on so i would definatly look into this first.
heres a couple threads i have come up with on search :
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/466176
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=30893715&postcount=6

heavenlyharry

I agree with others and contact the CAB, I thing many solicitors offer 30mins free legal advice! My sister used this a few weeks back.
I would have thought that them taking you to court would cost them more than what you won, so that may just be a threat in the hope you get worried and pay it striaght back!
It would be nice to know how the mistake was made.
Have you searched for any competitions for the amount you won?

If it was not a competition and they have just sent you out a cheque in mistake then I think that they are within their rights to ask for it back!?!? But I maybe wrong!!! Have they threatened you with police action?

Matryoshka

Seek legal advice and if push comes to shove, tell them you can only afford to pay them back at a pound (£1) a week :rotfl:

wingobins

Thats awful, I didn't think they woere allowed to that! I'm sure magazines would be interested in your story if only to warn other compers! I would definately take this further before giving it back, as you say, it came with no details of where it was from and you enter lots of comps too. Maybe give them a polite call and expalin that you enter comps and had asumed it was your win (and tell them you've spent it!) Good luck with it. x

georgy-girl

Oh Gosh this is awful - it is their mistake so they sholud let you keep it out of good will. I dont know much about the law but I knew solicitors use to let you have the first half hour for free.

Surely there must be a reason why they sent the cheque in the first place, I would definatly phone and ask them why they sent the cheque in the first place ?

bazzyb

Rexxy wrote: »

I don't have a solicitor & worried about this ending up costing me money.

You don't need to spend any money or visit a solicitor, if you google 'Theft Act' it should answer a lot of your questions. Now that you have been made aware of the error, if you refuse to pay it back then there could be serious consequences - this could lead to criminal proceedings against you. (I do think this is extremely unlikely, as it would be very embarrassing for the company - it would probably end up as a small (civil) claim rather than going down the criminal route - but thought I would alert you to what was the worst-case scenario.

Now as to what you should do - whilst this isn't your fault or error, clearly the money needs to be paid back to them. If you're in a position to pay it back immediately, then this would probably be the best option to take. Other people have suggested offering to pay them back in minimal installments, which would be a reasonable step to take if you had already spent the money and couldn't afford to repay it.
If you decide to keep the money and pay back minimal installments anyway then you're effectively taking out an interest-free loan. If you didn't have any intention on getting a loan anyway then this may not be a sensible solution as you could be paying it back for years.

With the above in mind, I would contact the company and offer to pay it back, however I would also make it clear how their error had put you at great significance and ask what they would like to offer you by way of compensation for this.

perc

bazzyb wrote: »

You don't need to spend any money or visit a solicitor, if you google 'Theft Act' it should answer a lot of your questions. Now that you have been made aware of the error, if you refuse to pay it back then there could be serious consequences - this could lead to criminal proceedings against you. (I do think this is extremely unlikely, as it would be very embarrassing for the company - it would probably end up as a small (civil) claim rather than going down the criminal route - but thought I would alert you to what was the worst-case scenario.

Now as to what you should do - whilst this isn't your fault or error, clearly the money needs to be paid back to them. If you're in a position to pay it back immediately, then this would probably be the best option to take. Other people have suggested offering to pay them back in minimal installments, which would be a reasonable step to take if you had already spent the money and couldn't afford to repay it.
If you decide to keep the money and pay back minimal installments anyway then you're effectively taking out an interest-free loan. If you didn't have any intention on getting a loan anyway then this may not be a sensible solution as you could be paying it back for years.

With the above in mind, I would contact the company and offer to pay it back, however I would also make it clear how their error had put you at great significance and ask what they would like to offer you by way of compensation for this.

This advice is spot on mate. To retain the money now is theft I'm afraid (unless the company do something out of goodwill). Just out of interest you said you thought it was a competition win, what competition was it and have you let the magazine company know that?

sami_kh

cool imagine if you didn't pay them back

Chrol

Well my thoughts are that this is a scam. The money will be taken back out of your account when the payment is refused. By then you will have paid the money back. Hopefully, if this is the case the bank will give you the money back.

This type of scam has been common on ebay, when an overpayment is made and the seller pays back the overpayment and then the original payment to them fails.

princessmoneysaver

Just wondering what the outcome of this was?