How to sue banks 7 December 2011 at 4:29PM in Reclaiming mortgage fees, council tax, etc 4 replies 949 views

The_boy_Magoo

Can anyone give me some advice on how to sue banks? The short version of what happened is my mum died leaving no will. My brother said he would deal with everything including going through probate. All i had to do was wait for my half share of everything she owned. But he took the lot and gave me nothing. I went to a solicitor and two years later i have been told my legal aid is being stopped because although i am legally entitled to half of everything the cost of recovering it would be more than the amount i would get. I have found out that my brother never applied for probate so i applied for and got letters of administration meaning it is my job to deal with the estate. There are three banks involved and they all say they closed the accounts and gave my brother the money as he told them he was the only beneficiary. I want to sue them on the grounds that they should have insisted on seeing proof that he was the executor/administrator, which of course he wasn't. Altogether the amount is £12,000 with £7,000 being the highest in one bank.

magpiecottage

I would suggest you make complaints to each bank in the first instance as the personal legal representative of your late mother. The complaint would be that they were negligent in releasing the funds to an unauthorised individual.

If they do not reimburse you then take them to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

noh

The_boy_Magoo wrote: »

Can anyone give me some advice on how to sue banks? The short version of what happened is my mum died leaving no will. My brother said he would deal with everything including going through probate. All i had to do was wait for my half share of everything she owned. But he took the lot and gave me nothing. I went to a solicitor and two years later i have been told my legal aid is being stopped because although i am legally entitled to half of everything the cost of recovering it would be more than the amount i would get. I have found out that my brother never applied for probate so i applied for and got letters of administration meaning it is my job to deal with the estate. There are three banks involved and they all say they closed the accounts and gave my brother the money as he told them he was the only beneficiary. I want to sue them on the grounds that they should have insisted on seeing proof that he was the executor/administrator, which of course he wasn't. Altogether the amount is £12,000 with £7,000 being the highest in one bank.

There is no requirement for probate/letters of administration to be presented before banks/building societies release monies from small estates.
Your brother would probably have completed a Statutory Declaration confirming he was entitled to the money.
It is him who has not complied with the law by not distributing the money in accordance with the rules of intestacy.

The_boy_Magoo

Magpie..... I did that. They told me they acted in good faith and are not willing to reimburse me. I will look into the ombudsman option, thanks

Noh..... My brother lives abroad. My solicitor advised me it will be easier to pursue the banks

magpiecottage

It will probably hinge on the FOS view of how FSA Rule BCOBS 5.1.11 applies in this instance.

Remember you get six months from the date of each bank's response to you to get the complaint to FOS.