Theft from Clydesdale strong box - any experience/advice?

max_m

Not sure if this is the best place to post this, but thought I'd try.

I am interested to know if anyone has had a bad experience with the safe custody of documents or valuables at Clydesdale Bank (Piccadilly branch particularly) between 1985 and 2008. We had our strong box broken into and valuables stolen, which we only discovered when we visited the branch ourselves. The bank is in denial etc! What action - successful or otherwise - might you have experienced? Has anyone sued successfully over an issue like this?

Thanks in advance for any advice or anecdotes.

magpiecottage

I suppose you could complain to the bank and if necessary take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

I'm not sure what it would do - I have never heard of it dealing with a case of this nature.

dunstonh

You should make a claim on your insurance for starters. The bank doesnt insure the contents of safety deposits but the individual does.

Then you are going to have to explain to us what you mean by the bank being in denial.

max_m

The ombudsman can only act on issues up to £100,000. I believe and the stolen contents had increased in value far in excess of this sum. The bank refused to accept liability despite the fact that the box had been forced open and this was confirmed by one of the Bank's employees. To my knowledge the bank never reported it to the police , they may have reported it to their insurance company and although they promised a thorough internal inquiry I have been unable to get a copy of that report and I have had contradicting information about it ever having been under taken in the first place.

dunstonh

The ombudsman can only act on issues up to £100,000. I believe and the stolen contents had increased in value far in excess of this sum.

The ombudsman is not a provider of insurance.

they may have reported it to their insurance company and although they promised a thorough internal inquiry I have been unable to get a copy of that report and I have had contradicting information about it ever having been under taken in the first place.

Have you reported it to your insurance company? The retail banks do not generally insure the contents of your safe keeping items. They tell you to do it.

magpiecottage

max_m wrote: »

The ombudsman can only act on issues up to £100,000. I believe

It can deal with complaints of any nature. Any award it makes is legally binding only to £150,000 for complaints it received on or after 1 January 2012 (£100,000 if it was before then).

According to Moneybox on Radio 4 today, FOS WILL look at claims about this service if it is provided by a bank.

However it will not if it as another form of security service. This is because such a firm is only registered with the FSA for anti moneylaundering compliance purposes.

However, the OP's position is that they can go to FOS.

If they do and they win the bank is only required to pay what the Ombudsman Awards, up to £150,000 if they accept that decision.

If they do accept it then they cannot go to the courts for more. The alternative is to then go to court - but if they lose in court they get nothing.

If, on the other hand, they go to court first and lose, they will not be able to go to FOS afterwards.