Incorrect FP Transfer - Account Overdrawn

gonchuk

Hi there - looking for a bit of advice guys!
Sorry if this is a bit longwinded, but I wanted to get as many facts down as possible

I'm a tenant who was paying rent of £1150 once a month into a letting agencies account (let's call it Agency A) up until March of this year. I was paying by FP at the beginning of each month.

I then received a letter from another Agency (let's call it Agency to say that they had bought Agency A and provided me with new bank accounts / contracts etc. I was given clear instructions to pay my rent into this new bank account

Over the subsequent months I paid £1150 into Agency B's bank account without fail using FP

Then, this month I received a phone call from Agency B's collection department to say I hadn't made this months payment. On checking I realised I had not only paid the £1150 into Agency A's bank account (as they were still on my payment list on my online banking) but I had also paid my daughters nursery fees into Agency A's bank account (I know, stupid). A moment of absolute madness on my part - one I take full responsibility for. However I was out of pocket nearly £1500

I rang Agency B and explained the situation - they then informed me that Agency A was a trading name and that there was another company behing Agency A (let's call them Company A). In essence, when I was paying Agency A each month, it was actually going into Company A's bank account. When Agency A bought Agency B, they didn't buy Company A (and all the associated liabilities). The message from Agency B was that other people had accidentally paid into Agency A (Company A) and there was 'issues' getting the money back and wished me luck. They sent me a letter stating the liability wasn't theirs and provided me with the registered address and directors address of Company A and basically said I need to take my own advice and I was on my own

This is what I then did:
1) Spoke to HSBC (Company A's bank). They told me to get a trace from my bank (Halifax) and take it to an HSBC branch and take it from there
2) Spoke to Halifax - they said a trace wasn't available, but that my bank statement would show the FP reference numbers and this would be sufficient
3) Went to HSBC (the actual branch of Company A's account). They were able to confirm that the money had gone into the account and was there, but were unable to do anything without the account holders say so as, to them, this was a legitimate transaction (and quite rightly so). They suggested I got hold of the director
4) Went to the directors address - no answer, so left a polite note with copies of my statement. At no point did I allude to the fact that I knew that his company had issues.

In the meantime I have spoken to Citizens Advice Bureau as I was concerned that I would hear nothing from the director. They recommended I give it at least 7 days before writing a more formal letter (sent by recorded delivery to both registered address and directors address) which would end with a request to pay within 14 days, if not I would pass the matter onto my solicitors (CAB recommended going down the small claims court as this was a 'Payment by mistake')

Then, suprisingly, the director rang me today. He was very apologetic and explained that the company was 23k overdrawn (agreed OD was 20k) and had ceased trading some time ago. He can view the account but cannot pay any money out of it. Any money paid accidentally into it He was speaking to the FSA, the Banking Ombusman and HSBC, because another woman had accidentally paid into this account rather than Agency B and HSBC weren't prepared to send it back. He suggested I put pressure on both Halifax and HSBC - he was genuinely gutted for me and wants it put right.

So this brings me to where I am right now. Yes, I made the mistake of paying into the wrong account, I should have deleted the payment details from my online account and set up a standing order - I freely admit that, but it is obvious that I have paid the sums into the wrong account (I have historical statment information, invoices, letter from Agency A etc). The director of Agency A knows I have paid it incorrectly into the wrong account. If the company isn't trading anymore, should the bank actually be allowing payments in / out?

The question is, where do I stand and how do I go about getting this money back? £1500 is alot of money - I have had to pay this again for rent and nursery fees so am really out of pocket. With a new born due in 8 days I could really do with this back!

Any help greatly appreciated...

xylophone

HSBC have agreed that you paid the money into Company A's account but told you that nothing could be done without the permission of the director.

You have contacted the director- apparently he is willing to refund the payment.

I suggest that you and the director go to the HSBC branch together and see what you can sort out.

gonchuk

Cheer xylophone, you would like to think so but the problem is going to be the fact the unauthorised overdraft has swallowed it and (according to the director) HSBC have not been willing to pay someone else who has accidentally paid into it.

I will contact HSBC tomorrow so I won't know until then, but I really wanted to know where I stand legally on this. If both parties agree that there was a mistake and it was not a planned payment to Company A, do HSBC have a responsibility to pay it back to me?

Cheers again for the reply

xylophone

I cannot see that HSBC will discuss the matter with you unless the director is present/has given permission in writing?

gonchuk

Agree - I will be ringing HSBC to confirm what we both need to do to get this money back into my account. If it means that both of us going to the branch and it being sorted, then great

What I'm trying to ascertain is whether they have an obligation to do anything if the account is over the agreed overdraft limit. I just want to know my legal standing before I contact them incase HSBC refuse to return the money because of this.

Sorry, probably me not being very clear!

xylophone

It seems to me that if you can prove that the payment was made in error and the director agrees that this was the case, then HSBC would be hard put to it to find a reason not to return the payment.

pqrdef

Anybody who supplies goods or sends money to an insolvent company is making a mistake, of a kind. The question is whether some mistake-makers (called creditors) have precedence over others when it comes to getting their money back.

HSBC also made a mistake here, and they think they do have precedence. If your money goes into their overdrawn account, they don't say your rights are as good as theirs, they just swallow it to reduce their debt at your expense. That's because they're bankers.

dt3887

i had a similar issue to yours, not as bad but still. keep us updated so i know where to take my case aswell.
good luck

gonchuk

Cheers for the advise all, will let you know how I get on today..

agrinnall

I'm afraid you are now a creditor of company A, and unless they have assets greater than the value of their debt to HSBC I can't see that you will get anything back. I don't think HSBC have done anything wrong, it's an expensive lesson (but one that appears on here quite often) that you should remove payees from your payment list once you no longer have to make payments to them.

dt3887

any updates on this OP?