Santander letter out of the blue!

230lucky

Hi everyone,
I'm hoping someone can help me or give any advice. I have received a letter from Santander this morning referring to a standing order I used to have. I set up a standing order back in 2011 to take £100 from my Santander Current account and pay it into a Nationwide account each month. Then about a few months later (still 2011) I decided to increase this amount to £200 per month. I had trouble altering the amount so ended up leaving it as it was and setting up a 2nd Standing Order for the other £100. For some reason the 2nd one didn't work and it bounced back each month. I went into the bank and paid the £100 in cash instead and each month tried to get the bank to fix the problem. However, the letter says that due to a processing error the payment from 1st Dec 2011 was debited from my Santander account once, but it credited the Nationwide account twice. Nationwide then subsequently returned the additional payments to the Santander account on or around 8th Dec 2011. Now, to save me any inconvenience!!! they will recover the amount from my current account on 19th September 2012 automatically! I've checked back over my account statements and both £100 SO's go out and then 2 credits show for £100 a week later. I thought this was both of them being returned. so I went into the bank and they cancelled both DD and set up one for me for the £200 so that this didn't happen again. I thought all was fine and never gave it another though until this letter has arrived. Do I have a leg to stand on? can I fight this? I have no idea! all I know is that I cannot afford to lose £200 that I hadn't bugeted for. I'm a single girl with a mortgage and have to be careful with money so this was very unexpected.
Sorry this is so long winded but I felt I should write as much detail as possible to avoid 100questions that I should have already answered. Thank you to anyone who can help.

innovate

Not entirely sure what you are trying to say, what you have written is almost impossible to digest.

But I assume you believe Santander are trying to take £200 off you that they already took off earlier.

In this case, if I were you, I would call them, or go into a Branch, to clarify the matter with them. If they are in the wrong, they should apologise and pay for any expenses you had as a result of their mistake.

Might be useful to print off all the relevant statements, and mark/highlight the relevant transactions.

230lucky

Thanks, sorry I thought I had made it clear by writing more.

They took Standing Order (A) for £100
They took Standing Order (B) for £100.
They then returned Standing Order (A) twice due to a processing error and (B) had gone through as normal. Meaning I had paid out £100 and got £200 returned.

I thought they had returned (A) & (B) thus breaking even, £200 paid out £200 returned.
The labelling of their Standing Orders made it very hard to spot that this was the same refund twice. Once now under scrutiny can I see it was a duplicate refund.

Now they want the extra £100 back that I didn't even know I'd been over credited. But the was their error which I knew nothing about and it now means I will be £100 out of pocket (not £200 as I previously put I misread this as they haven't quoted figures in their letter). Can I challenge this as it was their error? I hope this is clearer.

meer53

So you were £100 up ?

If you were then you need to pay it back. If it was their error, raise a complaint, they might offer a small amount of compensation but don't hold your breath !

230lucky

yes I apparently was £100 up but I need to verify this with Nationwide as I was not aware of this. It was definitely their error as they admit this in their letter. I've phoned but the department I need to speak to is closed for the weekend so I will raise a complaint on Monday. I just thought it was worth asking due to none of this being my fault. Thanks for your help.

innovate

Well, that's slightly different then. If you were £100 up,

1. it's only fair if you pay that back
2. they effectively lent you £100 for several months, interest-free.

If that is the case, I am not sure on what grounds you would raise a complaint.

innovate

230lucky wrote: »

Now they want the extra £100 back that I didn't even know I'd been over credited. But the was their error which I knew nothing about

They made an error, crediting you £100 too much.
You made an error not checking your statements.

15 all for making mistakes.

230lucky wrote: »

and it now means I will be £100 out of pocket

But you aren't out of pocket at all. They let you have £100 extra for a few months, now they want it back.