Money paid into my account by mistake

drilleruk01

To explain this further:

Earlier this month I had approx £500 paid into my bankaccount by a pay day loan company of all people. Now I have heard of thesecompanies and the extortionate interest rates they charge and immediatelylooked up the company and gave them a call. They insisted the money had beenpaid into the right account but I insisted I never applied for this loan, orany other loan - I dont even own a credit card! Finally after a few days theyrealised the money HAD been paid into my account by mistake and now want theirmoney back. They said I needed to phone by bank and 'reject the fasterpayment' and so it would bounce back to them.

I said that, because the funds had already cleared (Inoticed what had happened around 2 days after it had cleared), surely I couldnot reject the faster payment. Now they insisted this was the case so I calledmy bank and was told that as the funds had cleared I could not reject it -shock! They said I had to speak to the loan company, get their bank detailsi.e. account number and sort code, and then my bank could wire the money bankto them.

I am already doing this, but my questions is - if wasnthonest, and didnt send the money back, then what are the rules here? The loancompany only know my name and bank details, nothing else. they have no ideawhere I live, where I work, my DOB, nothing, so they couldnt chase me, onlykeep calling my mobile!

Was just interested as my girlfriend asked me the question -unfortunately for her I am an honest guy so will return the money (she had already spent the money in her head!), but would beinterested to know other peoples thoughts on this......

UseYourCommonSense

The loan company only know my name and bank details

Once you've transferred the money back to them, you could ask for £50 for your time and inconvenience.
Good on you for being honest - it does pay really.

UsetheFORCE

Well legally, you know the money isn't yours! I think you can conclude that your actions in trying to keep it would most likely be viewed as criminal, especially since you know whose money it is!

Anyway, good on you for being honest, I personally would insist on a fee for the time it has taken to deal with THEIR error.

*HalfBaked*

drilleruk01 wrote: »

To explain this further:

Earlier this month I had approx £500 paid into my bankaccount by a pay day loan company of all people. Now I have heard of thesecompanies and the extortionate interest rates they charge and immediatelylooked up the company and gave them a call. They insisted the money had beenpaid into the right account but I insisted I never applied for this loan, orany other loan - I dont even own a credit card! Finally after a few days theyrealised the money HAD been paid into my account by mistake and now want theirmoney back. They said I needed to phone by bank and 'reject the fasterpayment' and so it would bounce back to them.

I said that, because the funds had already cleared (Inoticed what had happened around 2 days after it had cleared), surely I couldnot reject the faster payment. Now they insisted this was the case so I calledmy bank and was told that as the funds had cleared I could not reject it -shock! They said I had to speak to the loan company, get their bank detailsi.e. account number and sort code, and then my bank could wire the money bankto them.

I am already doing this, but my questions is - if wasnthonest, and didnt send the money back, then what are the rules here? The loancompany only know my name and bank details, nothing else. they have no ideawhere I live, where I work, my DOB, nothing, so they couldnt chase me, onlykeep calling my mobile!

Was just interested as my girlfriend asked me the question -unfortunately for her I am an honest guy so will return the money (she had already spent the money in her head!), but would beinterested to know other peoples thoughts on this......

If you were not honest, you would probably have been dragged into the loan account being investigated as fraud and it would have taken a lot longer to sort out then what you have said above (I am assuming they are going to accept the £500 back and close the account - are you sure they will not be expecting interest on top of the £500?)

Somone has committed identity theft by using your name and your bank account, investigations their end should discover a repayment card in someone elses name, an address different to your own etc. But with this type of investigation you are likely to end up with a CIFAS warning (fraud marker) on your credit report (which can put off lenders in future even if you were the innocent one).

As I type credit report it reminds me, how do you know they only have your name and bank account no and sort code?

They may have your address and DOB and in that case you are likely to have a credit check on your credit file from the lender - I would suggest checking your report for free on Noddle or a 28 day free trial on Equifax to see if they have actually credit checked the real you or the fake you at another address.

One last suggestion, get in writing the amount you are returning to them through the bank to settle the account - otherwise you may get chased for interest on top of the £500 if there is mis-communication their end or they were unclear on the phone.

Hope that helps

drilleruk01

*halfbaked* - in response to your comment, I have double checked my equifax report and there is nothing showing on it.

the thing that amazes me, is that when I spoke to the payday loan company, they said that the loan application was made from an existing customer of theirs, but on the new application they entered their account details incorrectly, the loan company did not check them, and the money was paid into my account by mistake - therefore they cannot have any other details on other than what I have given them! (i.e. my name and mobile - thats it)

the whole thing is astonishing in my eyes - I wish I knew who made the application, I would offer them the £500 at a much cheaper rate than this loan company who charges £29 per £100 borrowed for a one month loan! I had heard these companies charge a lot, but to pay back £145 in interest on a £500 loan for only 30 days is just plain criminal!

UsetheFORCE

drilleruk01 wrote: »

*halfbaked* - in response to your comment, I have double checked my equifax report and there is nothing showing on it.

the thing that amazes me, is that when I spoke to the payday loan company, they said that the loan application was made from an existing customer of theirs, but on the new application they entered their account details incorrectly, the loan company did not check them, and the money was paid into my account by mistake - therefore they cannot have any other details on other than what I have given them! (i.e. my name and mobile - thats it)

the whole thing is astonishing in my eyes - I wish I knew who made the application, I would offer them the £500 at a much cheaper rate than this loan company who charges £29 per £100 borrowed for a one month loan! I had heard these companies charge a lot, but to pay back £145 in interest on a £500 loan for only 30 days is just plain criminal!

A lot of PDL's would probably use Callcredit if they even credit check you at all. They probably only perform an identity check.

drilleruk01

UsetheFORCE wrote: »

A lot of PDL's would probably use Callcredit if they even credit check you at all. They probably only perform an identity check.

A checked Call Credit (I work in finance so ran a check on myself) and nothing is showing on there either.

It appears the payday loan company was being lazy, didnt conduct their proper checks and as a result are wasting my time on their mistake

somethingcorporate

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-522549/Four-family-members-jailed-135-000-spending-spree-bank-error.html

skylight

Had this happen to me with Wonga a few years back. I have never used them and never will, but several hundred pounds appeared in my account from them. (Turns out, it was my ex-husband who had used my bank statement details allegedly in error....)

It took a few days for them to sort things out at their end, but I simply paid the money back via my debit card. I said "simply" but it was a bit of a panic at the time!

Brains64

It is best to be honest of course but I would have thought though that as it's a mistake on the part of the loan company, had you not rang them up and told then and they found out themselves eventually and tried to take legal action, so long as you could prove satisfactorily that you did not play any part in the money being put into your account, which shouldn't be difficult seeing as they've admitted it was their mistake, they would be in a rather weak position legally, they have no contract with YOUR signature on it for a start, it was signed by someone else who was supposed to get the funds, not you, it's not your fault.

The person or system that made the mistake is responsible not you and besides, not everyone checks their account regularly, you weren't to know it was even there, you had no reason to expect this £500 to be paid into your account out of the blue so why should you be expected to check??, they're just lucky that you did, also, if they tried to take the money back out of your account, without a contract signed by yourself or a DD set up and agreed with your bank and yourself, that would be illegal wouldn't it??

superfran_uk

I would just pay it, these companies aren't ethical and they will probably come after your kneecaps if you don't (exagerration, of course. I hope). I do pity the poor sods who take out these awful loans.

However, I would be after a fee for your time and effort... Clearly they can afford it!