Bank has failed to transfer money before completion date

pez4prez

Just after some advice as to where i stand in regards to a problem I am having with a bank and dont want to announce their name as yet as filed my complaint with them already.

Was supposed to complete on a house sale yesterday and solicitors had requested the money be transferred through thursday but the bank failed to transfer the money to my solicitors by 330 friday.

I have obviously complained and at the moment the money still hasnt hit my solicitors bank account but considering the bank had agreed to send completion funds by 28th and 5pm on 29th the funds still hadnt arrived im trying to understand what recompense i can have from them.

I have obviously had to cancel electricians boilers removal vans etc until they get this sorted and then i can hopefully complete monday or tuesday if sellers are still wanting to

ognum

have you exchanged already or are you exchanging and completing on the same day?

Are you at the bottom of a long chain or just a single purchaser.

It could be that you are in for an expensive time if you have held up an I tire chain that has already exchanged and contractually agreed a completion date.

More info needed!

pez4prez

Single purchaser

Was supposed to exchange on the thursday and complete on the friday but fortunately my solicitors didnt exchange.

bank confirmed in e mail that money was transferring for 28th and advised my solicitors on 29th it was a mistake on their systems and then transferred it on last bacs run on the friday but at moment im obviously unsure when the money will be recieved and if the sale will complete

plan is to exchange and complete monday or tuesday but am obviously unhappy with the bank and how their !!!! up has caused the delay

kingstreet

So, the problem is your bank moving your money to your solicitor, rather than your solicitor's bank moving the money to the vendor's solicitor's account?

I'm surprised your solicitor didn't ask you to have the funds in their account for about Wednesday, given that exchange was imminent and completion required for Friday.

If BACS was used, this still normally takes three working days and a CHAPS payment would have guaranteed the money the same day. Your only option appears to be a formal complaint to your bank, assuming the correct method of payment was selected for the timing involved.

Doubtless, this will be established during the complaint's progress.

agrinnall

I assume this was mortgage money coming from the bank rather than your own money. In that case they could have intended to transfer it by BACS DC with a date of 28th, but failed to do it properly. I think your solicitor has to share some of the blame, if it was due on the 28th then why didn't he advise the bank (or you) that it hadn't arrived first thing on the 29th, which would have given the bank time to make a CHAPS payment to get it there by 3:30 (at no charge as the delay was their fault). Quite what they mean by saying it's in the last BACS run of the day I don't know, unless they are able to do a BACS DC that doesn't take 3 days, but if it was me I would have been insisting on a CHAPS payment on Monday morning to make sure you can complete then.

Goldiegirl

If it's been done by BACS, it'll be a faster payment, so it'll get there on Monday

If they have admitted a mistake, they should have transferred the funds by the quickest possible method, Chaps, which would have got to the destination account on the same day, ie Friday.

I think it would be in order for you to ask for a goodwill gesture of an ex gratia payment from the bank for the inconvenience that has been caused

Bluebonnie

It seems that contracts have not yet been exchanged?
And it's the mortgage money that the bank should have transferred? Well that money is needed for completion, not for exchange.

OP - please explain why you arranged electricians and boiler work for a property on which you have not exchanged.

As others have explained, it's prudent to ensure the funds are in place two or three days before both exchange and completion. This is solicitors responsibility.

Thrugelmir

Why haven't you exchanged contracts already?

Road_Hog

pez4prez wrote: »

Was supposed to exchange on the thursday and complete on the friday but fortunately my solicitors didnt exchange.

Forget the completion and money transfer, nothing happens until after exchange - why did your solicitor not exchange?


Also, why such a short period between exchange and completion, which can quite often lead to problems.

agrinnall

Goldiegirl wrote: »

If it's been done by BACS, it'll be a faster payment, so it'll get there on Monday

If they have admitted a mistake, they should have transferred the funds by the quickest possible method, Chaps, which would have got to the destination account on the same day, ie Friday.

I find it difficult to believe that after 5 years of operation anyone in a bank would still be referring to FPS as BACS. Without knowing which bank it is and how much money is involved we don't know whether it's within the FPS limits so we have no idea whether it's even an option.

And a CHAPS payment wouldn't have arrived on Friday because it appears the OP and/or their solicitor did nothing about the non-arrival until after 5pm, which would be after the CHAPS cut-off time.

Yorkie1

agrinnall wrote: »

I find it difficult to believe that after 5 years of operation anyone in a bank would still be referring to FPS as BACS. Without knowing which bank it is and how much money is involved we don't know whether it's within the FPS limits so we have no idea whether it's even an option.

BACS was very much alive and well when I bought a house 3 years ago. Any transfers done by me to the solicitor would have taken 2-3 days. As a personal customer, FPS only really came into play for most of my transactions in the last year or so when it was widely implemented and limits were raised. Hence CHAPS was used.