Current account switch error

bobcatroo

Hi, I am looking for some advice for my husband. He switched his current account from Yorkshire bank to Halifax using the current account switch service. The switch date was for earlier this week. His account was very much in credit with no unexpected payments/debts/overdrafts etc.
However on the day it seems that Yorkshire sent approx. £3 too much across to Halifax when his balance transferred. At the same time his Yorkshire online banking automatically shut down and so as far as he knew the money had transferred across (he had a rough idea to the nearest £50 of his balance so didn't really notice the extra £3.)
However 3 days later, Yorkshire sent him a letter stating that his account is now in "unplanned borrowing" and to credit the account asap. He had no idea what had happened so rang Yorkshire. The said that Halifax have requested too much money (surely they would have no idea of the balance at that time?), so the fault lies with them and to pay the outstanding balance there and then. His online banking also spookily unlocked as he had argued that he wasn't able to access his account to check.
Halifax have said that it sounds more like an error from Yorkshire but they will pay any charges incurred as part of the switch guarantee. According to Yorkshire, any unplanned borrowing incurs a daily £25 fee so it looks like he will face a charge of £75 pounds as it has taken 3 days for the letter to arrive.
My questions are:
Surely the mistake lies with Yorkshire as Halifax would merely ask for a total balance transfer not a set amount?
But more importantly, even if all the fees are refunded by Halifax and the matter is sorted, does this so called unplanned borrowing affect my husbands credit rating when he hasn't even made a mistake?


Sorry if that's long winded, hopefully someone can help

Archi_Bald

I think you are right, it is Yorkshire who are responsible for sending no more than the balance.

If I were your husband, I would send a formal, written, complaint to Yorkshire, asking them to

1) explain where the £3 came from (or went to),
2) confirm that they have now waived the £3 as well as any unauthorised overdraft charges
3) confirm that there will be no report to any of the CRAs about this matter
4) pay any expenses (phone calls, time used etc)

I would most definitely not have further phone conversations with them because I would want everything in writing. Looking at their complaints procedure, your husband can send them the complaint by email:

http://www.ybonline.co.uk/contact-us/complaints-procedure/

As an aside, could the £3 be interest for an overdraft your husband may have had? Why did your husband not know the exact amount that would be transferred ("to the nearest £50" sounds like you have money growing on trees?)

bobcatroo

Thanks for that advice, he will certainly take up the complaint.
There was no overdraft on the account so definitely no interest or other charge etc.
As for not knowing how much was in the account I do apologise I am slightly inaccurate with the nearest £50, more like nearest £10, we certainly don't have money on trees! Basically he checked his account Sunday night before the switch and (possibly stupidly) didn't make an exact note of the balance, just a mental note eg he knew it was £420 something for example. On Monday his Yorkshire online account ceased to work so had to rely on the Halifax account to give him his balance, eg £423 would have sounded right.

zerog

Were there any payments due to go out of the account at or around the switch date?

Did he use the debit card from Yorkshire bank in the week before the switch?

bobcatroo

No, there were no transactions pending, both banks have confirmed that there has been some sort of error but still none the wiser which is at fault. When he was able to obtain access to online banking he checked all his previous transactions incase it was an error on our part and there was definitely nothing that could have caused it. The balance transfer is also on there andclearly shows the £3 extra on the transfer.

Midland45

I wouldn't worry too much about this. Most banks are now terrified about complaints being escalated to the financial ombudsman. You do have a lot of protection under the Current Account Switching Guarantee as others here have already indicated.
Sounds like you are in a "piggy in the middle" situation between 2 banks, both blaming each other lol. I'd ring both bank's customer switching teams, explaining your issues, and your frustration over this, asking them both to put this right and to also give you the address to put a formal complaint in. That normally gets them to spring into action! They really also should be compensating you for the trouble they've caused!

innovate

There is no need to ring anybody to get an address for a complaint. All banks publish their complaints procedures incl relevant contact details on their websites.

SuperAllyB

I took the previous post as suggesting that by asking for an official address to complain to, they may "miraculously" be able to sort things out there and then.

zerog

Well you could just ask to be transferred to the Phone Complaints team.

Jenny1983

I agree, am surprised Yorkshire bank hasn't shut down yet lol

bobcatroo

Thank you everyone for your advice so far. The bank manager (or at least that's who she claimed to be) from the branch of Yorkshire bank hubby was at spoke to him this morning. There is a statement on his way to him today saying that the account is now closed with no outstanding balance or charges. She is also personally sending out a letter stating that there is no default on hubby's part and no defaults will be added to his credit file. Whilst I will believe it when I see it, I will try to maintain some optimism! I also switched my current account from HSBC and I honestly expected mine to be the one with the agro but from what research I have done he should have left Yorkshire years ago!