Account credited in error

societys_child

If somebody came up to me on the pavement outside my house and gave me a bag containing £1000, then a year later came back and asked for it back because they thought I was somebody else, personally I think I’d be within my rights to tell them where to go.

That’s not a fair analogy either

Giving you the money and losing the money as they walked past driveway are completely different .

antrobus

WhatDoYouDoForMoneyHoney wrote: »

No, but I don’t think that’s a fair analogy. If somebody came up to me on the pavement outside my house and gave me a bag containing £1000, then a year later came back and asked for it back because they thought I was somebody else, personally I think I’d be within my rights to tell them where to go.

You would be indeed be within your rights "to tell the them where to go". On the other hand, I believe that the Limitation Act would apply, and they would be able to take legal action to recover the money at any time within six years of the original mistake.

antrobus

WhatDoYouDoForMoneyHoney wrote: »

.....
If someone pays money into your account, I think you should be allowed to keep it – it is now your money, it is in your account. ....

You are perfectly entitled to hold that opinion.

However, the Theft Act 1968 specifically created the offence of dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit. You can get 10 years for it.

WhatDoYouDoForMoneyHoney

NotRichAtAll wrote: »

so what your saying is if you dropped a £20 note in the street and picked it up before you it would be mine.

See above, I don't think it's the same thing at all. Last year, I went out of my way to contact someone whose wallet I found (with loads of cash in it) and months later they sent me a one sentence reply to say 'oh cheers for that'. Not that I particularly care or wanted to be rewarded for doing what I thought was morally right (and to my knowledge was legally right) but I don't see this situation as being the same and clearly the OP felt the same as me.

WhatDoYouDoForMoneyHoney

antrobus wrote: »

You would be indeed be within your rights "to tell the them where to go". On the other hand, I believe that the Limitation Act would apply, and they would be able to take legal action to recover the money at any time within six years of the original mistake.

Just find it odd how everyone's mad at the OP for not taking responsibility when none of this is actually their fault, whereas the person who should be taking responsibility i.e. the person who's made the mistake, is seen as the victim.

WhatDoYouDoForMoneyHoney

antrobus wrote: »

You are perfectly entitled to hold that opinion.

However, the Theft Act 1968 specifically created the offence of dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit. You can get 10 years for it.

I think the OP clearly came on here because they were confused and wanted to see if anyone knew what the law says in this situation because, as I found last year, the law seems to be surprising in this instance and completely goes against what I believe it should be. As do a few other laws, all of which I still abide by.
I'm sure the OP will abide by the law too, indeed it sounds to me like they're terrified of being treated by the law the same way they've been treated on the forum, namely like they've made a conscious decision to steal money and have robbed a bank, and I seem to be in a minority of people who can see why this situation is different and not that black-and-white.

colsten

I wish you will make an incorrect payment for several thousand pounds one day very soon, WhatDoYouDoForMoneyHoney. Then come back and let us know that you are so glad the recipient doesn't return the money to you as it is now their money.

August, holiday time, you get all sorts.

WhatDoYouDoForMoneyHoney

Where have I said I’d be glad if I lost that money? I’m simply showing some sympathy for the OP’s situation and think it’s strange to see she’s being lambasted for not knowing where she stood.
As stated above, I already made this same error last year actually. It was £250, not £5000, but it’s all relative – I was unemployed at the time so it was far from an unsubstantial amount to lose, but I acknowledged that it was my error and I was surprised to see that the law seemed to unquestionably protect me and I seem to be in a minority not to want to treat the unsuspecting person who’s had this unexpected windfall as though they’re a criminal simply for not knowing what they needed to do about it all, if anything .

When figures like £5k are concerned, and I’ve never been fortunate enough to have £5k in my life, I think I would spend a long time checking and double checking that I have the correct details or even break the payments up just to make sure.
It’s one thing stating facts and giving an opinion but frankly, I feel the accusations are unnecessary and seem to be out of sync with the tone of the website. For a forum that specifically asks people to be nice to be newbies, there doesn’t half seem to be a lot of animosity and suspicion towards them! Maybe that’s why people on here have to be told to be nice to new posters and not to be judgemental, because of their patronising and accusatory attitude towards someone who isn’t part of the clique. Is it so strange to understand that some people don’t know every in-and-out of the law and to respect that their moral compass might be set slightly differently to others? There’s no need to make out they’re the same as people who knowingly make a choice to go out of their way to steal because that isn't what the OP did, they were thrust into a confusing scenario and didn't know what to do, because of somebody else's mistakes.

MABLE

I could have been just as confused when £52,000 was deposited into my account. I knew it was not mine and told the bank straight away.

haras_nosirrah

I think what people are lambasting the op about is she claimed neither of them questioned it at the time as they were expecting a credit from hmrc as a tax rebate yet it was labeled Halifax not hmrc. This doesn't ring true as either they never got the tax rebate in which case they should chase that up or they got both and decided to keep quiet and hope no one would ever notice while someone else has probably spent the last year tearing their hair out trying to get their money back