Santander Have Made a Serious Error. Am I entitled to Compensation?

themusicfreakygeek

Hi all,

I am new to this forum, but I was wondering if anyone would be able to help me with a problem I am experiencing with my bank, Santander?

Basically, I wrote a cheque for my landlord to cover this term's rent for a room in a student house. The cheque was written for £1,500. However, I had a nasty surprise when I came to inspect my bank account online, that the amount that had actually left my account was £2,500 - a £1,000 over what I had originally written-out!

I contacted the landlord who was very concerned. He told me he would investigate his own account (also a Santander account) to see if he had the extra £1,000 by accident; in which case he would refund me the difference. After he looked at his statement, it turns out that he only had the original intended amount, £1,500.

I contacted Santander the same day (22nd September) as the cheque left my account. They said they would have to investigate by requesting a photocopy of the cheque that was paid-in to the landlord's account. I was told that if the cheque was for the wrong amount and my mistake, they would charge me £4 for the privilege to rectify it - despite my knowledge that I had written the cheque correctly.

After many days passing, and being minus the £1,000, Santander managed to retrieve my cheque and discovered that there was nothing wrong with it, but that it could only be an error on their behalf.

I was told by the person handling my complaint that they would now be able place the money back into my account, and would seek compensation and a refund in phone costs, but would have to seek their superior's permission before doing so. And, again, time dragged onward and I was still minus the £1,000.

After consistently chasing-up their progress on the phone (only on a mobile due to no landline access in the student house), I was told that the person handling my case would call back. I sadly missed their calls as I was in work on Saturday (11th October), and was too late to return them that same day.

Eventually, and three weeks after Santander made their error (now 13th October) and being minus the £1,000, I received a text notification which said my money had been replaced into my account.

I am sorry for such a long-winded post, but I am at a loss as to what I should do now. On the 22nd September, when the cheque had left, Student Finance had also payed-in. I had also transferred enough to cover the rent from my own funds, of which I became minus £1,000 after Santander made their error. If SFE didn't pay-in for some reason, the £2,500 Santander mistakenly took from my account would have made me overdrawn - and they would charge me approx £5-£6 per day.

What I would like to know is, am I entitled to any sort of compensation? They had my £1,000 for exactly three weeks, and I had to chase them through their expensive phone lines to get it back. I would have contacted the Financial Ombudsman, but their site instructed that my bank had eight weeks to resolve the case and complaint before I could proceed to them.

Could anyone please suggest any tips, advice or information on how I should seek compensation and my calls costs refunded (if I am entitled), and what I should reasonably expect?

Thanks for bearing with the newbie here. And I also thank-you for reading this, what appears to be, an essay.

ChopperST

This will probably get moved to the bank account forum.

As I read it Santander have admitted their mistake and refunded you the money. What would be right and fair would be a refund of any fees you incur as a result of the missing money from your account and a gesture of goodwill on their behalf for the inconvenience.

You can only go to the FCA if the bank don't resolve your complaint to your satisfaction first.

Ring and make a complaint explaining the facts politely and I'm sure they will set the matter straight.

Use saynoto0870 to find an alternative landline number, lots listed for Santander.

http://www.saynoto0870.com/companysearch.php

I'd imagine you'll probably get something like £50 as a goodwill gesture.

Onawingandaprayer

We had a similar (but different!) problem with Santander about 9 months ago and although their complaints system was a bit long-winded, they eventually compensated us entirely satisfactorily. I'd press on and go for compensation for all the phone calls (we got this) and refund of any overdrawn charges, or similar. After all, it was entirely their fault.

After a few years of becoming a customer service joke, I think they seem to have really got their act together.

If you have on-line banking with them, spell it all out in a secure message. They'll get back to you eventually - and save on your phone bill hopefully...

molerat

You are entitled to be put back in the position you were in before their error, any interest you would have earned on the missing amount, the costs of any phone calls made sorting it and I would ask for a £20 - £50 payment for your time / distress.

VT82

molerat wrote: »

You are entitled to be put back in the position you were in before their error, any interest you would have earned on the missing amount, the costs of any phone calls made sorting it and I would ask for a £20 - £50 payment for your time / distress.

My thoughts exactly. Normally I'd say give them a call stating 'I'd like to make a complaint', and you'll speak to someone who would be authorised very quickly to give you £25-£50 and the other costs incurred refunded. A secure message would do too, just more time-consuming and more risk of a prolonged back-and-forth. Can you not use the minutes on your phone and find a landline number for them instead of their 0845/0870 number?

Cap_Hero

I use Santander and must say that they are generally not very competent. I had a direct debit mysteriously cancelled by them for no apparent reason which ended up costing me money down the line for various reasons. It was their failings that put me in the situation. I haven't really time to take them on though and that is why they get away with it, people can't be bothered. Your case looks cut and dried to me in your favour!

Good luck, keep at em!

In_For_A_Penny_2

Unfortunately there is still room for human error in any system. Cheques require someone to manually input the figure.

You've had the error corrected. I'm not sure how much your phone calls cost but I suspect if you can be bothered to complain you will get about £25 in "compensation".

colsten

Don't pay by cheque next time, use bank transfer. Then you are in charge of how much gets paid to whom. But don't use incorrect account numbers.

collingbone614

It has been sorted out. How much value do you now place on the amount of time that you lost and the hassle involved? And how much value do you place on the time now involved in trying to obtain compensation? If you are going to have to spend hours and hours trying to prize some money from them, your time may be better spent on something else. I would set a time limit on this - say, no more than a couple of hours on attempting to gain some compensation. If no luck, I'd cut my losses and move on.

Mallotum_X

Work out what it has cost you in time and calls. have you been hit by any charges for not having the money. Dont go for overkill but I'd be suggesting £50 as reasonable to cover your time and costs.

Then write to them.

plunt

banks will typically throw £25-50 at you just to get rid of the complaints. go for £75-100 as this has clearly caused you distress and inconvenience as well as resulting in you having to live you life cautiously not to spend much during that period due to you uncertainty of how long they would take! (or atleast those are the words i would use)

so claim

1) Lost interest
2) Mobile phone calls
3) Time you spend on the phone resolving this (...time is money )
4) Distress and inconvenience