Anyone had letters when paying someone's old account after they switch?

[Deleted User]

Has anyone paid someone's old closed bank account by mistake, the payment been redirected to their new account, and then actually had a letter from anywhere informing you of their new payment details?

If so, how much information did the letter give? And did it come from your bank, their old bank, or their new bank?

agrinnall

No, have you? I would be a little surprised to receive such a letter.

meer53

No-one will receive letters. The redirections are done electronically.

agrinnall

meer53 wrote: »

No-one will receive letters. The redirections are done electronically.

Yes, we know that, but I think bill's point is that if the payer is not advised of the new details they'll have no way to know that they should change future payments, which eventually will cease to be redirected. I think it's the duty of the payee to advise people of their new details and that the banks won't ever do it, but the question isn't an unreasonable one to ask.

B_G_B

meer53 wrote: »

No-one will receive letters. The redirections are done electronically.

The redirection is done automatically (electronically).

The switch guarantee also says that the sender will be notified.

http://www.simplerworld.co.uk/Downloads/AccountSwitchingGuarantee.pdf

agrinnall

B_G_B wrote: »

The switch guarantee also says that the sender will be notified.

http://www.simplerworld.co.uk/Downloads/AccountSwitchingGuarantee.pdf

So it does, thanks for the information. I'm therefore a little surprised . I must never have paid anyone who has switched as I've never had one of these letters.

[Deleted User]

Indeed, I was working to the premise that the sender of the payment would be notified. I sent a couple of payments to people who had switched a few months ago, and never had a letter, so I was wondering if it's just my bad luck, or whether they don't actually notify.

SnowTiger

billbennett wrote: »

Indeed, I was working to the premise that the sender of the payment would be notified. I sent a couple of payments to people who had switched a few months ago, and never had a letter, so I was wondering if it's just my bad luck, or whether they don't actually notify.

I assumed there was some sort of written notification.

Perhaps notification only happens within the banking world, automatically updating things like Standing Orders and lists of payees within online banking.

Or, perhaps, behind the scenes permanent redirects are in place instead of the 36 months stated.

agrinnall

SnowTiger wrote: »

I assumed there was some sort of written notification.

Perhaps notification only happens within the banking world, automatically updating things like Standing Orders and lists of payees within online banking.

Or, perhaps, behind the scenes permanent redirects are in place instead of the 36 months stated.

The PDF that B_G_B linked to is quite clear that it is 36 months and that "we" (i'm not entirely sure who that refers to) will notify the sender of the new account details. It has a Crystal Mark for clarity so I think we can take it that it does mean what it says, unless it's been superseded by some other rules.

EarthBoy

agrinnall wrote: »

The PDF that B_G_B linked to is quite clear that it is 36 months and that "we" (i'm not entirely sure who that refers to) will notify the sender of the new account details. ...

The guarantee is given by the new bank that you're changing to, so "we" must, surely, refer to them. As far as I know, the old bank doesn't guarantee anything. if anything goes wrong, it's up to the new bank to sort it out.

Notifying the sender must be done electronically by the banking system, somehow. They can't send the sender a letter because they don't know the sender's address, -and probably not even their name. All they will have is the sort code and account number that the payment came from.

Maybe they tell the sender's bank that any future payments sent to the old account should now be sent to the new one? If it's a regular payment, have you checked the account details in internet banking? Maybe your bank has changed/updated them?

SnowTiger

agrinnall wrote: »

The PDF that B_G_B linked to is quite clear that it is 36 months and that "we" (i'm not entirely sure who that refers to) will notify the sender of the new account details. It has a Crystal Mark for clarity so I think we can take it that it does mean what it says, unless it's been superseded by some other rules.

Indeed.

Perhaps not crystal clear if you're "not entirely sure".

I guess we come back to the question: has anyone received notification of a switcher's new account details?