Misdirected faster payments - typo in destination account

s_j_w

Hi Folks, does anyone have experience of recovering misdirected faster payments and the Coventry Building Society? A typo in the destination account details means it's gone to the Coventry but not my account!

I'm following the "what to do if you send money to the wrong account" article on the MS site and have informed both the sender bank the Nationwide and the receiver the Coventry and got the process to recover it in train.

I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has had success stories (or fails) in recovering monies misdirected. The sum involved is enough that I'm willing to go to the ombudsman and small claims courts if necessary.

I can google my own horror stories about this so please no Schadenfreude etc - actual experience of the process with these entities would be very helpful though.

Best,

grumbler

s_j_w wrote: »

The sum involved is enough that I'm willing to go to the ombudsman and small claims courts if necessary.

How can the ombudsman help and whom are you going to sue?
You can sue only the individual that received the money, and for this you need the name and the address that both banks can't give you because of the stupid DPA.

ChiefGrasscutter

If you got no joy from whatever proceedures are done by the banks/Building societies and FOS to help you out....
You would then need apply for what is now known as a "Norwich Pharmacal Order" after the case that set the precedent to get the details of the end recipient who is retaining the credit out of the bank.
Armed with such details you can sue them.

SuperAllyB

Have the Coventry confirmed that it is an exisying account number you've used? If not, it may just bounce back.

s_j_w

The FO site sounds promising wrt upholding complaints if the monies are withheld and it's genuine human error and a recipient isn't playing ball. I'm waiting on the outcome of the investigation with the Coventry ATM. I can't post a link to the FO page as I'm a new member but googling them and " wrong account payments" should reveal it.

stclair

Firstly when did this happen? Have you raised the issue with the coventry building society?

masonic

s_j_w wrote: »

The FO site sounds promising wrt upholding complaints if the monies are withheld and it's genuine human error and a recipient isn't playing ball. I'm waiting on the outcome of the investigation with the Coventry ATM. I can't post a link to the FO page as I'm a new member but googling them and " wrong account payments" should reveal it.

The recipient is unlikely to be a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service unless by some slim chance you sent it to a financial institution's own business account and the financial institution who received the money into their business account refused to return it. That's never going to happen, though. If the destination bank account is being used by a company that is a member of the FOS, then you can be certain that your money will be returned when they are contacted by Coventry BS.

If what you have said is correct, then it is very likely a genuine human error, so I suppose the human who entered the incorrect details (or their employer if they were making the payment as part of their job) could be pursued for compensation if you have suffered a financial loss because of the wrongly entered details. Who keyed in the details to make the faster payment?

grumbler

s_j_w wrote: »

I... have informed both the sender bank the Nationwide and the receiver the Coventry and got the process to recover it in train.

stclair wrote: »

...Have you raised the issue with the coventry building society?

That said, I think a customer can 'raise the issue' with his/her (sending) bank only.

masonic wrote: »

If what you have said is correct, then it is very likely a genuine human error, so I suppose the human who entered the incorrect details (or their employer if they were making the payment as part of their job) could be pursued for compensation if you have suffered a financial loss because of the wrongly entered details. Who keyed in the details to make the faster payment?

I think it's pretty clear ("no Schadenfreude ") that it was the OP who made the typo either when making the transfer or when providing the details to the sender.

Super_Whiskey

Banks ask you to confirm payments wherever you make them for a reason. I know it's of little use to you now but if you're planning on sending any amount, first make a payment for an amount you'd willing to lose if necessary to check the details.

In regards to this issue, notifying the bank from which the funds are sent as soon as possible is important however in terms of recovering the funds, it's usually done on a best endeavour basis.

http://www.fasterpayments.org.uk/consumers/misdirected-payments

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-2267581/I-paid-2-600-wrong-account-bank-wont-back.html

danlightbulb

Dont account numbers usually have check digits in them, so that if you make a typo the account number then doesn't exist? Unless you get really unlucky and happen upon a typo where you land on a correct account number.

grumbler

Checksum is pretty much useless. Normally you can find more than one valid number in every 10 consecutive ones. And many BSs don't use it because of the lack of numbers.

>>Sending money to the wrong bank account discussion thread