MSE News: Sent money to the wrong account? Now it should be easier to get it back

rtho782

There is no time limit on realising your own mistake, but if you are defrauded, there is a 20 day limit on noticing, or you're screwed.

masonic

rtho782 wrote: »

There is no time limit on reclaiming funds you have sent "in error".

Really, isn't that covered by the Limitation Act 1980, just as it was before?

eskbanker

rtho782 wrote: »

He then says "Yeah but I was planning on not paying him for the car, I send the money by accident". Or, he says "We agreed a repayment plan, I was only supposed to give him £50.00 right now, but I forgot the decimal point"

In both cases, technically according to his story the payment was in error and so should be returned to him.

This process isn't about recalling payments made "in error", it's about misdirected payments, i.e. made to the wrong account. So, if a sender pays the wrong amount to the right account, the new measures won't help them.

There is also an onus on the sending bank to establish the situation before taking any action: "Where your bank finds clear evidence of a genuine mistake, they will contact the receiving bank on your behalf....", i.e. it's not intended to cover buyer's remorse, real or fraudulent.

As for the 20 working days deadline, what do you believe is a reasonable timeframe for recipients to be given to provide their side of the story? I take it you're not seriously suggesting that if you miss it but don't consent to the return of the funds then you've missed your opportunity to do something about it (via one or both banks/FOS/small claims, etc)? I'm not saying it wouldn't be a hassle in that scenario but up to now it's been too slanted towards the recipients, who have been able to just keep schtum when asked for consent and hang onto funds that aren't theirs.

And to go back to an earlier post, which bank are you going to switch to that you believe will handle this better?

rtho782

masonic wrote: »

Really, isn't that covered by the Limitation Act 1980, just as it was before?

That only prevents suing somebody. Not the bank taking action in accordance with their terms.

In the same way debts become statute barred, meaning they can't take you to court for the money, making them effectively unenforceable.

Except if you owe money to HMRC or the Council, as they have the power to just do a direct earnings attachment without any oversight and just take money from your wages regardless of any dispute or if the debt is statute barred, as they don't need to go to court to do it.

masonic

rtho782 wrote: »

That only prevents suing somebody. Not the bank taking action in accordance with their terms.

In the same way debts become statute barred, meaning they can't take you to court for the money, making them effectively unenforceable.

If an action cannot be brought in respect of a term in a contract, owing to the fact that the date on which the cause of action accrued is more than 6 years prior, then that term is unenforceable, isn't it? Because general loans appear to be covered under exactly the same 'simple contract' provisions, so they would be similarly affected. Or can loan companies help themselves to money to satisfy a statute barred debt providing they have the means to do so without going to court?

Except if you owe money to HMRC or the Council, as they have the power to just do a direct earnings attachment without any oversight and just take money from your wages regardless of any dispute or if the debt is statute barred, as they don't need to go to court to do it.

They can still go to court if they need to because Section 37(2) of the Act excludes proceedings for recovery of any tax or duty or interest on any tax or duty.

chriskv

This is very bad. It's now going to be abused by scammers. They'd first pay you to send an item you are selling , then when they receive it they will call the bank up and say it was a mistake.

jonesMUFCforever

chriskv wrote: »

This is very bad. It's now going to be abused by scammers. They'd first pay you to send an item you are selling , then when they receive it they will call the bank up and say it was a mistake.

No - if it happens to you, when the banks writes to you asking for the money to be refunded you reply with proof of the sale and they will not take the money back.