Money Moral Dilemma: Should I repay money wrongly paid into my account?

fizzking

Legally and morally you have no right to the money.
Something similar happened to me years ago, with a salary overpayment after I left.
The ex employer picked up the mistake and asked for it back. I queried it with a solicitor who said I must refund it..

colinlyne

It is theft, and therefore, a criminal offence, as you know where the money is from!

LadyDee

Are these MMD genuine questions sent to MSE or is someone actually PAID to dream them up? Each one seems more a non-dilemna than the last, and guaranteed only to stir up a debate that goes nowhere and solves nothing.

Pollycat

rocky56709 wrote: »

Seriously the amount of scaremongers here, yes they could ask for it back but I would imagine in this case its highly unlikely they will ever notice due to the amount of time since the employee has left. Also add in the fact that their chances of getting it back if they did are slim, their mistake and the cost chasing this up would probably outweigh.

Also they can’t give you a bad reference off the back of that complete balls. Happened to me around 6 years ago when an employer paid me £1200 a month after I left and wrote asking for it back I refused ( I had been disputing a bonus they hadn’t paid so saw it as a nice turnaround for me) they sent one more letter and then gave up knew they had no rights

Keep the money and enjoy and for all the righteous dossers talking on here seriously take a good look at yourselves, there’s a hell of a lot more dodgy dealings going on probably from these same companies……it’s not stealing they made the mistake. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth!

Welcome to MSE.

The OP may have left employment with this company six years ago but my guess is the money has only recently been credited to his/her account.

Your knowledge of the law - as explained in post # 17 - is somewhat incorrect.

unholyangel wrote: »

Its dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit (as mentioned by a previous poster) and is punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/60/section/24A

You may learn lots of things on MSE.
One of them may be to not refer to other posters in a rude, derogatory manner.

James2250

It is quite simple and clear in law. The business that "over paid" the money into your account have the first resposibility to realise the mistake? Then the onus is on them to request you re pay it back within a reasonable time frame or allow you time to repay the maount in full. If you fail to respond or do nothing they "could" attempt legal action for recovery, though this would be highly unlikely due to costs involved and their reputaion (asuming they have one!)

You could also argue in law, that you do not check your account and did not for a period of time so now this money was in the account until informed some weeks or so later.


The error was and is your ex employers problem in that their administration and payrol dept is poor and they allowed the mistake to happen, which in turn could cause you undue stress and worry about the whole issue. I had £1345 paid into my account by a transport business 7 years ago. I had accepted a job offer from, I went on holiday 2 weeks before due to commence the new job which was agreed upon in interview. Upon my return from holiday they had paid (wrongly) in advance a months salay into my account! I had decided on holiday I did not want the job offered and called them to decline the offer, however I was unaware of the payment at the time. When I called them to discuss the situation, they asked me to repay the amount within 3 weeks. I explained that it was their fault, poor admin and someone not doing their job correctly, and that I would seek legal advice first for the stress and concerns this had coursed me and for my time in having to sort it out. I received a letter some days later informing me as it was their error it would be dealt with internally and I was not be required to return the money. If busnesses are so stupid and irresponsible as to when and where they send their cash and to whom, then it is quite simply they who have the problems both legaly and morally and they need to sort it out. Keep the money and tell them why you are doing so.

Bumblies

My salary was paid into my account twice one month (over 45 years ago). I asumed the second payment would be debited but when it hadn't been after about 6 weeks I mentioned it to my employer. They insisted I hadn't been paid twice. I could only assume it was a banking error by the old Giro bank (remember that?) but they said it wasn't their error. As no-one wanted the money back I kept it and gave some to charity.

maisie_cat

It depends on whether you are fundamentally dishonest or not I suppose.
I know somebody who works for BA and often tells tales of what is fundamentally dishonest behavior. Why would I trust somebody who thinks it's okay to keep a designer hoody they found on a plane?
This is no different to that

REJP

Give it back. Keeping it is theft. Why do you even have to ask?

phryne

rocky56709 wrote: »

are you actually serious comparing this scenario with stabbing someone absolute fools on here .yous must be an absolute barrel of laughs at a party dossers!

This is the Hysterical Harpies board, but other fora on this site are just as bad, I've found. I started a thread the other day about clapping versus jazz hands, and within about half a dozen posts it had got to people saying I was glad a girl had died from eating sesame seeds!!


(Don't ask.. )

crispy_duck

unholyangel wrote: »

Its dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit (as mentioned by a previous poster) and is punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/60/section/24A

This also contains the text:

(2A)A credit to an account is wrongful to the extent that it derives from—
(a)theft;
(b)blackmail;
(c)fraud (contrary to section 1 of the Fraud Act 2006); or
(d)stolen goods.

It's not clear to me which one of these would apply in this case. Blackmail, fraud and stolen goods can trivially be excluded, and I also don't think it's accurate to say that the money derives from theft - that would suggest that the former employer had been engaged in theft and passed the proceeds on to the former employee.

It's interesting to note that the above quoted text was added to the Theft Act in 2006 - it looks to me as if that were intended to specifically exempt the situation being described from being a criminal offence. That doesn't mean, of course, that the ex-employee has any moral or legal right to keep the money, just that it's a civil matter rather than a criminal one.