Safest way to transfer large sum to pay off mortgage

TravellingLight

Hi forum members

I'm looking to pay off my mortgage with a large sum of money I have accumulated over a couple of decades. The money is sitting in my current account. The mortgage lender has given me several options for transfering the money to pay off the mortgage.

As it's such a large sum of money I'm concerned about the possiblity (however small) of the money not reaching its intended destination, whether thorough fraud or human error. I'm very conscious of the prospect of fraud on the part of criminals or human error on the part of the bank staff, having experienced both in the past.

I was wondering what the wise members of this forum would consider the best option for transfering the large sum of money involved.

The options the mortgage lender has given me are:

Make an electronic transfer:

The mortgage lender has given me a sort code and account number to transfer the money to. I am very aware that if I get a single digit wrong in the sort code or account number, the money can end up in someone else's account and I may never get it back.

[Search for the Daily Mail article: "Couple fear they have lost £20,000 savings after sending house deposit money to the wrong account by mistake"]

I really don't understand why banks receiving money transfers don't ask for the name of the intended recipient and check it against the sort code and account number to prevent this from happening.

Due to a previous bad experience, I don't trust the employees of my bank enough to transfer such a large sum of money to the mortgage lender.

Instead I could transfer the money myself using online banking. I have poor concentration due to a prior brain injury and I am quite concerned that it is possible I could make a mistake in entering the sort code and account number.

But after doing some research I have discovered that I could get round this by saving the mortgage lender's sort code and account number on my existing payee list, sending a trial amount and checking with the mortgage lender that it has been received. So when I come to transfer the full amount the mortgage lender's sort code and account number are already saved on my existing payee list and verified as correct.

Pay by cheque:

I normally prefer to pay large sums by cheque because there is no chance of the money going to the wrong account. However I do have concerns about sending large cheques in the post because criminals can steal the cheque and use false ID to create an account to receive the cheque.

[Search for the Guardian article: "Sorry your cheque is lost in the post"]

I thought I could get round this by paying the cheque in branch but my mortgage lender has told me that the cheque needs to be posted to their mortgage centre. Either I post it, or the branch will post it on my behalf. So the risk of the cheque being stolen in the post is there.

Pay by debit card;

My mortgage lender has given me the option to pay over the phone by debit card. However I don't trust the mortgage lender's employees enough to be comfortable making such a large payment over the phone. I recently read a story posted online where bank employees paid funds into the wrong account (fortunately the error was discovered in time and they were able to transfer it back to the intended recipient).

Although debit cards do offer "chargeback" protection I don't believe it applies to paying off mortgages.

What's my best option?

Having considered my options, I feel the safest way is to transfer the money myself using online banking, by first setting up the mortgage lender as an existing payee on my current account and transfering a test amount as previously described.

What do you think my best option is?

Many thanks in advance - I will reply to everyone who responds. Your advice will help me and hopefully others with the same question will find value in this thread in future.

Thrugelmir

Ensure that the cheque is crossed and marked A/c Payee Only. Write your full details on the back of the cheque and send by registered post.

TravellingLight

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Ensure that the cheque is crossed and marked A/c Payee Only. Write your full details on the back of the cheque and send by registered post.

That's a good suggestion. Thanks Thrugelmir - I'll consider it.

What details should I write on the back of the cheque? I presume my name and the mortage account number?

BakingC

Test a small transfer first and when mortgage lender has confirmed they have received and applied to your mortgage account then set up the big transfer to the existing payee.

Thrugelmir

TravellingLight wrote: »

What details should I write on the back of the cheque? I presume my name and the mortage account number?

That should suffice.

TravellingLight

BakingC wrote: »

Test a small transfer first and when mortgage lender has confirmed they have received and applied to your mortgage account then set up the big transfer to the existing payee.

Thanks BakingC. That does seem to be a safe option.

owen_money

I agree with BakingC. Thats what I did and as I have internet banking I could also see the mortgage on line. Made a smallish payment, although the minimum over payment was £500, then checked it a day or so afterwards. Once it had gone through I paid the remainder although it took a few days as I could only transfer £20k per day.

Just make sure you get the bank account number right, as you say one digit out and someone else get the cash. But at least the onus is on you to get it right, check, check and check again.

pinknsparkly

Personally, I would go down the online banking route. Set up, and save, the payment details and send a small test payment over. Once you've checked that's been received ok, and applied to your mortgage, then send over the rest.

Owen makes a good point though about the maximum amount you can transfer daily - as he says, you may need to split the total payment over several days.

TravellingLight

owen_money wrote: »

I agree with BakingC. Thats what I did and as I have internet banking I could also see the mortgage on line. Made a smallish payment, although the minimum over payment was £500, then checked it a day or so afterwards. Once it had gone through I paid the remainder although it took a few days as I could only transfer £20k per day.

Just make sure you get the bank account number right, as you say one digit out and someone else get the cash. But at least the onus is on you to get it right, check, check and check again.

Thanks for sharing owen_money. Sounds like good advice.

TravellingLight

pinknsparkly wrote: »

Personally, I would go down the online banking route. Set up, and save, the payment details and send a small test payment over. Once you've checked that's been received ok, and applied to your mortgage, then send over the rest.

Owen makes a good point though about the maximum amount you can transfer daily - as he says, you may need to split the total payment over several days.

Thanks pinknsparkly. Good advice.

AnotherJoe

Small amount first saving details, and then reuse once transfer is confirmed, Is what I always with do with large transfers.