Unknown Bank Credits

MauriceR

I am trying to determine a monthly credit i n my Mother's bank account following her passing last December.
The credit appears each month and has a 14 digit reference number prefixed by F and suffixed with BL.
My Mother's bank told me they were unable to identify the source of these credits and I don't know who to turn to now.

Does anyone have experience of attempting to identify unknown credit items in a bank account and can advise me of my best course of action to try and resolve this.

Cheers
Donal

xylophone

You are the executor of your late mother's estate and have obtained probate?

If so, have you checked all her financial paperwork for details of pensions/annuities/savings interest received monthly/investment income received on a regular basis?

unable to identify the source of these credits

The bank must be able to identify the bank through which the payment is being made?

phillw

MauriceR wrote: »

My Mother's bank told me they were unable to identify the source of these credits and I don't know who to turn to now.

They were unable to identify, or unable to tell you? The former would seem to me that the bank has Anti Money Laundering problems. The later is they don't want to tell you as it's probably a data protection issue.

Zanderman

If you gave a few more clues maybe someone can make a guess at what it is.

What amount is it? A tenner or so or a lot more?

Is it exactly the same each month?

What is the exact reference (the pattern of number may help identify it)?

What jobs did she work in?

You may feel some of that info is too personal, but without at least some of it no-one can guess it.

If the bank won't tell you and you can't identify it it will, presumably be lost when the account is closed. I assume, if the money's still being credited, that the account isn't actually locked yet?

[Most banks will lock accounts once the account holder is dead don't they? (which raises the question do the bank know she's dead?!)]

Edited to add: Has Probate been granted? Would the bank be more cooperative after Probate has been granted?

jonesMUFCforever

MauriceR wrote: »

I am trying to determine a monthly credit i n my Mother's bank account following her passing last December.
The credit appears each month and has a 14 digit reference number prefixed by F and suffixed with BL.
My Mother's bank told me they were unable to identify the source of these credits and I don't know who to turn to now.

Does anyone have experience of attempting to identify unknown credit items in a bank account and can advise me of my best course of action to try and resolve this.

Cheers
Donal

Just a thought the 14 digit reference - could it be a bank sort code and account number?

jonnygee2

You should ask the bank if it is a BACS direct credit or a faster payment.

If it is a BACS direct credit then they should be able to find out, and tell you who the service provider is. If it is coming from a big company, like a large pension provider, then the service provider will be the company itself. If it's a smaller company, it could be through a third party but there is normally a clue as to the originator in the payment information.

If it is a Faster Payment, then they will know the name on the account and should be able to tell you this.

For any sort of payment they can tell you the originating bank account and sort code.

There's no rules against them telling you any of this information (assuming you have the right to manage her accounts), it is provided for a reason and some banks will show it by default. If they will not provide this basic information I would raise a complaint to motivate them a little bit. Frontline staff may not have immediate access to the information, and they might not know how to escalate, so push a little harder :-).

System

Who is dealing with the Estate. You as an executor, or a solicitor / other party If your late mother's accounts have now been frozen, ie the bank has been formally notified of her death, the payee of the mystery payments would probably have written to her (if they are unaware of her passing) or to her executors (if they have been notified of her death) now saying that their payments have been returned to them.

It's a long old haul, and one I have been through quite recently, but you will need to check every piece of paper in your mother's house to ensure that all financial matters whether they are debits or credits are dealt with, ie the company / bank has been notified and that payments are stopped. If a solicitor is dealing with everything, you need to hand over everything you have found. I suspect that you have probably done all of this, and therefore apologise, but if money is still being paid in four months down the line, something has been missed.

badger09

Mrs_Arthur_Crown wrote: »

Who is dealing with the Estate. You as an executor, or a solicitor / other party If your late mother's accounts have now been frozen, ie the bank has been formally notified of her death, the payee of the mystery payments would probably have written to her (if they are unaware of her passing) or to her executors (if they have been notified of her death) now saying that their payments have been returned to them.

It's a long old haul, and one I have been through quite recently, but you will need to check every piece of paper in your mother's house to ensure that all financial matters whether they are debits or credits are dealt with, ie the company / bank has been notified and that payments are stopped. If a solicitor is dealing with everything, you need to hand over everything you have found. I suspect that you have probably done all of this, and therefore apologise, but if money is still being paid in four months down the line, something has been missed.

Having dealt with my late sister's accounts with both HSBC and Santander recently, I was told that all payments out would be stopped but the accounts would still accept payments in. I can also confirm that this did in fact happen.

Uxb1

I do hope its not some pension/benefit still being paid - as they will be on to the executor like a ton of bricks wanting a full refund/claw back of all monies paid back from the date of death.

MauriceR

Yes I am the executor of my Mother's estate and probate is currently being processed.
As you mentioned I have gone through all the paperwork i can find but cannot find any trace relating to these payments.
The payments are made by way of a Bank Giro Credit for which for some reason the bank tell me they are unable to trace the origin of them.
Very frustrating !

MauriceR

It is around £155 every 4 weeks but is never exactly the same amount

Dec 18 - Ref F114519875141218L 6N8D 89050 22340
Jan 19 - F114519875180119L 7QJY 87230 17880

The first 10 digits remain constant and the next 6 reflect the date of payment. The next three blocks of digits vary each month

She worked for Oxford University but I can see that pension payment from them.

The account had now been frozen. and probate pending