Help: old bank refusing to send refunds to new bank

afelstead

I'm looking for some help/advice as two refunds I have been paid have gone to my old bank account and appear to be stuck there in a holding account.

I made the payments through PayPal but have not received the money. I used my debit card from my previous bank account with Halifax which was registered on PayPal. Since then I have used the bank switching service to change to First Direct. I updated the details on my PayPal to my new card before the refunds were made, however the refunds still went back to the card I used to pay which I understand is normal. Apparently the switch guarantee does not automatically cover card payments and since my old account is now closed, the money seems to be in a holding account with Halifax. PayPal have confirmed the payments have been made to the bank.

Halifax have said that I should contact the companies owing me the refunds to ask them to recall the payment and make it to my new account. I have done this but have not had a response yet. I also don't know whether the companies can change the card details on a security level, without some information with the bank. 

It is quite a significant amount of money and it seems the simpler thing would be for Halifax to deal with the money to send it onto my new account, since they have the details from my switch. It seems they should at least reject the payments so that the money will be sent back to the companies in order for them to resend it.

Are there any written standards or terms that I can quote to Halifax to get them to provide me with more assistance? They have the money but have so far been unwilling to help.

eskbanker

Under the terms of the Current Account Switching Service it's the new provider's (First Direct here) responsibility to deal with issues arising from it, so chase them....

afelstead

Thank you for your comment. When I rang First Direct to chase them about this they have said that the switch service doesn’t cover payments returned to a debit card with my old bank. Do you think this may be because of the Coronavirus situation adding an extra complication?

eskbanker

I don't know what exclusion FD are referring to, the FAQ at https://www.currentaccountswitch.co.uk/helpandsupport/Pages/Help.aspx seem clear and unequivocal to me:

Q: Can I be sure that all payments made to my old account are redirected?

A: Yes, any payments made to your old account will automatically be redirected to your new account. Each time a payment is redirected, an automatic message is sent back to the originator advising them of your new account details so they can update their records. Some organisations may contact you directly to confirm your details have changed. Let your new bank know if you do not want them to provide your details to anyone.

afelstead

I agree! I don’t know why they’re not being very helpful. Thank you again. I will ring them for a third time and investigate

eskbanker

afelstead said:

since my old account is now closed, the money seems to be in a holding account with Halifax. PayPal have confirmed the payments have been made to the bank.

Halifax have said that I should contact the companies owing me the refunds to ask them to recall the payment and make it to my new account. 

Just one further thought - did Halifax actually accept that the money went to them, or are you taking PayPal's word for it?  There have been a couple of other threads in recent times where situations were presented as being related to the switching service, but there was doubt about whether the payment had been made at all....

afelstead

It’s shown on my PayPal account as though it has already been transferred to Halifax, but when speaking to Halifax they wouldn’t look into the payments because I no longer have an open current account with them AND they said the department that would look into this is closed because of Covid. They then told me I needed to go back to the retailers so I did that and the retailers have said that they don’t have the payment anymore and they also can’t transfer it to a new account because of safety reasons. Halifax haven’t admitted that they have it but it does seem likely that they do!

Thrugelmir

afelstead said:

 they said the department that would look into this is closed because of Covid. 

There's the answer to your question. In due course the matter will dealt with. The bank isn't refusing, simply not able to action your request at their end currently. 

digalumps

It doesn't matter if the Halifax department is open or closed - I suggest you listen to Eskbanker who has already told you that it is nothing to do with Halifax anymore as you are not a customer of theirs

your recourse should be via First Direct asking them to trace what has happened to the money

born_again

You need to get passed FD's front line and speak to either the banking or account opening team. They will be able to contact halifax and chase the payment.

Bur debit card payments should transfer over, or at least we see them do that.
How long ago did you switch?

>>Halifax have said that I should contact the companies owing me the refunds to ask them to recall the payment and make it to my new account<<

How many more banks are going to say that when they know that it is not the procedure. Halifax should just be sending the credit to FD. As it will be sat in one of their internal accounts.

afelstead

I switched at the beginning of April. The refunds were made on the 7th and 15th of April. Thank you so much for your advice.