Faster payment gone to wrong account

jonesMUFCforever

I don't see why BA are at fault if a) the OP gave the sort code and account number and b) they sent the refund into that account as requested?
If as it seems the beneficiary has done a runner with the money surely the OP cannot hold BA responsible and if the money is lost its lost. The OP needs to chase up the account holder.

I am intrigued as to how the original payment was made though? If the original payment was for flights - would the refund not have gone back to the original debit/credit card?

Cosmo983

jonesMUFCforever said:

I don't see why BA are at fault if a) the OP gave the sort code and account number and b) they sent the refund into that account as requested?
If as it seems the beneficiary has done a runner with the money surely the OP cannot hold BA responsible and if the money is lost its lost. The OP needs to chase up the account holder.

I am intrigued as to how the original payment was made though? If the original payment was for flights - would the refund not have gone back to the original debit/credit card?

I never said they were at fault what I did say is they wouldn’t provide me with any information from the trace they told me they done or confirm whether or not they had contact with the bank. In order to pursue the beneficiary in court I would need to have this information. The bank also refused to give any details due to data protection. Re the refund method  they told me they wanted to refund me to my bank account and I didn’t question that. 

Highland76

I'm 100% certain the money would have been returned to BA if the account details you were provided were invalid. But I, along with others, suspect the account was a valid one at the time and the account holder has closed the account and done a runner with your money. You may have to put this down to a very expensive mistake and learn from this experience.

SuperAllyB

But would the OPs banking app know automatically that the account was invalid when they tried see ending the £1 test payment? I always thought they just checked it was a valid combination, not whether the account actually existed.  

nyermen

There is a formula for confirming if a combination of sort code and account number is valid, but its a complex method and doesn't cover all sort codes.
There's also a website or two that will check both the validity as well as do a bank directory lookup to see if it exists. Not sure if it'll tell you the precise status (valid vs valid but doesn't exist vs invalid) or just say yes or no. May be worth trying them anyway.
Otherwise - it's a case of asking your bank to confirm whether the sort code and account number did exist (presumably it would be the same branch as you) and then trying (is it even possible to get details of the person etc?) to sue to reclaim your money. 

Cosmo983

SuperAllyB said:

But would the OPs banking app know automatically that the account was invalid when they tried see ending the £1 test payment? I always thought they just checked it was a valid combination, not whether the account actually existed.  

Yes they would. It’s the same bank and branch as me and there system picked up right away the account was invalid. 

mgdavid

jonesMUFCforever said:

.............
I am intrigued as to how the original payment was made though? If the original payment was for flights - would the refund not have gone back to the original debit/credit card?

I agree; to refund other than to a debit / credit card used to buy them with is most unusual.

OP - what method did you use to pay for them originally?

Highland76

99% of companies out there will refund you via the original payment method, one of the main reasons being to avoid the situation the OP has found himself in. In fact if you try to give them details of a different payment method, most companies will refuse point blank. So utterly bizarre why BA chose to refund the OP via bank transfer, and not via the original payment method.

Highland76

mgdavid said:

jonesMUFCforever said:

.............
I am intrigued as to how the original payment was made though? If the original payment was for flights - would the refund not have gone back to the original debit/credit card?

I agree; to refund other than to a debit / credit card used to buy them with is most unusual.

OP - what method did you use to pay for them originally?

The OP paid by credit card (already stated earlier).

eskbanker

Highland76 said:

mgdavid said:

jonesMUFCforever said:

.............
I am intrigued as to how the original payment was made though? If the original payment was for flights - would the refund not have gone back to the original debit/credit card?

I agree; to refund other than to a debit / credit card used to buy them with is most unusual.

OP - what method did you use to pay for them originally?

The OP paid by credit card (already stated earlier).

Where is that stated?