Rights when the bank make an error

Jules_1962

I am self employed and use a paying in book to pay in cash and cheques to the bank.  They have just discovered that in September 2019 the teller in the bank completed my pay in and then paid the next customers deposit into my account to the value of £500.  The bank called today to tell me of this error and that they are taking the money out of my account today.  In all honesty, at the time of the error, my account was really healthy and i didn't notice the extra money and the other party also only notice the error today too.
I understand that its not my money and its right and proper that it gets paid back, but do the bank have the right to take it all back in one lump (my account is not so healthy now)  also as this was their error is it worth complaining and what would the benefits be?
Makes me question why they take the little slip from the paying in book if they are not going to check them and reconcile against them.

Thanks

eskbanker

Mistakes happen but if it would cause you hardship if they corrected their error immediately and in full then there's no harm in complaining and negotiating an acceptable repayment plan.

jonesMUFCforever

Jules_1962 said:

I am self employed and use a paying in book to pay in cash and cheques to the bank.  They have just discovered that in September 2019 the teller in the bank completed my pay in and then paid the next customers deposit into my account to the value of £500.  The bank called today to tell me of this error and that they are taking the money out of my account today.  In all honesty, at the time of the error, my account was really healthy and i didn't notice the extra money and the other party also only notice the error today too.
I understand that its not my money and its right and proper that it gets paid back, but do the bank have the right to take it all back in one lump (my account is not so healthy now)  also as this was their error is it worth complaining and what would the benefits be?
Makes me question why they take the little slip from the paying in book if they are not going to check them and reconcile against them.

Thanks

So when you paid in your £500 credit if the bank made an error and paid into the previous served customer (after all your account was healthy and you would not have noticed) would you be prepared to be paid back in drips and drabs when the error was found?
Just asking?

McKneff

The bank didn't do a reconciliation but again, neither did you.

jonesMUFCforever

McKneff said:

The bank didn't do a reconciliation but again, neither did you.

For this type of error the till would be balanced. A compensating error which has now come to light.

adamp87

jonesMUFCforever said:

Jules_1962 said:

I am self employed and use a paying in book to pay in cash and cheques to the bank.  They have just discovered that in September 2019 the teller in the bank completed my pay in and then paid the next customers deposit into my account to the value of £500.  The bank called today to tell me of this error and that they are taking the money out of my account today.  In all honesty, at the time of the error, my account was really healthy and i didn't notice the extra money and the other party also only notice the error today too.
I understand that its not my money and its right and proper that it gets paid back, but do the bank have the right to take it all back in one lump (my account is not so healthy now)  also as this was their error is it worth complaining and what would the benefits be?
Makes me question why they take the little slip from the paying in book if they are not going to check them and reconcile against them.

Thanks

So when you paid in your £500 credit if the bank made an error and paid into the previous served customer (after all your account was healthy and you would not have noticed) would you be prepared to be paid back in drips and drabs when the error was found?
Just asking?

That's not really OP's problem is it? The bank made a mistake and will have already reimbursed the customer in question.

Admittedly you should notice £500 going in an account most people would say, but sometimes people don't.

As it stands the bank made a mistake, OP is a little tighter on cash and can certainly ask them to take it out in installments to not put him in difficulty and it's admittedly their mistake.

Not sure why this forum always has to have a pop at people's queries/problems.

greyteam1959

The bank have only just discovered their error after 15 months ??
That's stretching things a bit.
I would be suggesting that after all this time they write off the £500 as a goodwill gesture.

mab3000

I’d imagine they are entitled to claim the money back that was incorrectly paid into your account. However given the amount of time that has passed since this deposit I don’t feel them calling you making you aware and taking the money back on the same day is at all reasonable. I’d expect writing to you and giving you notice of when the funds would be taken from your account would be more reasonable. 

As others have said might be worth speaking to the bank to see if a better solution to this issue can be achieved. 

jonesMUFCforever

greyteam1959 said:

The bank have only just discovered their error after 15 months ??
That's stretching things a bit.
I would be suggesting that after all this time they write off the £500 as a goodwill gesture.

The way I see it is that the customer who was missing the money alerted the bank - otherwise nobody would be any the wiser.

Ed-1

mab3000 said:

I’d imagine they are entitled to claim the money back that was incorrectly paid into your account. However given the amount of time that has passed since this deposit I don’t feel them calling you making you aware and taking the money back on the same day is at all reasonable. I’d expect writing to you and giving you notice of when the funds would be taken from your account would be more reasonable. 

As others have said might be worth speaking to the bank to see if a better solution to this issue can be achieved. 

That would give the customer the chance to empty the account and close it and run away (if they were that way inclined).

cricidmuslibale

adamp87 said:

jonesMUFCforever said:

Jules_1962 said:

I am self employed and use a paying in book to pay in cash and cheques to the bank.  They have just discovered that in September 2019 the teller in the bank completed my pay in and then paid the next customers deposit into my account to the value of £500.  The bank called today to tell me of this error and that they are taking the money out of my account today.  In all honesty, at the time of the error, my account was really healthy and i didn't notice the extra money and the other party also only notice the error today too.
I understand that its not my money and its right and proper that it gets paid back, but do the bank have the right to take it all back in one lump (my account is not so healthy now)  also as this was their error is it worth complaining and what would the benefits be?
Makes me question why they take the little slip from the paying in book if they are not going to check them and reconcile against them.

Thanks

So when you paid in your £500 credit if the bank made an error and paid into the previous served customer (after all your account was healthy and you would not have noticed) would you be prepared to be paid back in drips and drabs when the error was found?
Just asking?

That's not really OP's problem is it? The bank made a mistake and will have already reimbursed the customer in question.

Admittedly you should notice £500 going in an account most people would say, but sometimes people don't.

As it stands the bank made a mistake, OP is a little tighter on cash and can certainly ask them to take it out in installments to not put him in difficulty and it's admittedly their mistake.

Not sure why this forum always has to have a pop at people's queries/problems.

Unfortunately there are too many people on both this and the Savings and Investments forum who appear to be very intolerant of and impatient with anyone who may be less knowledgeable overall about money than they are but nevertheless have perfectly valid points of view, even if they are slightly alternative in their perspective to the prevailing, 'dry-as-dust' - this is the way money works and if you don't like it, tough! - attitude exhibited in more than a few posts on various threads!