Pay problems

hls1993

Hi all,

My partner is having problems with work. They are finding it difficult to pay into his savings account (he cant get a normal current account). They are trying to blame the bank, the bank is blaming the company and then the company blames my partner. (even though the company can see the money being bounced back and the bank have said its because they havnt added the reference number). His last job and child benefits have no problems whatsoever.

His work are saying it is in his contract that the bank account has to be in his name, but surely because they are having problems it could be paid into my account? We live together just not married so different surnames.

If someone could advice this would be great and if you know the section of law that would be amazing.

(We are not unable to pay bills as I do not start my new job till Tomorrow (September)).

Thanks

Jillanddy

There is absolutely no way that they should pay his wages into an account that isn't in his name. So that is a complete non starter. Even if you were married, if it wasn't a joint account with his name on it, they shouldn't pay it to you. 

I am unclear what the bank are blaming the company for - most banks are more than capable of accepting salary and other payments without "reference numbers" - what are these reference numbers that they want? My employer has my bank sort code and account number, and has managed to pay my salary into it without incident for years despite having an error on my first initial! I think the bank are being rather "jobsworth".

Why can't he get a current account though - isn't a basic account available to everyone? He wouldn't have frills, but even if he has debt problems, a basic account should be possible. 

chrisbur

Could try using a savings account that does not need a reference number for example Marcus that just needs sort code and the standard eight digit account number.

TELLIT01

Some accounts have non-standard account numbers i.e. they have more or fewer digits to them than the norm.  That is generally overcome by one of the digits being excluded if the number is too long, or by adding zeros at the start or end to pad it out if too short.  The bank needs to tell the customer what has to be done to make the account number accepted by BACS.

I came across the problem with a savings club my wife uses at her work.  An online search provided conflicting answers about whether the first or last digit had to be excluded.

If the partner had been declared bankrupt there can be severe restictions on opening bank accounts.

Andy_L

I suspect that the savings account will not accept an electronic transfer from the payment system that his employer is using.

Either the bank or the Employer would have to change their process to make it work & nether of them have much of an incentive to do so.

Which savings account is it?

As Jillanddy said is getting a Basic Account an option?

General_Grant

Jillanddy said:

There is absolutely no way that they should pay his wages into an account that isn't in his name. So that is a complete non starter. Even if you were married, if it wasn't a joint account with his name on it, they shouldn't pay it to you.   Well, it creates a financial link which can be problematic but there is no law which states that a company can't do this as far as I know so I don't think "there is absolutely no way that they should".  If I am wrong please tell me.

I am unclear what the bank are blaming the company for - most banks are more than capable of accepting salary and other payments without "reference numbers" - what are these reference numbers that they want? Presumably it will be to identify the actual account for the credit of the payee.  My employer has my bank sort code and account number, and has managed to pay my salary into it (would this be a current account by any chance?) without incident for years despite having an error on my first initial! I think the bank are being rather "jobsworth".

Why can't he get a current account though - isn't a basic account available to everyone? He wouldn't have frills, but even if he has debt problems, a basic account should be possible. 

.....................................

General_Grant

chrisbur said:

Could try using a savings account that does not need a reference number for example Marcus that just needs sort code and the standard eight digit account number.

I think a problem with Marcus could be that withdrawals would need to be made to the same account as that from which receipts arrived and need to be in the account holder's name.  This applies to a few institutions.

hls1993

Thank you all, he can not get a current account, even a basic account for reasons the bank won't disclose. Also the reference is a number that goes with the sort and account number as it is a savings account. 
His work is demanding proof that the money hasn't gone in, even though they are the ones that say it has been bounced back to them. 
The bank have been more helpful than his work in this. 
His work are just trying to do everything that can not to pay him. This has happened to other employees and took ages for it to be resolved.

Jillanddy

Well, it creates a financial link which can be problematic but there is no law which states that a company can't do this as far as I know so I don't think "there is absolutely no way that they should".  If I am wrong please tell me.

I wasn't suggesting it is illegal. But it is very dodgy for the employer. Their bank transactions won't tally with other documentation, which may be a problem (for example, I manage a huge grant programme, and we would reject any claims that showed payments being made to someone not on the approved staffing list, no matter what the good explanation). The employee could claim they had been coerced. Or never received the money. It could be a tax dodge or some other illegal or questionable activity. So they may be allowed to do it, but that doesn't make it a good idea. 

GrumpyDil

OP. Sounds like the reference is an internal identifier (sometimes referred to as a roll number). Have you tried looking for a savings account which doesn't need this internal identifier?

It would be odd if the employer's pay roll system couldn't handle internal identifiers like this as whilst they are less common than they used to be, they've been around for some time. 

chrisbur

General_Grant said:

chrisbur said:

Could try using a savings account that does not need a reference number for example Marcus that just needs sort code and the standard eight digit account number.

I think a problem with Marcus could be that withdrawals would need to be made to the same account as that from which receipts arrived and need to be in the account holder's name.  This applies to a few institutions.

Good point I forgot about that.