Missing Funds - Transfer between Santander & NS&I

Sensualblonde

Any advice will be appreciated.....

05/11/2021 I transferred £24,500 from my Santander instant saver account to NS&I Premium Bonds (an existing account). I made an error in that I did not reference my Premium Bond holders account.

I have spent hours on the phone (yesterday over 3 hours) to Santander and NS&I both are adamant that they do no not have my money. 

Santander have provided a Faster Payment ID No. & date, time sent & date, and time NS&I received the money. I have provided this to NS&I but they are still adamant they do do not have my money.

Surely both banks have holding accounts for transfers that don't have a correct destination account and can search for this? They have both been provided with sender and recipient details, date and amount, etc.

Yesterday I escalated this to Santander's complaints team but was immediately informed they couldn't do anything but would escalate to their Specialist team and I would receive a response today. I guess there is 2 hours still to go.

I need this money back urgently - bills to pay:-(

lozzy1965

Sensualblonde said:

Any advice will be appreciated.....

05/11/2021 I transferred £24,500 from my Santander instant saver account to NS&I Premium Bonds (an existing account). I made an error in that I did not reference my Premium Bond holders account.

I need this money back urgently - bills to pay:-(

Didn't reference your account at all or referenced an incorrect account number?

If it went to another account then Santander are correct and it has left them and gone to NSI.  Should be able to charge back to the account but might take a while.

I think the money will either have gone to NSI or bounced back, it wouldn't go to a holding account on either side I would have thought.  Maybe it just hasn't cleared yet (I'm not sure if clearing funds is a factor in money transfers that fail).

I'm a little puzzled as to why you transferred out to a Premium Bonds account if you have bills to pay with that money, but that's another story I guess. 

ColdIron

You might want to think about using a debit card transfer when logged in to NS&I next time to avoid these types of problems

Thrugelmir

Sensualblonde said:

Surely both banks have holding accounts for transfers that don't have a correct destination account and can search for this?

They will. Imagine how many transactions end up in them every day that need manual resolution. They won't waste time searching for one off transactions. Instead they will clear each day before moving onto the next. Working in arrears that is. Volume of work and available staff resources will determine how quickly matters get dealt with. 

Depositing funds into NSI is simple using a debit card. 

masonic

Were you using a saved payee (previously successful in buying PB), or did you set up a new one for this transaction? Are you sure the only error was in the reference field? It seems like it has been long enough for the payment to have been bounced back, but this is NS&I so who knows.

This is one reason I'd never do a bank transfer when debit card funding is an option (even if it means spreading over a few transactions).

Rollinghome

In recent years, I've always used a debit card for transfers in but, with  PBs, your timing needs to be less fallible than mine.

I paid in 2x £25k for Mrs R, and shrewdly (I thought) made both payments just a few days before the end of the month.  Only noticed the other day that I'd somehow missed the deadline for the second payment and therefore the draw a month later.

And that was how I lost her the million she might have won that month.  

CustardApple

ColdIron said:

You might want to think about using a debit card transfer when logged in to NS&I next time to avoid these types of problems

You are so correct - this is what I did.

Made sure I had the money in my account and use the debit card

noh

Raise a formal complaint with NS&I 
0800 092 1286

Debit card payments can also have their problems.
I made a £500 deposit via debit card.
The NS&I payment page said the transaction wasn't completed but it was debited from my bank account but didn't appear in the savings account. Calling the general enquiry number at NS&I did not result in any action.
It was only when I raised a formal complaint that the money was promptly returned with compensation for poor service.

masonic

Bank can also presumably chargeback a debit card payment, which can be helpful if NS&I don't play ball.

Thrugelmir

noh said:

Raise a formal complaint with NS&I 
0800 092 1286

Debit card payments can also have their problems.
I made a £500 deposit via debit card.
The NS&I payment page said the transaction wasn't completed but it was debited from my bank account but didn't appear in the savings account. Calling the general enquiry number at NS&I did not result in any action.
It was only when I raised a formal complaint that the money was promptly returned with compensation for poor service.

Wasn't a debit card transaction, but a transfer with no reference on. Complaining isn't going to get anybody to the front of the queue. 

noh

Thrugelmir said:

noh said:

Raise a formal complaint with NS&I 
0800 092 1286

Debit card payments can also have their problems.
I made a £500 deposit via debit card.
The NS&I payment page said the transaction wasn't completed but it was debited from my bank account but didn't appear in the savings account. Calling the general enquiry number at NS&I did not result in any action.
It was only when I raised a formal complaint that the money was promptly returned with compensation for poor service.

Wasn't a debit card transaction, but a transfer with no reference on. Complaining isn't going to get anybody to the front of the queue. 

I know it wasn't a debit card payment that the OP had a problem with.
Raising a formal complaint in my experience does usually result in prompt action.