Stolen Bank card

Romulus2

My Mother-in-Law is 90, and she has recently been widowed. She went to the local branch of The Halifax Bank, in Carlisle, with her daughter, to arrange for the joint account she had shared with her late husband to be converted to a personal account in her name only. In order to speak with a customer advisor you need to insert your bank card in a reader and enter your PIN. This is in a public area and anyone in the area can watch you doing it.  She withdrew £50 after she had finished talking to the customer advisor and left with her daughter to do some shopping. While they were in Marks and Spencers she discovered her purse with all her money and bank card had disappeared. She thought back to what had happened to her in the lift, where she had been jostled by a man and woman who appeared in a rush to exit the lift. They immediately returned to the bank to tell them her card had been stolen, and had the card stopped. Unfortunately, by then someone had withdrawn £400 from an ATM. My question is should the bank refund the stolen cash or will they only do that after a card has been reported stolen/lost? She has asked at the bank but has been fobbed off and does not wish to create a fuss. We cannot find out who to contact at The Halifax to inquire about this and I suspect they will sweep it under the carpet. In my opinion, she did everything humanly possible to inform the bank asap, easily within 20 minutes of discovering the loss, and does not deserve to be penalised.

Brie

In my opinion the bank should refund the £400 as your MiL has a witness (daughter) to say she didn't make the withdrawal.  If she gets any push back the thing to do is to complain and state that she has been financially disadvantaged due to the set up at the bank where anyone can see your pin.  

On a side note - I suggest that MiL adds daughter (or other suitable reliable individual) to her account as having 3rd party access.  This means she will be able to better assist MiL with her banking wherever they are - at ATMs, in shops, online.  Worked nicely for my MiL and me.

born_again

All going to depend on a few things. Given what you said happened in the branch. I would ask them to hold the CCTV in there & try reporting to the police.
This is because it maybe something that is happening a lot in the area. These people target certain people once they can see a PIN entered. Which is no matter where you are you should always cover your hand with something (purse or wallet are handy for this)

As a rule, the fraud staff know the scams going on & make a judgement on what has happened. Personally from what you have said, I would give the cash back.

penners324

Report to the police and report ro the bank as fraud.
They should refund the money

Romulus2

It was reported to the Police, and they issued a crime number but have not taken it any further! Not sure who to report to in the branch apart from the customer advisors, which has also been done, really need someone further up the ladder.

km1500

If an unauthorised withdrawal is made from your account, you can claim a refund from the bank. The bank must give you a refund without undue delay, and at the latest – by the end of the business day after the day on which it became aware of the problem (unless they suspect you did in fact withdraw it) 

If Halifax haven't refunded it, call them and sy you want to raise a formal complaint.

pridehappy

Romulus2 said:

My Mother-in-Law is 90, and she has recently been widowed. She went to the local branch of The Halifax Bank, in Carlisle, with her daughter, to arrange for the joint account she had shared with her late husband to be converted to a personal account in her name only. In order to speak with a customer advisor you need to insert your bank card in a reader and enter your PIN. This is in a public area and anyone in the area can watch you doing it.  She withdrew £50 after she had finished talking to the customer advisor and left with her daughter to do some shopping. While they were in Marks and Spencers she discovered her purse with all her money and bank card had disappeared. She thought back to what had happened to her in the lift, where she had been jostled by a man and woman who appeared in a rush to exit the lift. They immediately returned to the bank to tell them her card had been stolen, and had the card stopped. Unfortunately, by then someone had withdrawn £400 from an ATM. My question is should the bank refund the stolen cash or will they only do that after a card has been reported stolen/lost? She has asked at the bank but has been fobbed off and does not wish to create a fuss. We cannot find out who to contact at The Halifax to inquire about this and I suspect they will sweep it under the carpet. In my opinion, she did everything humanly possible to inform the bank asap, easily within 20 minutes of discovering the loss, and does not deserve to be penalised.

Hey! I’ve visited the Carlisle branch before, and I do agree, the design isn’t the best and very public. Had a lot of trouble in that branch over the years and staff are never really helpful - don’t seem to want to help and refuse to even contact CS for you. I would say Halifax do need to refund your Mother-in-Law, as she has been in simple terms, a victim of fraud. You done all the right things banks ask you to do and therefore, you should he compensated. Have a chat with customer services on the phone, and if needed, open a complaint. £400 is quite a sum of money and if banks are let away with this type of thing, they’ll most likely continue to provide poor service to customers.