Made a large transaction but bank have lost it?

PeteSouthgate72

I'm looking for some advice on this please - help!

Thursday morning I decided to transfer £20,000 from my Chase bank account to my wife's Lloyds bank account via FPS. Unknowingly to me she had done a bank account switch from Lloyds to Natwest, additionally she had closed her Natwest account a week prior.

I've spoken with Natwest who have informed us if this is the case then the money will be sent back within 48 hours to the sender.

Lloyds have told me the funds would automatically be transferred from ourselves to Natwest as part of the switching service. Lloyds advised me to complete a 'payment in error' form through Chase bank to investigate the error as this is the account the funds were originally sent from and made the error through.

Chase originally told me they can only recall the funds of the customer if they sent it to the wrong account or if it's a bank error. Based on my case they transferred the funds and the recipient received it. However Lloyds are responsible for transferring to Natwest so I should ask Lloyds to recall the funds and then they can be sent back to Chase. Since the Natwest account is closed it will bounce back to her Lloyds.

Then on Friday I thought best to get Chase to file a dispute case - which they did. They created a dispute case and sent to the other bank for this claim and are awaiting acknowledgement. It may take 20 days and it's not a guarantee (which worried me). When I questioned it they responded:

The payment recovery will depend on the investigation of the receiving bank. It may not be guaranteed if the process was not successful and funds not recovered by the other bank.

Today Chase have told me they have been in touch with the receiving and asked them to contact the person the account belongs to (the recipient) to recover the money. Unfortunately, the recipient has not given their consent to return the money. Because of this the bank has not been able to return the money. However, I want to assure you that we have explored all possibilities for a repayment as fully as possible. You can contact the recipient bank and pursue this further.

My wife has confirmed nobody from any bank has contacted her. My wife has called Lloyds who have advised her they can't do anything and it must be dealt with by Chase as they are the original sending bank.

The banks are all telling me different things and I still don't have any money back in my account.

I'm finding it extremely stressful. Can anyone advise the best thing to do here? I have chat logs from the bank apps and transaction references as proof.

Ayr_Rage

Confusing.

Which bank actually has the funds ?

Who is this mysterious recipient that hasn't given their consent to returning the funds ?

It is either your wife or you have made a mistake with the account number and the funds have gone to a third party.

cymruchris

Are you saying that the account number you had on file for your wife at Lloyds (where you originally sent the money) has now been issued to another person, and that's where your money is sitting right now? How long ago was the account closed? I know some banks do recycle numbers - but not usually for at least 2 years or more from what I've seen.

mr_stripey

cymruchris said:

Are you saying that the account number you had on file for your wife at Lloyds (where you originally sent the money) has now been issued to another person, and that's where your money is sitting right now? How long ago was the account closed? I know some banks do recycle numbers - but not usually for at least 2 years or more from what I've seen.

Sounds like it - but surely even if the number was recycled it wouldn't match up with the name on the ID check ?

PeteSouthgate72

Ayr_Rage said:

Confusing.

Which bank actually has the funds ?

Who is this mysterious recipient that hasn't given their consent to returning the funds ?

It is either your wife or you have made a mistake with the account number and the funds have gone to a third party.

We don't actually know where the funds are which is beyond frustrating.

My wife (100% trusted!) has confirmed no one from the banks have called her. We have checked the account details that were saved on my Chase app prior to sending and they are 100% her old account number/sort code - so I have no idea what Chase are saying when they say the recipient hasn't given consent to return the funds.

Very frustrating! 

cymruchris said:

Are you saying that the account number you had on file for your wife at Lloyds (where you originally sent the money) has now been issued to another person, and that's where your money is sitting right now? How long ago was the account closed? I know some banks do recycle numbers - but not usually for at least 2 years or more from what I've seen.

I have no idea if they have issued the account number to another person. If that's the case I don't believe they would tell me as well - and that account was switched to a Natwest account which has been very recently closed. The Lloyds account was switched I believe in Nov 22' and the Natwest account was closed last month.

mr_stripey said:

cymruchris said:

Are you saying that the account number you had on file for your wife at Lloyds (where you originally sent the money) has now been issued to another person, and that's where your money is sitting right now? How long ago was the account closed? I know some banks do recycle numbers - but not usually for at least 2 years or more from what I've seen.

Sounds like it - but surely even if the number was recycled it wouldn't match up with the name on the ID check ?

When I sent the money from Chase it didn't prompt or question the recipient as it was already saved in my payees.

mr_stripey

Sounds very frustrating, especially with such a large amount. 

You'd like to think that between them they will sort it out and the money will either arrive at it's intended destination or be returned.

Surely it can't just vanish!

Hope that you manage to get it sorted out!

PeteSouthgate72

I was just speaking to Chase on the live chat just now about why the outcome was issued so soon after getting them to lodge the 'payment in error' claim on 07/07. They responded by saying they highly suggest I call them to be assisted better, after calling them the support rep then tells me the relevant team don't take calls - beyond annoyed and very stressful!

boingy

Obviously this is a rare scenario. However, my reading of it is that surely it's down to Lloyds to sort it. They accepted a payment from Chase and forwarded it on to NatWest as per the CASS rules. With the NatWest account closed that payment *must* have bounced or failed in some way. 

I'd have another go at Lloyds and mention the CASS guarantee:

currentaccountswitchguarantee.pdf

cymruchris

If the account was closed that recently, I can't see any bank re-issuing the account number to a new person so quickly. I think the 'recipient refused to return it' is smoke and mirrors. It's certainly not something that happens every day, but does sound like you're going to have to go around the houses a few times to resolve it. Please come back and update the thread when you get to the bottom of it, and have a word with your wife to stop switching her accounts to hide her millions from you without telling you!

xylophone

Your wife had an account with Lloyds.

You decided to transfer £20,000 to her account without advising her of your intention.

It transpired that she had switched from Lloyds to Natwest and then had closed the Natwest account.

Has Lloyds Bank confirmed receipt of the funds and a subsequent transfer to Natwest?

boingy

cymruchris said:

 and have a word with your wife to stop switching her accounts to hide her millions from you without telling you!

Or at least ask her to give you the 20K back   ;p