Bank unable to trace recipient of a standing order

legaleagle5

My late father’s account shows a monthly standing order of a few hundred pounds. We have asked the bank who the recipient is/where the money was going and they simply state that they cannot trace it. This amounts to some £12k+, can it really be the case that this has disappeared into the ether and we have to accept this has vanished? What further checks can I ask this bank (Barclays) to make? Any help much appreciated!

la531983

legaleagle5 said:

My late father’s account shows a monthly standing order of a few hundred pounds. We have asked the bank who the recipient is/where the money was going and they simply state that they cannot trace it. This amounts to some £12k+, can it really be the case that this has disappeared into the ether and we have to accept this has vanished? What further checks can I ask this bank (Barclays) to make? Any help much appreciated!

Maybe try and add the sort code and account number (assuming you have this) onto your own bank as a payee and guess a name, some banks will tell you the name the account is held in if what you have entered as the name doesnt match the name of the account holder.

subjecttocontract

Surely the bank will know the account number and sort code ? Therefore, of course they know where the money is going. 
It's no surprise it's Barclays. They have a reputation of not being particularly helpful !

DE_612183

whats the sort code - that should tell you a branch or indeed the recipient if it's something like HMRC or a loan.

Ergates

la531983 said:

 some banks will tell you the name the account is held in if what you have entered as the name doesnt match the name of the account holder.

They absolutely should NOT be doing that, it is a direct violation of the CoP standards and would be a massive security breach.  The may tell you if the name you enter is very close to the account name - e.g. you put "Steven Smith" and the account is "Steve Smith", not if you guessed "Bob Jones".   This is specifically to prevent people fishing out bank details from a sort-code/Account number.

la531983

Ergates said:

la531983 said:

 some banks will tell you the name the account is held in if what you have entered as the name doesnt match the name of the account holder.

They absolutely should NOT be doing that, it is a direct violation of the CoP standards and would be a massive security breach.  The may tell you if the name you enter is very close to the account name - e.g. you put "Steven Smith" and the account is "Steve Smith", not if you guessed "Bob Jones".   This is specifically to prevent people fishing out bank details from a sort-code/Account number.

I see, Ignore my suggestion then lol, I thought it just told you what the details were no matter what!

Ergates

legaleagle5 said:

My late father’s account shows a monthly standing order of a few hundred pounds. We have asked the bank who the recipient is/where the money was going and they simply state that they cannot trace it. This amounts to some £12k+, can it really be the case that this has disappeared into the ether and we have to accept this has vanished? What further checks can I ask this bank (Barclays) to make? Any help much appreciated!

They won't be able to trace it in any meaningful/useful sense.  If the recipient account is with another bank then they have no way of knowing who that person/business is at all.  The do, however, have the sort-code and account number (as, obviously, they need this to do the transfer), which would allow them to identify the other bank.   However, even if you rock up to the other bank with an account number, they're not going to tell you who it belongs to.

DullGreyGuy

subjecttocontract said:

Surely the bank will know the account number and sort code ? Therefore, of course they know where the money is going. 
It's no surprise it's Barclays. They have a reputation of not being particularly helpful !

They will know those details and they can provide them assuming you have the relevant authority on the account. 

They may or may not know who the account holder is and won't be able to tell you who it is even if they do know. 

Its a standing order so would have to have been setup by your father or someone else who had authorised access to manage their account, its not like a DD where the recipient is able to setup the payment instructions. 

Mark_d

As it's a standing order/regular, I think it's likely to be for a loan or a charitable donation.  Perhaps it's worth investigating  options  like these if you haven't already done so

DullGreyGuy

Mark_d said:

As it's a standing order/regular, I think it's likely to be for a loan or a charitable donation.  Perhaps it's worth investigating  options  like these if you haven't already done so

it wouldn't be a regular loan from a bank etc as they will take payments by DD so that they can increase them if monies bounce to cover fees or stop them when the loan ends. 

There are plenty more options it could be... paying ground rent or service charges if they lived in a leasehold place, paying rent if they rented their place or a lockup somewhere, paying the weekly gardner/cleaner/dominatrix or some other regular service provider. Giving money to kids/grandkids, paying maintenance to the ex/mistress 

When my uncle died an unknown SO was found but then also paperwork for a garage for the same amount which his wife knew nothing about. No one was prepared for what they found inside it! SO cancelled, let the owner repossess it and deal with its contents 

Mark_d

DullGreyGuy said:

Mark_d said:

As it's a standing order/regular, I think it's likely to be for a loan or a charitable donation.  Perhaps it's worth investigating  options  like these if you haven't already done so

it wouldn't be a regular loan from a bank etc as they will take payments by DD so that they can increase them if monies bounce to cover fees or stop them when the loan ends.

From my experiences mortgage are paid by standing order, as are loans from friends/family.

I agree that service charge on a leasehold place might be an option.  Not sure how much lockup/gardener/cleaner cost.