Money paid into my account incorrectly

mxh

I'm originally from the UK but now live in Australia. I have a money transfer account (which is NOT a bank account) in the UK, which I occasionally use to transfer UK pounds to Australian dollars. 

An Insurance company (who I have a UK pension with, and have paid money into this account before) have accidentally transferred several thousand pounds into this account.

When I was notified of the transfer by the money transfer company, I rang the insurance company to ask why they'd made the transfer and they said they'd investigate.

They rang me back the next day to confirm the mistake, and asked if I could transfer it back. As this is a money transfer account, I can only use the money in the account to buy foreign currency, and transferring money to another UK account is not allowed, so I told them that this wasn't an option open to me. They said they'd look at their options and get back to me.

That was 4 weeks ago, and I've not heard anything else. The money is still sitting in my account.

I realise that this is not my money so I won't be doing anything with it. But I'm surprised that 4 weeks down the line there's been no further contact from anyone. What might be happening behind the scenes? Are they trying to get it back, or have they just forgotten? Will they put it in the 'too hard' basket and give me an early Christmas present?

eskbanker

I wouldn't have thought that they'd have any options to pull the money back so the onus will ultimately be on you to push it back to them, although you're right to be cautious, given scams in this area.

It sounds odd that transferring back to a GBP account isn't viable as such companies tend to allow transfers in both directions - which company is it?

mxh

eskbanker said:

It sounds odd that transferring back to a GBP account isn't viable as such companies tend to allow transfers in both directions - which company is it?

Yes, I could theoretically transfer it to Australia, then transfer it from Australia back to a nominated account (ie the insurance company) in the UK, but of course there would be transfer fees. 

But what I can't do is transfer money from this account to another UK bank account directly - I had actually asked them this question a while back as Barclays closed my UK account, and I was hoping to use this account as a de facto bank account - but they told me that this wasn't allowed. I think they said it's some regulatory thing - doing this would make them a bank, which comes with a whole load of regulations.

PRAISETHESUN

I'd also agree that you just leave it be, unless you get something in writing confirming that they are specifically instructing you to send the money somewhere and agree to cover your fees for doing so (both to cover your costs and to document the movement of funds from an AML perspective). I'm very surprised they don't have mechanism to reverse the transaction on their end.

flaneurs_lobster

mxh said:

An Insurance company (who I have a UK pension with, and have paid money into this account before) have accidentally transferred several thousand pounds into this account.

As an aside, has this erroneous transfer debited your pension account?

Could we know which money transfer company you are using?

mxh

flaneurs_lobster said:

mxh said:

An Insurance company (who I have a UK pension with, and have paid money into this account before) have accidentally transferred several thousand pounds into this account.

As an aside, has this erroneous transfer debited your pension account?

Could we know which money transfer company you are using?

No, my pension hasn't been touched - this was my first assumption, but they've confirmed that my pension has not been touched, and it was a human error that caused this payment to go to the wrong account.

The money transfer company is xe.com

retiredbanker1

IMO Let the pension company activate the chargeback procedure from your account to theirs.
I would not send it back myself in case this is part of a scam.

mxh

retiredbanker1 said:

IMO Let the pension company activate the chargeback procedure from your account to theirs.
I would not send it back myself in case this is part of a scam.

I've no problem if they want to do this - but the reason I started the thread is to try and understand their (perceived) lack of action. Four weeks after I initially spoke to them and apart from that one call back I've heard nothing. Not even from the foreign exchange company - I would have expected maybe a call / e-mail from them to corroborate any request from the insurance company - but no, nothing.

And as for a scam - it wouldn't be a very good one, would it? They put some money in my account, and if I'm anything but 100% honest, I just transfer it to Australia and it's gone

flaneurs_lobster

mxh said:

 Not even from the foreign exchange company - I would have expected maybe a call / e-mail from them to corroborate any request from the insurance company - but no, nothing.

Yes, odd. Xe's help pages make the point that they are not authorised as a deposit holder, and that if monies in your account are not used to purchase and transfer currency then the cash will be returned. But the kicker seems to be that this cash will only be returned to an account in the XE account holder's name. You've not specifically said so but is it right that you do not have a UK bank account and even if you did, Xe would not be aware of it.

mxh

flaneurs_lobster said:

. You've not specifically said so but is it right that you do not have a UK bank account and even if you did, Xe would not be aware of it.

Correct - since Barclay's closed my UK account, the XE account is the only one I have in the UK.

I wonder how long the money can sit in the account before XE decide it's "not being used to purchase and transfer currency" and want to return it? 

M25

If they ask again give them it back minus a fee for your time.

Were it me I'd be thinking the error could have been by a lowly person who may now be in trouble. That would make me give it back normally.

If it's more than £5K I'd ask for £100 and an email stating the contract and payment. Maybe there'll be a learning process by the company too.