where has my money gone?

retrev

A Company occasionally pays me a fee. 
I forgot to change my bank details with them and they have continued to send money to my closed account for 2 years.
They have not had it returned to them.
The bank receiving the money has no trace of it. 
What can I do next?

la531983

Did you use the official switching service at the time you moved accounts?

eskbanker

Presumably you didn't use the current account switching service, which would redirect such payments to your new account?

Otherwise, payments sent to closed accounts should be bounced back, but proving this may be tricky - if you didn't bother changing the details and didn't notice anything for two years, is the sum involved relatively trivial?

MeteredOut

Was this a personal account or a business account?

How recently was the most recent transfer. I'd start with that, both with the sender and the receiving bank. How were the transfers made? Electronically (in which case the sender may have a transaction reference) or manual (where any transaction reference is less likely to have been recorded)?

Brie

You need to get the sending company to get the transaction references from their bank and the amounts.  Provide these and the dates of the transactions to the receiving bank and they should be able to trace the money in one of their suspense account.  It generally takes some time as the date the money was sent may not be the same as when it went into the suspense account.  It's also difficult if it's a very common amount, like £100.  Much easier if it's something odd like £97.24 or whatever as many transactions tend to be nice round amounts.

Exodi

la531983 said:

Did you use the official switching service at the time you moved accounts?

eskbanker said:

Presumably you didn't use the current account switching service, which would redirect such payments to your new account?

I think even if the OP had used a switching service this could happen. For example if the company was manually making the payments. Plus I believe the switching service only switches DD's and only temporarily redirects other payments for one year (during which time you're supposed to get in touch with companies with your new bank details). If this isn't done, then the redirection would end and the payments would continue going to the old account.

mta999

I think redirection lasts for a lot longer than one year

eskbanker

Exodi said:

la531983 said:

Did you use the official switching service at the time you moved accounts?

eskbanker said:

Presumably you didn't use the current account switching service, which would redirect such payments to your new account?

I think even if the OP had used a switching service this could happen. For example if the company was manually making the payments. Plus I believe the switching service only switches DD's and only temporarily redirects other payments for one year (during which time you're supposed to get in touch with companies with your new bank details). If this isn't done, then the redirection would end and the payments would continue going to the old account.

mta999 said:

I think redirection lasts for a lot longer than one year

Yes, redirection is for a minimum of three years and then continues as needed until a 13 month period elapses where no payments are redirected.  Paying 'manually' is the same as any other so would be redirected.

Exodi

mta999 said:

I think redirection lasts for a lot longer than one year

eskbanker said:

Exodi said:

la531983 said:

Did you use the official switching service at the time you moved accounts?

eskbanker said:

Presumably you didn't use the current account switching service, which would redirect such payments to your new account?

I think even if the OP had used a switching service this could happen. For example if the company was manually making the payments. Plus I believe the switching service only switches DD's and only temporarily redirects other payments for one year (during which time you're supposed to get in touch with companies with your new bank details). If this isn't done, then the redirection would end and the payments would continue going to the old account.

mta999 said:

I think redirection lasts for a lot longer than one year

Yes, redirection is for a minimum of three years and then continues as needed until a 13 month period elapses where no payments are redirected.  Paying 'manually' is the same as any other so would be redirected.

Thanks, every day is a school day.

Section62

Exodi said:

mta999 said:

I think redirection lasts for a lot longer than one year

eskbanker said:

Exodi said:

la531983 said:

Did you use the official switching service at the time you moved accounts?

eskbanker said:

Presumably you didn't use the current account switching service, which would redirect such payments to your new account?

I think even if the OP had used a switching service this could happen. For example if the company was manually making the payments. Plus I believe the switching service only switches DD's and only temporarily redirects other payments for one year (during which time you're supposed to get in touch with companies with your new bank details). If this isn't done, then the redirection would end and the payments would continue going to the old account.

mta999 said:

I think redirection lasts for a lot longer than one year

Yes, redirection is for a minimum of three years and then continues as needed until a 13 month period elapses where no payments are redirected.  Paying 'manually' is the same as any other so would be redirected.

Thanks, every day is a school day.

Also, each redirected payment should result in an automatic notification to the sender to advise them of the correct new details. (which needs to be actively opted out of if you don't want people to know the details of your new account)

MeteredOut

Section62 said:

Exodi said:

mta999 said:

I think redirection lasts for a lot longer than one year

eskbanker said:

Exodi said:

la531983 said:

Did you use the official switching service at the time you moved accounts?

eskbanker said:

Presumably you didn't use the current account switching service, which would redirect such payments to your new account?

I think even if the OP had used a switching service this could happen. For example if the company was manually making the payments. Plus I believe the switching service only switches DD's and only temporarily redirects other payments for one year (during which time you're supposed to get in touch with companies with your new bank details). If this isn't done, then the redirection would end and the payments would continue going to the old account.

mta999 said:

I think redirection lasts for a lot longer than one year

Yes, redirection is for a minimum of three years and then continues as needed until a 13 month period elapses where no payments are redirected.  Paying 'manually' is the same as any other so would be redirected.

Thanks, every day is a school day.

Also, each redirected payment should result in an automatic notification to the sender to advise them of the correct new details. (which needs to be actively opted out of if you don't want people to know the details of your new account)

Even if the payment is manual?