Please could someone help regarding my mum and my late dad.

worriest

Hi folks

Hope you can help me with a problem.

My dad passed away suddenly last july.
He had halifax shares which my mum cashed in , we were so busy at that time that when the cheques came through my mum just put them in the bank to help pay for the funeral.
The Halifax sent a letter a few weeks ago to say that they had sent a cheque for an extra 364 pound by accident and they want it back.

They phoned her today and demanded it back or it will be sent to the debt collecters.

She offered 10pound per month (which i dont think she should have to pay due to their error)
They refused and threatened her again, she has phoned me in tears and i am very angry with them.
Thanks very much.
What do you think we should do?

Broken_hearted

Its their mistake I'd tell them to stick it.

worriest

Thats what i said.
The best of it is the amount of overpaid money was not even 2 identical cheques.
One was for 364
And the other was 2 cheques for 198 and 166!!!!

So how was my mum to know it was an error even if she had been able to take anything is (which she was not at that time)

I have the details so i am going to write them a letter as my mum cant handle this at the moment.

Broken_hearted

I would get some proffesional advice before writing to them any decent company would write off the amount.

Shineyhappy

I am really sorry about your Dad and best wishes to you and your mum.

To be honest I think that the bank is probably entitled to their money back, but if you wrote to them telling them that your mum cant afford it and is that much money worth upsetting her and reminding her of your dads death for? I would write a very polite letter and try and appeal to their human nature. If you or your mum has any further accounts with them I would mention those and that you have been a loyal customer for X years etc.

It might also worth popping up to see someone at the citizens advice bureau as they will be more clued up on this.

moneywolf

Its there mistake, so its there problem.

I would just tell tham that you are not liable for there error & no money will be returned as non is owed.

You banked the money in good faith, they sent you the money , you did not obtain it by deception.

tallyhoh

They may be entitled to their money back but screw them, the %*$*&.

Tell them its been used to pay for a funeral & if they keep on you will go to the papers & show them for the *&£"!!*% they are.

Really sorry about your Dad, lost both my parents now and there's always some idiot want to butt in just when you are trying to get it together:mad:

XX

malestrom07

I'm sorry to hear about your mum's problem. Make sure that she does not bank with Halifax anymore, if she pays money into that account they will just take it instead of asking for repayment. Seek independent advice on this and make sure your mum does not put money into Halifax.

Jennifer_Jane

Please get some professional advice - as Broken Hearted suggests.

In the late 60's (so er, a while back, but why should anything have changed!), my bank told me I had more money in the account than I did. I promptly spent it, and then they tried to tell me that I owed them money. My brother is a solicitor and under the Law of Estoppel - the bank cannot deny that they had told me the incorrect amount. So it's nothing to do with whose money it really is. I had to show where the money had gone ie that it wasn't saved and I hadn't profited from it.

So, all I am saying is to contact perhaps the Consumer Advice Bureau and see what they have to say - and mention the Law of Estoppel.

Here is something from Google:

Estoppel is a legal doctrine that may be used in certain situations to prevent a person from relying upon certain rights, or upon a set of facts (eg. words said or actions performed) which is different from an earlier set of facts.
Estoppel could arise in a situation where a creditor informs a debtor that a debt is forgiven, but then later insists upon repayment. In a case such as this, the creditor may be estopped from relying on their legal right to repayment, as the creditor has represented that he no longer treats the debt as extant. A landlord may tell his tenant that he is not required to pay rent for a period of time ("you don't need to pay rent until the war is over"). After the war is over, the landlord would be "estopped" from claiming rents during the war period. Estoppel is often important in insurance law, where some actions by the insurer or the agent estop the insurer from denying a claim.


Here's a bit of an easier summary from the same Google page:
English law defines it as: "a principle of justice and of equity. It comes to this: when a man, by his words or conduct, has led another to believe in a particular state of affairs, he will not be allowed to go back on it when it would be unjust or inequitable for him to so." Moorgate Mercantile v Twitchings [1976] 1 QB 225, CA at 241 per Lord Denning MR.


Good luck - and with the others - I am so sorry to hear about your Dad.

Love
Jen
x

worriest

Thanks so much everyone i will do what you have reccomended.
I know its not a huge amount of money but as my dad died suddenly sadly he never planned and my mum is struggling to keep afloat and does not want to lose her house.
She went back to work 2 months after my dad died because she could not afford not to.
I got really angry becuase the man from the halifax was so unsympathetic and was really rude.
Some people really are like robots xxxx

silvercar

I would write and tell them that the money was used to pay for your Dad's funeral and so there is no way it can be returned, ask that on compassionate grounds it should be written off.

If that fails, get a friend to phone up as if from the local paper having heard that they are demanding the money that has been spent on a funeral and would they like to comment.