Money paid incorrectly into my account - not mine
Discussion
Hi folks,
Whilst checking my banking last week i noted my savings account had increased considerably (about £4k) overnight.
Looking into the transaction it was a BACS payment and from a company (i googled the name and its a genuine firm).
Obviously this has been a cock up at their end and either bank details were wrongly given or taken down and the payment has come to me.
I called the bank in case it was dodgy\fraud etc, but after a bit of back and forth they confirm the payment is legitimate (in that its not fraud). However the only advice they can give is just sit on it, as they cant take it out and they haven't had any notification from the company about it. (this was Saturday last week)
Still haven't heard anything from the bank. I am obviously not touching th cash as its not mine, but its a bit of a worry having this sitting there if i don't hear anything.
Has anyone had similar and what was the story, i.e. did you get a call from the company\person involved, or did you have t hand the cash over physically, i.e. do the leg work yourself?
I am just curious as its an odd situ.
Whilst checking my banking last week i noted my savings account had increased considerably (about £4k) overnight.
Looking into the transaction it was a BACS payment and from a company (i googled the name and its a genuine firm).
Obviously this has been a cock up at their end and either bank details were wrongly given or taken down and the payment has come to me.
I called the bank in case it was dodgy\fraud etc, but after a bit of back and forth they confirm the payment is legitimate (in that its not fraud). However the only advice they can give is just sit on it, as they cant take it out and they haven't had any notification from the company about it. (this was Saturday last week)
Still haven't heard anything from the bank. I am obviously not touching th cash as its not mine, but its a bit of a worry having this sitting there if i don't hear anything.
Has anyone had similar and what was the story, i.e. did you get a call from the company\person involved, or did you have t hand the cash over physically, i.e. do the leg work yourself?
I am just curious as its an odd situ.
Apparently the bank did this, but i am not sure if they explained that properly, they explained that the company would contact their bank, that bank would contact my bank and me asking if i have money, can they please have it back.
Problem is, company is based in UK and austria, so not quite sure how this will lay out.
Problem is, company is based in UK and austria, so not quite sure how this will lay out.
I'd take action depending on how big the company was and how well I perceived it to be doing.
If it was a small company that would really notice the missing cash, I'd get in touch. If it were a multi-national oil company, I'd be less inclined to do anything about it.
Not quite morally correct perhaps, but we're not all perfect.
Either way, I wouldn't be spending it for some considerable time so its always there to pay back.
If it was a small company that would really notice the missing cash, I'd get in touch. If it were a multi-national oil company, I'd be less inclined to do anything about it.
Not quite morally correct perhaps, but we're not all perfect.
Either way, I wouldn't be spending it for some considerable time so its always there to pay back.
rossub said:
I'd take action depending on how big the company was and how well I perceived it to be doing.
If it was a small company that would really notice the missing cash, I'd get in touch. If it were a multi-national oil company, I'd be less inclined to do anything about it.
Not quite morally correct perhaps, but we're not all perfect.
Either way, I wouldn't be spending it for some considerable time so its always there to pay back.
Looking at the small info i have (a 2 word name) I googled it and it looks to be a genetics\medical research company?If it was a small company that would really notice the missing cash, I'd get in touch. If it were a multi-national oil company, I'd be less inclined to do anything about it.
Not quite morally correct perhaps, but we're not all perfect.
Either way, I wouldn't be spending it for some considerable time so its always there to pay back.
However i don't know if that's actually the company so phoning them to ask if they'd like £4k could be a bit wary of.
However i phoned back, they said sit on it, as it will get noticed eventually.
So i may open another account to chuck it in and leave it so its not mixed in with my normal savings account as i am moving cash about a bit with wedding prep payments so dont want to accidentally withdraw when i shouldn't etc.
Amazing the amount of people who seem to think i have received some form of windfall, its not my money to spend...ever.
Good on you for doing the right thing - I would too.
Take the bank's advice on it and do what they tell you to, you can't go wrong that way. I would also be dumping it to a separate account to ensure it's ring-fenced for return. Nothing wrong with chucking it into the highest interest-paying account you have though!
Take the bank's advice on it and do what they tell you to, you can't go wrong that way. I would also be dumping it to a separate account to ensure it's ring-fenced for return. Nothing wrong with chucking it into the highest interest-paying account you have though!
When I was contracting a few years back I rang the bank to make a BACS payment and discovered that someone had deposited £40K into my business account in error. However, my bank did something about it and the money was gone within 2 days.
Shame.
I gather it goes on far more often than people realise.
Shame.
I gather it goes on far more often than people realise.
HRL said:
When I was contracting a few years back I rang the bank to make a BACS payment and discovered that someone had deposited £40K into my business account in error. However, my bank did something about it and the money was gone within 2 days.
Shame.
I gather it goes on far more often than people realise.
Having a read of ombudsman websites, it seems this is quite common, and the law was changed a cuple of years ago so banks can now take cash out or ring fence it straight away without your consent, which is fair enough.Shame.
I gather it goes on far more often than people realise.
I am looking at High interest accounts at RBS though
hajaba123 said:
The bank can and will take it out of your account and put it in a holding account therefore removing you from all of this.
Complain to head office and they will sort it pretty quickly
I expect this to happen pretty quickly, and the bank logged my call.Complain to head office and they will sort it pretty quickly
No issue with cash sitting there, and i dont expect to have it long.
Just asking incase there was anything i may have not done that i should have etc.
Actually I did this in reverse, and deposited a similar amount in the wrong account. When I noticed, I contacted the bank, as did the receiver.
They told me that there was nothing that could be done, and in essence I had gifted £4k to that person, and there was no legal way of recovering.
Now I'm not suggesting for a moment that you party away - I think you morals and sense of justice are spot on, but it does make you think.
Since then I have transferred £0.50pence into accounts to check that all is OK, before transferring even hundreds.
Mind you, I reckon someone will have a red face when they find out.......
They told me that there was nothing that could be done, and in essence I had gifted £4k to that person, and there was no legal way of recovering.
Now I'm not suggesting for a moment that you party away - I think you morals and sense of justice are spot on, but it does make you think.
Since then I have transferred £0.50pence into accounts to check that all is OK, before transferring even hundreds.
Mind you, I reckon someone will have a red face when they find out.......
A few yrs ago this happened to me while I was away. I noticed on my return 3 weeks later, I was perplexed, at the time an extra £11k would really, really come in handy. While I was pondering the moral dilemma it just disappeared, this was about 4 weeks after it had been deposited. No trace of money in/money out, no interest earned etc.
They depositor probably won't notice until a creditor complains about an unpaid bill, then they'll investigate.
They depositor probably won't notice until a creditor complains about an unpaid bill, then they'll investigate.
This has cropped up a few times in Guardian money matters (or whatever it is called) questions.
The answer generally seems to be that there isn't much the company which deposited the money in your account can do about it. That is, the money can't be taken out of your account without your consent - although I think it depends on whether the mistake is the paying company using the wrong account details or the bank incorrectly typing in the bank account details. There seems to be quite a few cases of individuals who have lost quite a bit of money this way.
If it was me, I'd keep the money ring-fenced ready to hand back if/when asked. But I'm not sure how much of my own time I'd waste trying to track down the company in question and begging them to let me repay the money - I can just imagine the painful conversations you would have with their accounts team trying to explain it.
The answer generally seems to be that there isn't much the company which deposited the money in your account can do about it. That is, the money can't be taken out of your account without your consent - although I think it depends on whether the mistake is the paying company using the wrong account details or the bank incorrectly typing in the bank account details. There seems to be quite a few cases of individuals who have lost quite a bit of money this way.
If it was me, I'd keep the money ring-fenced ready to hand back if/when asked. But I'm not sure how much of my own time I'd waste trying to track down the company in question and begging them to let me repay the money - I can just imagine the painful conversations you would have with their accounts team trying to explain it.
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