Money paid into my bank in error

[Copperblack]

Does anyone have any helpful advice?

£4000 was paid into my bank account last year ( as a card refund), which was definitely not mine. It was from a holiday company around the time Thomas Cook went bust. I tried to contact the company but it’s a foreign call centre and got nowhere after several 30 minute calls.

I then contacted my bank who responded by cancelling my bank card without telling me! As they said it looked as if my card was cloned. Eventually this was resolved and the issue is now with the ‘security dept’. The first 2 times I called to see what was happening, they said they hadn’t had a response from the holiday company. I called again and the woman I spoke to was really rude - as if I was some sort of fraudster. I haven’t bothered chasing it up again as I’ve wasted a lot of time and don’t appreciate being treated like a criminal when I have been above and beyond helpful and honest.

I did ask for the money to be removed from my bank and held elsewhere but they said that wasn’t possible and if I moved it and then they couldn’t claim it back because it wasn’t there, I’d be liable for bounced transaction costs.

It’s nearly a year now. Is there anything I can do to sort this out? It’s annoying having to subtract the money every time I look at my balance, and I’m due to have building work started as soon as it’s permitted so there will be lots of transactions going through my account.

Could you open a savings account with the same bank and stick it in there to keep it from being spent

High interest savings account (well as high as you can in the present circumstances)
You might as well keep whatever interest you accrue until they claim it back. If they don't claim it back then win win!

Move it out yourself.

She can't move the money. It has to stay put so the process of recall can eventually go ahead. If she moves it, she could be accused of theft. It's in the op.

Could you go higher up the line in your bank? Could they not move it to a holding account or something? Your banking needs to be freed up - it's not your problem! CEO email? Head of customer relations? What a pita.

But if it's still within the same bank it is still there. Surely they would notify prior to withdrawal and at that point she can move it back to the original account

Surely they would notify prior to withdrawal

Nope (nor should they have to, in an ideal world).

And this is what you get for being honest!

I'd open another bank account and use that one moving forwards, leave the 4K in your old account.

Honestly I would open up a separate account and change all my bills:direct debits/wages etc to that and just leave that money in the account, that way it is there if or when they claim it back.

So long as you leave the £4000 in the account surely it’s not theft. You can move all other money to another account and use that account for paying things.

I am sure they do need permission to debit the receiving account

I'd write to the bank and say that unless you get a satisfactory response from them within 7 working days, you are going to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Keep copies of everything.

I would have spent it immediately

Don't spend it. It's not your money. Open an additional account and put the money in that account.

Write a complaint labelled "executive complaint" to your bank and ask them to remove the funds. Keep copies of this.

If you don't get any replies or sensible suggestions then contact the financial Ombudsman Service.

That is annoying, I agree set up another current account and keep the £4k in your existing account. If it hasn't been claimed two years from the date of transfer I think its reasonable to assume it wont be pursued at that point and then do with it what you please. They will have to take legal action to recover it at that point and for £4k its unlikely to be worth their time let alone the legal fees.

You still have £4K that's not yours after this much time.
WTAF are the bank playing at? They should have sorted this ages ago.
You correctly told them it's not your money, surely someone has contacted the holiday company now about their missing £4K by now. This is ridiculous.
I would log an official complaint with the bank now. They are acting in a terrible manner!

I would just leave it there and ignore it. If the bank take it away and someone tries to reclaim it, it might be hard work trying to get the bank to agree they took it away.... So just give it 2 years and if no one's claimed it maybe donate it or keep it?

The thing is, it isn't actually the banks fault. It isn't their money and they didn't pay it in. The company you know it came from, write them a letter, send it signed for, and give them a reasonable time limit to sort it out. They may have a customer who insisted they didn't receive a refund somewhere who is still chasing their money a year later.

@bulliedintonamechange really? What would happen when they wanted the money back then? That's really dishonest.

Op I would echo what others have said. Set up another current account if you can to separate your money. Or escalate to the ombudsmen if you have exhausted all other options