Just sent all my money to council by mistake

[Cherry287]

I clicked to do a bank transfer to the council for my rent and I’m not sure if it glitched or if I pressed something twice but my whole wages have gone to the council in one go!! I’ll have to call them in the morning but will it take a few days for the money to come back to me? Panicking now as I have Direct Debits due to come out!

It said it would be with them within 2 hours so it should show on their side in the morning but I’m panicking now!!

Do you have 24hr phone banking? Call them now!

I’m with TSB and it’s only the fraud team who are 24hr. I called them and they’ve said I’ll have to call them in the morning. Normally if it’s a higher amount my bank blocks the payment going out but it’s allowed it this time

I’m presuming with it being the council and not a random account that I will get it back but I’m wondering how long it might take 😨

Oh no OP!

I hope your bank can help tomorrow. If not, get straight on the phone to the council. Keep using the phrase "significant financial hardship" during your conversation with them. Tears might also help. Don't sound angry.

Don't panic OP. I know someone who accidently transferred 19 in stead of 9 thousand pounds - for settling outstanding balance on a car payment. Like toy luckily it was a,reputable organisation and so money was returned. It did take a few days though.

Talk to you bank in morning to see what they have do to support you in the interim. You can even call your direct debit companies, explain and ask if u can push back the date of this month's direct debits while you sort

I work for a council. Email your ward councillor asking who you should contact - people do things faster when the bosses are involved.

They will be able to refund you, it's just a question of how quickly it gets done.

I double paid on council tax by paying the sue amount ahead of time and then they took a balance amount as well. There was a form on the council website to complete for this- so it just happen a lot. And it was returned in days.

Speak to council but it could take a few days to refund . If that's the case speak to your bank and ask for a temporary overdraft to cover bills.

They’ll return it but it will likely take a few days, possibly more if they don’t process the refund today as then it’s the weekend.

How painful. I'd be phoning the council and also the bank, trying to get it stopped or returned asap.

If the direct debits will go out in the next couple of days you could also ask for an overdraft to cover them - you will get the money back I'm sure it might just take a few days.

Bizarrely I did this this week but with my cc payment. Id accidentally set the payment for "clear balance". I got a message from the bank that I was past my overdraft. I've scrambled to shove all my paltry savings into my current account to bring it back to 0 but it's going to mess up my finances for months. I don't know if you'll be able to get it back or maybe they'll credit you a month. There are times when all this "easy" online banking makes thinks much harder!

Your bank should be able to agree an overdraft for you to cover your direct debits until the money comes back. A friend of mine accidentally sent money to the council instead of another place she was supposed to transfer it and she got it back, it may just take a few days.

You can do do an indemnity pay back through your bank, my banking app lets me do this, if the wrong amount/ double payment has gone through. It comes back instantly.

Edited for typo.

I paid the wrong council for council tax for about 6 months, only realised when I got a court summons for non-payment of council tax from my actual council! I got all of that back reasonably quickly once I contacted them!

Call the bank and explain what happened, and then ask them to give you a temporary overdraft which will cover the expenses while you're waiting for the council to return the extra payment.
Call the council and explain whst happenef so you can start the process of getting the money back.
Good luck.

I done this before,I had to wait for it to come out the bank and then phoned the bank as they can't do anything if it's pending.The best bet is if you have other bills to pay ,get a loan from the bank,the bank will refund the money once it's not pending.

It might be too late now to do it but can you recall/cancel the transaction? I can on my online banking but not sure if it has to be done within a certain time frame

Have you called the council yet?

Honestly there is literally no point in speculating as all councils are different. It's certainly possible for them to faster payment it back to you, whether they will or not is another situation.

Hi everyone thanks for replies. Luckily they were sympathetic and didn’t want me to be without over the weekend. it’s now back in my account!!

Brilliant! That was really good of them.

Good. Pleased.

Fabulous update OP

Great news. It was lucky it was a government body like the council. Pleased you're sorted