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Original poster

Anyone with a Barclays account needs to close it down!

96 replies

ComedyGuns · 01/12/2025 11:42

This is just absolutely awful - I can’t believe that Barclays (and Lloyds) with all their money, are willing to just ruin this poor woman’s life, just because they can.

She should start a crowdfunding page, but she probably doesn’t know how. My heart goes out to her…

Calls to repay £125k to woman after banking error https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjezxvpd9xno

A man in a cobalt coloured suit and a red tie standing up and talking in parliament.

Eastbourne MP calls on bank to repay woman £125k after error

A woman cashed a £125,000 cheque from her dying partner but was only paid £125 after it cleared.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjezxvpd9xno

OP posts:
Original poster

ComedyGuns · 01/12/2025 12:13

Pinned

I’ve just read more into this and Barclays are not liable as there was apparently insufficient funds in the Lloyds account that the cheque was drawing on.

What’s not clear anywhere is how much is/was in the Lloyds account and if she can now access it this money.

Maybe it was all promised to dependents in the Will, and the husband was not of sound mind when he wrote the cheque.

Bromptotoo · 01/12/2025 11:48

Struggling to follow what actually happened.

Was there enough money at Lloyds to honour a cheque for £125k and did somebody else get the cash?

stackhead · 01/12/2025 11:52

I sympathise with the woman, but it was a month between cashing the cheque and the partner dying and she didn't check her bank balance at all in that time?

I'ma gonna guess that there's a lot more to this story then reported.

Elbowpatch · 01/12/2025 11:58

Bromptotoo · 01/12/2025 11:48

Struggling to follow what actually happened.

Was there enough money at Lloyds to honour a cheque for £125k and did somebody else get the cash?

Barclays say they never had it so presumably it’s still in the original account.

ShesTheAlbatross · 01/12/2025 11:58

Bromptotoo · 01/12/2025 11:48

Struggling to follow what actually happened.

Was there enough money at Lloyds to honour a cheque for £125k and did somebody else get the cash?

It sounds like maybe just a typo at the Barclays counter, and they only recorded the cheque at £125? So only £125 was moved from the Lloyd’s account.

But I’m not sure where the money has gone - maybe he died without a will and it went to children or something, rather than to her?

The financial ombudsman has reviewed the case and Barclays has done what they’ve recommended.

Nincompoo · 01/12/2025 12:02

Surely if you’re paying in a cheque for ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE THOUSANDS POUNDS you check the receipt and then would check your account to make sure it had been paid in?!

NotForTheMoneyandNotForTheApplause · 01/12/2025 12:04

This sounds like a perfectly resolvable mistake, all they have to do is look at the cheque itself to see how much it was written out for

I wonder if there's more to this than is explained in the article

JudgeBread · 01/12/2025 12:06

I literally cannot fathom paying in a cheque that size and not checking the receipt. I triple check the ones for £20 my nan sends me for Christmas!

DallasMajor · 01/12/2025 12:07

So £125 was taken from the Lloyds bank.

The remaining money is still in the Lloyds bank.

I don't see why Barclays should pay £125,000 for a honest mistake.

DallasMajor · 01/12/2025 12:08

NotForTheMoneyandNotForTheApplause · 01/12/2025 12:04

This sounds like a perfectly resolvable mistake, all they have to do is look at the cheque itself to see how much it was written out for

I wonder if there's more to this than is explained in the article

I guess she wasn't entitled to anything in the will, and once partner died the money belonged to the NOK

dementedpixie · 01/12/2025 12:08

The money wont be with Barclays, it will still be in the bank that the cheque was issued from. Yes, they made a mistake when paying it in but they wont have the money to pay her back

2thumbs · 01/12/2025 12:09

Surely Lloyds still have the remaining money? Why can’t she retrieve it from them? Not sure how closing my accounts with either of them is going to help.

DallasMajor · 01/12/2025 12:10

I can't understand why this would make me want to close my account - the fault lies as much with the person as the staff.

What it must be to not notice that a £125,000 cheque hasn't been paid. I would notice if a £12.50 cheque didn't clear

dementedpixie · 01/12/2025 12:10

Whoever closed the Lloyds account will have had the money that was never sent to Barclays.

DallasMajor · 01/12/2025 12:12

She said that her partner had closed his account at Lloyds and that she would cash the cheque.

This doesn't make any sense.

Original poster
ComedyGuns · 01/12/2025 12:13

I’ve just read more into this and Barclays are not liable as there was apparently insufficient funds in the Lloyds account that the cheque was drawing on.

What’s not clear anywhere is how much is/was in the Lloyds account and if she can now access it this money.

Maybe it was all promised to dependents in the Will, and the husband was not of sound mind when he wrote the cheque.

OP posts:
Lovingbooks · 01/12/2025 12:14

I don’t understand your post how is her life ruined. She tried to cash a cheque Barclays never recieved the funds so she just needs to approach the original company who issued the cheque. As to crowdfunding why should she beg the public for money.

Bromptotoo · 01/12/2025 12:16

2thumbs · 01/12/2025 12:09

Surely Lloyds still have the remaining money? Why can’t she retrieve it from them? Not sure how closing my accounts with either of them is going to help.

I'm guessing here but if Lloyds were told of the partner's death and froze the account then either the money is still there or it's been paid out per will/intestacy.

Surprised the system allows a cheque to go through for a fraction of its value without it being caught by some reconciliation process.

Never worked in a bank but had cashier responsibility in three Civil Service posts. Cheques were summed based on the words/figures which would identify a mismatch with booked value.

Spent an entertaining afternoon c1990 chasing £63; a cheque for £670 had been booked (twice) as £607.

Bromptotoo · 01/12/2025 12:18

ComedyGuns · 01/12/2025 12:13

I’ve just read more into this and Barclays are not liable as there was apparently insufficient funds in the Lloyds account that the cheque was drawing on.

What’s not clear anywhere is how much is/was in the Lloyds account and if she can now access it this money.

Maybe it was all promised to dependents in the Will, and the husband was not of sound mind when he wrote the cheque.

The report linked in the OP refers to a partner rather than husband. That makes a difference on intestacy.

NotForTheMoneyandNotForTheApplause · 01/12/2025 12:19

DallasMajor · 01/12/2025 12:08

I guess she wasn't entitled to anything in the will, and once partner died the money belonged to the NOK

Show quote history

That's not what the issue is, if a cheque was written out by the deceased person before they died it's a bank cock up, nothing to do with a will

But again the story is unclear

BillieWiper · 01/12/2025 12:20

I don't understand. Are they saying the higher amount didn't exist, ie there wasn't that much in the partner's account? Or is it that the money is with Lloyds? Which bank is the cheque from?

If the money never existed then of course she can't have it?

ShesTheAlbatross · 01/12/2025 12:23

ComedyGuns · 01/12/2025 12:13

I’ve just read more into this and Barclays are not liable as there was apparently insufficient funds in the Lloyds account that the cheque was drawing on.

What’s not clear anywhere is how much is/was in the Lloyds account and if she can now access it this money.

Maybe it was all promised to dependents in the Will, and the husband was not of sound mind when he wrote the cheque.

Surely that isn’t the issue, because Barclays have acknowledged they made a mistake. And it can’t be that the cheque was for £125k but there happened to only be exactly £125 in the account so that’s what was paid.

Franpie · 01/12/2025 12:25

ComedyGuns · 01/12/2025 12:13

I’ve just read more into this and Barclays are not liable as there was apparently insufficient funds in the Lloyds account that the cheque was drawing on.

What’s not clear anywhere is how much is/was in the Lloyds account and if she can now access it this money.

Maybe it was all promised to dependents in the Will, and the husband was not of sound mind when he wrote the cheque.

But surely it doesn’t matter how much was in the Lloyd’s account if there wasn’t enough to cover the £125k?

If the correct number had been keyed by the cashier then the cheque would have just bounced and she wouldn’t have had the £125 or the £500 compensation.

It looks to me as though she is better off financially due to the mistake than if the mistake had never happened.

jessycake · 01/12/2025 12:27

How does it work the other way , and they mistook £125 for £125, 000 if you the moved all the money into a different account and have no money in that account to pay it back , I bet there would be a solution .

Notmyreality · 01/12/2025 12:29

Franpie · 01/12/2025 12:25

But surely it doesn’t matter how much was in the Lloyd’s account if there wasn’t enough to cover the £125k?

If the correct number had been keyed by the cashier then the cheque would have just bounced and she wouldn’t have had the £125 or the £500 compensation.

It looks to me as though she is better off financially due to the mistake than if the mistake had never happened.

Show quote history

This.

Mochudubh · 01/12/2025 12:30

Do banks not keep or scan cheques anymore? I worked in banking for a while in the 90s. Back then cheques would be sent physically for clearing at the end of the banking day, then be returned to the issuing bank and retained. I've had to go rummaging in the back room a few times to retrieve an actual cheque in the event of a query.

I assume these things are done digitally nowadays but I'm very surprised if there's no way of checking what's written on a cheque.

Just read @Franpie's post, that makes sense. Partner wrote a cheque against insufficient funds, cheque would have bounced (but she may still have had time to take that up with partner). As it was, the £125 was honoured as there were sufficient funds to cover the mis-keyed amount.