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Dilemma


hogmaw

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OK here's something that brings up a black cloud over my head every time I think of it and now I'm stuck.

 

Last June my mate asked me to lend him £1500. He is a good mate, known him for years, so no problem. So I lend it him, and 2 months later he pays it back in full, as agreed. Problem is, the money doesn't appear in my account. It doesn't take long to find out why - I checked the email I sent him and it turns out I wrote down the wrong bank account number, it was wrong by one digit. My fault :(

 

My bank say that someone else has recieved the money and there is nothing they can do about it. All they can do is pass on a letter from me asking them to return the money. Which I have, and surprise surprise, no reply. Oh and banks being banks, it's taken 6 months to get this far.

 

So I'm £1500 down, all because I did a mate a favour, and because of my stupidity in giving the wrong number.

 

So the dilemma is - seeing as it was my error, but it was a favour to him, do I ask him to pay a) any of it b) some of it c) none of it?

 

Thoughts please folks, and in the unlikely event it was someone here who has my £1500, please do the right thing.

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Difficult one, he was not at fault really so can not be held responsible, you need the bank to help you claim the money back, I thought with a bank transfer if the account holder name did not match it would be rejected, I have learnt something new there

 

Same here i thought the acc number had to match the name. C.

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To be fair, if I was you're mate, as much as I'd feel reeeaaaalllllly sorry for you, I'd have said that it's kinda you're own fault. If he'd put the wrong digit in and you'd given him the right number, then I'd tell him he'd still have to pay me back.

 

If ever I lend people money, I always ask for it back in cash. Purely because this sort of thing can't happen, and once the cash is in my hand, I know it's not going anywhere, and if I lose it, then I'm the idiot. Unfortunately, I think you may have just given someone that's not very honest a nice wedge of cash mate. :(

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Yeh I'm the idiot and some random chancer's spunking £1500 of my hard earned.

 

I'm quite shocked to realise that 1) the account name does not have to match the number and 2) that bank account numbers can just have one digit difference. Credit cards can't for example.

 

On another note, did you know that banks don't check signatures on cheques for less than £10000? I learned this the hard way a few years ago!!!

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I don't think you can blame your mate.

 

I think you should be kicking off with the bank. Get the FOS and/or Police involved and get them to pursue the matter. As far as I understand it, it is theft by the other account holder not to refund you and it is a criminal offence. Just like if an employee gets overpaid... its theft if they keep it whether they like it or not.

 

I'd be screaming at the bank staff till the bank manager comes out and them screaming at him until his manager comes out and then... repeat

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Yeh I agree that someone has got MY money and it does not belong to them so there must be something unlawful in that. I have to take it further, but how? It's taken me 6 months harrassing the banks to get this far (my bank Santander, payers bank Bank of Scotland) but they say there's nothing they can do.

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Ill ask someone in our finance dept tomorrow as they are ex-Barclays... I would definitely get on the phone to the finance ombudsmen though... We had an issue with Halifax recently which wasn't being sorted in a timely fashion... I got the FO involved and it was sorted in about 3 days I have to say I was amazed!

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I have to agree with the majority here, he was reliable as in he sent the funds to the account you gave him on time, it's just unfortunate there was an error with the digits so it wasn't actually your account.

I work at a bank, so I could ask on the inside what can be done in this kind of situation and I'll let you know. Can your friend not speak to his bank and get them to recall the money? There is ALWAYS a paper trail.

I'm not sure how far 'finders - keepers' reachers in regards to cash transfers, finding money in the street is one thing, but like I said, there's a paper-trail here, so the receiving account holder is liable for those funds I'd imagine. If they went out and spent money they KNEW they shouldn't have, well then it's their own fault for being dishonest and spending someone else's money. Whether it actually works like this I don't know for sure.

As I said, I'll see what I can find out for you, also get your friend to speak with his bank, errors like this are made all the time, and you can usually get the money back if you're quick enough. How long ago were the funds transfered?

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Thanks everyone for your replies, I don't think I should be asking for my mate to pay any more, he has done what was asked of him. I just need to get onto the ombudsman, possibly a solicitor, one of the links above provided this info re the Section 24A Theft Act (thanks for that) which could come in useful:

 

[F2124A Dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit.

 

(1)A person is guilty of an offence if—

 

(a)a wrongful credit has been made to an account kept by him or in respect of which he has any right or interest;

 

(b)he knows or believes that the credit is wrongful; and

 

©he dishonestly fails to take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to secure that the credit is cancelled.

 

(2)References to a credit are to a credit of an amount of money.

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Thanks everyone for your replies, I don't think I should be asking for my mate to pay any more, he has done what was asked of him. I just need to get onto the ombudsman, possibly a solicitor, one of the links above provided this info re the Section 24A Theft Act (thanks for that) which could come in useful:

 

[F2124A Dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit.

 

(1)A person is guilty of an offence if—

 

(a)a wrongful credit has been made to an account kept by him or in respect of which he has any right or interest;

 

(b)he knows or believes that the credit is wrongful; and

 

©he dishonestly fails to take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to secure that the credit is cancelled.

 

(2)References to a credit are to a credit of an amount of money.

 

So if the account holder were to be a woman, would this law not apply? ;)

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Sorry to hear this but its not your mates fault - this is a normal response from a bank.I suggest you write to the MD or CEO of your bank laying out the facts before him asking for assistance. Alternatively I agree with another poster who stated you should contact the financial ombudsman. You could also try citizens advice. The upshot is you need to get some clout behind you,

have you tried a solicitor? Dont let it go without a major fight.

Good luck bud.

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