Reclaiming money piad in error

[DarkPony]

Hi,

 

I recently moved to a different part of the NHS, meaning I had to fill in my pay details again. Unfortunately I put the wrong sort code down and my months salary has gone into somebody else's account.

 

I've tried everything I can to sort this but am gettnig nowhere. My payroll department has been less than helpful basically saying that it's not their responsibility once the money leaves them and goes to the bank. My bank, HSBC has written to the person the money was paid to. Unfortunately the person is claiming they were owed that money and are refusing to pay it back. Obviosly the person it was paid to is lying and trying to take money whcih is not rightfully theirs.

 

With all parties being uncooperative, could somebody explain what are the next steps I need to take to claim this money back? This is incredibly stressful and I've had to use my savings just to pay the rent.

 

Any help or advice woudl be very much appreciated.

 

Pony

[yourbank]

Hi,

 

I recently moved to a different part of the NHS, meaning I had to fill in my pay details again. Unfortunately I put the wrong sort code down and my months salary has gone into somebody else's account.

 

I've tried everything I can to sort this but am gettnig nowhere. My payroll department has been less than helpful basically saying that it's not their responsibility once the money leaves them and goes to the bank. My bank, HSBC has written to the person the money was paid to. Unfortunately the person is claiming they were owed that money and are refusing to pay it back. Obviosly the person it was paid to is lying and trying to take money whcih is not rightfully theirs.

 

With all parties being uncooperative, could somebody explain what are the next steps I need to take to claim this money back? This is incredibly stressful and I've had to use my savings just to pay the rent.

 

Any help or advice woudl be very much appreciated.

 

Pony

 

Its the hospitals money so technically there is either (a) another employee who believes the money is theirs or (b) fraud. Might be worth asking the hospital to investigate it with their bank.

[DarkPony]

Its the hospitals money so technically there is either (a) another employee who believes the money is theirs or (b) fraud.

 

It's not beyond the realms of possibility there is somebody with the same account number but slightly different sort code working in the same hospital and on the same salary but even then they would realise they have been paid twice. I'm in no doubt it's b) fraud. So what now? Do I go to the police or is this a civil matter? Any practical advice on the steps I need to follow to claim the money back would be much appreciated.

Edited March 24, 2009 by DarkPony

[craigers]

What does the other person mean by being owed the money?

[DarkPony]

What does the other person mean by being owed the money?

 

Well he or she is claiming that they are owed the money as a salary. That's what they told HSBC when they tried to take the money back off him/ her. The fact is they are not owed anything, the payment was made in error and they are attempting to keep the money by deception.

 

Having made HSBC head office aware of the problem, they were very keen to point out it was not their fault and clearly explained everything they COULD NOT do. I got the impression they just wanted me to shut up and go away and accept I'd lost a month's wages.

 

However, there was a helpful conversation today with an HSBC deputy manager at my local branch who basically said HSBC head office are "talking rubbish". He said they (head office) should have intervened earlier and taken the erroneous payment back as soon as they were aware of the error. Thankfully the deputy branch manager has taken the case on as a priority. He's taken all the details and liaised with the hospital payroll department to get confirmation of the facts. He's also put the HSBC fraud investigation team on it and promised that I will definitely get the money back. He said that it was ridiculous that it had gone this far as this is an easy problem to address as this sort of thing happens all the time.

 

We shall see what happens but I'm feeling reassured that'll be getting the money back now. With a bit of luck the little scrote that is trying to steal the money will get a wrap around the knuckles or better. Apparently the person who receives money in error has a duty to tell the bank and pay it back as soon as they notice the error. If they have reasonable grounds why they should keep the money, a civil court case can ultimately be brought against them. If however they are trying to keep the money by deception (ie lying about it when they are asked to pay it back), then it becomes fraud. That is a criminal matter which is an entirely different ball game.

 

I'll keep you posted on the outcome.

 

Pony

[DarkPony]

The outcome:

 

Eventually a deputy branch manager got hold of his regional manager and they went through the banking code together. They found that money can indeed be reclaimed by the bank and given to the right person in a situation like this.

 

I got my money back. However this took an insane amount of effort and only came about because the deputy manager was a nice guy and prepared to chase this. It's sick that the majority of people in the bank were just prepared to let me swing for nearly £2K. Something should be done about this. The message is be persistent.