Barclays have lost my account details *** Old funds refunded !! ***

[Erdi]

Hi I opened a deposit account back in the 1980 with Barclays Bank and did not try to touch it ever since but now they claim to have no record of my account.

Can someone give me some advice, could I take them to court? Do I have a case? They side that they could only conclude that I withdrew my funds and closed my accounts longer than 6 years ago and that they have no record of my account.

What can I do I don’t want to lose my money:(

[MARTIN3030]

Welcome to the site.

Are you saying that you still had money in the account ?

How did you request the details from them -and have you got anything in writing from them ?

[rebel11]

If you've got a deposit account, have you got a passbook or some documentation as to the balance on the account? Also they might have a

Dormant Account Department.

[MARTIN3030]

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Moneybox | Dormant accounts survey

[MARTIN3030]

See also here;

 

How the British Bankers' Association (BBA) helps you find your lost bank account.

The British Bankers' Association can help you trace your lost bank account. It is also possible to trace another person's lost account if you are legally empowered to do so. This free service applies to every bank in the UK and is covered by The Banking Code.

To complete the form online at mylostaccount.org.uk. The form is six pages long and should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.

 

Related Links

 

mylostaccount.org.uk (External Link)

[MARTIN3030]

How to reclaim the money in your dormant account - Consumer

[Erdi]

Welcome to the site.

Are you saying that you still had money in the account ?

How did you request the details from them -and have you got anything in writing from them ?

 

 

Hi I had about £1307 in the account, I originally went into a Barclay’s branch to try and draw the funds but they said they could not locate the account and gave me a lost account form to fill out.

They then wrote back and said that they carried out a thorough search of all available records including founds held in respect of dormant accounts and had been unable to locate my account using the information I supplied.

Which was copies of deposit slips and a statement of account, they all said that they can only conclude that the account was closed in the normal way of withdrawal between 1989 and 2004 and records are only retained for six years!

[rebel11]

Maybe write a letter to there Head Office.

[rhos123]

Hi I had about £1307 in the account, I originally went into a Barclay’s branch to try and draw the funds but they said they could not locate the account and gave me a lost account form to fill out.

They then wrote back and said that they carried out a thorough search of all available records including founds held in respect of dormant accounts and had been unable to locate my account using the information I supplied.

Which was copies of deposit slips and a statement of account, they all said that they can only conclude that the account was closed in the normal way of withdrawal between 1989 and 2004 and records are only retained for six years!

,

 

i bet you if you owed the money to the piarates at barclays they would soon find the lost account! send them a formal letter of complaint, make them look for this account.

[MARTIN3030]

30 years is a long time though-can you say why you have left it so long ?

[Erdi]

30 years is a long time though-can you say why you have left it so long ?

 

 

To be honest, I am now 72 years old, I put the founds in the account years ago and chose to leave them for such time that I would need the money, I didn’t think that the bank would close my account without contacting me or lose my account details.

 

I have also sent them numerate letters and filled out numerate forms, I have no less than 15 letters in front of me. I have also gone through the Financial ombudsman services but they also think that Barclays has followed the right procedure and claim that I should not uphold my complaint even though I did not draw my founds or close the account.

I think I need to take some sort of legal action as this has been going on since July 2009, Can anyone advice me on what the steps are for this?

[MARTIN3030]

Typical of the FOS.

If they are saying they have nothing on you,then a subject access request is unlikely to bring about anything either.

If you were to initiate legal action,then you would need to have some proof-which seemingly you have got.

Barclays are citing that the passage of time does not make it possible for them to be able to locate the account-and are very likely to use this in any challenge.

They are renowned for refusing to release anything outside of 6 years.

You could sue for recovery of it,and include a draft order that they furnish a statement of truth to say that a thorough search had been undertaken,and that there exists no archived documents which would turn up your account with them.

In the meantime it may help if you could give a brief outline of the letters you have already sent and include them by date-to who sent/address

and their replies ?

[Erdi]

Typical of the FOS.

If they are saying they have nothing on you,then a subject access request is unlikely to bring about anything either.

If you were to initiate legal action,then you would need to have some proof-which seemingly you have got.

Barclays are citing that the passage of time does not make it possible for them to be able to locate the account-and are very likely to use this in any challenge.

They are renowned for refusing to release anything outside of 6 years.

You could sue for recovery of it,and include a draft order that they furnish a statement of truth to say that a thorough search had been undertaken,and that there exists no archived documents which would turn up your account with them.

In the meantime it may help if you could give a brief outline of the letters you have already sent and include them by date-to who sent/address

and their replies ?

 

Hi Martin,

Do you mean post a brief outline of the letters on this actual thread ?

Also our there any law firms you would recommend around London that I could use?

[MARTIN3030]

Yes just brief details I mean you donrt have to name names-just where you sent them.

You say the FOS have advised you to drop your complaint ?

Were they contacted after Barclays gave a final response ?

Did the FOS have copies of everything ?

The CAG is a site where we encourage members to share advice and support-and so lets wait and see what other thoughts come.

I understand that at 72 it can be difficult to imagine taking on a big player like Barclays-but theres plenty of examples of people just like you doing that on here.

[MARTIN3030]

I am also flagging this up to a couple of people with much experience of Barclays.

[Erdi]

I am also flagging this up to a couple of people with much experience of Barclays.

 

 

Thanks martin,

Il get a brief decryption of all the letters up tomorrow as I have so much to do right now and thanks for flagging it up for me.

[banker_rhymes_with]

Hello Erdi!

 

Barclays telling pork pies again it seems!

 

OK, the best thing you can do is just have a damned good trawl through your paperwork, and see what else you can come up with that might help.

 

Do you have any Statements for other Barclays Accounts? If so, have a good look through them, and if none show any sign of that amount being transferred to them, that would help I am sure.

 

I don't think you can take Cash out of a Deposit AC, I may be wrong, but I think you would be asked to transfer the Balance into another Account, or something that did not involve Cash over the counter as it were.

 

In other words (IOW), there is likely to be some tell-tale via another Account, and if there is none, then that adds to your case that you never withdrew the money from the Deposit Account.

 

I'd drop Barclays a line in the interim, and say you want your money, and are now busy gathering the evidence to ensure you are paid, with interest.

 

Cheers,

BRW

Edited April 5, 2010 by banker_rhymes_with
Typo

[slick132]

Hi Erdi,

 

...... they can only conclude that the account was closed in the normal way of withdrawal between 1989 and 2004 and records are only retained for six years!

 

Can you confirm the significance, if any, of 2004 in this matter. Or are Barclays saying they simply have no data further back than 2004.

 

If you chose to appoint solicitors to represent you in this matter, you would spend more than the £1,300 in legal fees very quickly.

 

We believe Barclays hold info beyond the 6 years in one form or another but they only produce older data when forced to by the issuing of court action.

 

See here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/barclaycard/206050-webby-barclaycard-2.html#post2531382 This was concerning a Barclaycard a/c but the same principles apply and they produced data back to 2001.

 

Also, read about court action to get your data at articles 20, 21 and 22 here - The Consumer Forums - Bank charges templates (consumer)

 

If you have not yet made a formal SAR, that should be next on your agenda. The letter is here - http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/48-bank-templates/110--data-protection-act-1998-subject-access-request-

 

Despite the various options open to you, the best one by far would be for you to find anything with the old a/c number on it. So make sure you have checked everywhere that you may have kept bank statements, letters, etc.

[MARTIN3030]

They are lying to say they dont hold records beyond 6 years-we have lots of evidence not only to suggest they do...but to PROVE they do.

[phoenix11]

Just to add something that Barclays 'explained' to me about why they don't have accurate records prior to an unspecified date - in response to my complaint that a 'security quiestion' I answered to was held to be inaccurate, namely when did I open my account.

 

"The time a customer has banked with us is not the ideal question to ask as our records were moved to a computer database from written records kept at individual branches some time ago. During this transition, some accounts were not backdated and show as being open from the date of the computerisation instead of their actual date."

 

So, anyone who has been banking with Barclays for some time and prior to this 'computerisation' is going to find that Barclays are claiming they've not had an account that long.

[dovgar]

Hi Erdi,

Is there anything new about your lost account?

I have exactly the same problem with my deposit account!

I opened this account when I was a student in England in the early 80's.

Recently I discovered a statement of this account dated 1992.

I wrote to Barclays and received the same story about

no record of my account and the magic number 6 years.

Lucky me there was only £200 but I don’t want to give up to Barclays.

I held my account in a branch that has been closed.

Is your branch has been closed as well?

May be when they moved the written records to the new branch,

during the transition some records felled from the back of the lorry…..

Thanks

Dov

[Erdi]

Hi Erdi,

 

Is there anything new about your lost account?

I have exactly the same problem with my deposit account!

I opened this account when I was a student in England in the early 80's.

Recently I discovered a statement of this account dated 1992.

I wrote to Barclays and received the same story about

no record of my account and the magic number 6 years.

Lucky me there was only £200 but I don’t want to give up to Barclays.

I held my account in a branch that has been closed.

Is your branch has been closed as well?

May be when they moved the written records to the new branch,

during the transition some records felled from the back of the lorry…..

Thanks

 

Dov

 

Hi Dov,

It’s a bit of a funny end to be honest:!:. I kept going in and showing all the letters that I would get back to the manager in the end the manager gave me a refund and closed the account so i left it at that!

[dovgar]

Lucky you.

I already wrote a letter to the Customer Relations.

According to Barclays "Don't Hold Back Your Feedback" the next step is to write a letter

to the Ombudsman (without high hopes).

Do you know if in England to close an account you have to be present at the branch

or it could be done by post. If you have to be present it will help my case

since I never been to England since 1992.

[Erdi]

Lucky you.

I already wrote a letter to the Customer Relations.

According to Barclays "Don't Hold Back Your Feedback" the next step is to write a letter

to the Ombudsman (without high hopes).

Do you know if in England to close an account you have to be present at the branch

or it could be done by post. If you have to be present it will help my case

since I never been to England since 1992.

 

Apparently if the account is dormant they can close it but I don’t know for how long it can be dormant before they have a right to close it. maybe 6 years?

[slick132]

Hi Erdi,

 

I'm delighted to hear that you got your money back in the end.

 

Once again, persistence pays off.

 

Thread title changed to reflect your achievement.

 

8-)