Help please - overpayment refund

[Morris Owner]

Hello everyone

 

I am asking for some advice as to how to proceed to reclaim an overpayment I inadvertantly made. It is a bit of a convoluted story, so please bear with me!

 

I had been repaying a business account overdraft to Natwest after the account closed. This was at the rate of £25 per month. The debt was run up when I was still married, and the last address that the bank had was the former marital home where my estranged ex-wife still lives. I had arranged the repayments through my solicitor at the time, some 6 years ago.

I had been paying regularly from a Nationwide Flexaccount, which was upgraded a few years back to a new account with a chequebook. All standing orders etc were transferred across to the new account. Unfortunately, I did not notice that the end date of payments had been deleted during this switch.

 

I had an overhaul of my finances in November, and discovered that I had in fact been paying for far too long. I cancelled the standing order immediately, and contacted NatWest at Credit Management, in Telford. They advised that the account had been closed in April 2006, and a refund cheque of £144.51 issued to me at my ex's address. Needless to say I never received it! They agreed to see if the cheque had been cashed. I have just been informed that it has, even though my ex doesn't have my name any more.

 

As it will be verging on the impossible to get anywhere with her, I want to pursue the bank to get my money back. Surely this is a case of a bank error, in accepting a cheque to a 3rd party (me!) compounded with fraud on her part? If so, has anyone any idea as to how I can remedy the situation please?

 

Any help would be very gratefully received!

 

MO

[Guest NATTIE]

You need to ask who the cheque was payable to. If it was to you then you need to report it as fraud as if it is payable to you and has been cashed then clearly you haven;t cashed it.

[Morris Owner]

Thanks Nattie,

It was made payable to me, solely in my name. I have requested full details of the bank account into which it was paid, and a copy of the cheque itself. They weren't too keen at first, but I advised them of my rights under the DPA, and they immediately agreed!

MO

[Guest NATTIE]

Maybe you should have stated that as you have no knowledge of receiving it then it is suspected fraud, and you would need a copy for the police and the number for NatWest Fraud team

[Morris Owner]

If I get no joy from them, I'll try that tack. thanks.

[Morris Owner]

Has anyone any idea who the liability rests with, (apart from ex!) Natwest, who issued the cheque to me, or the bank that ex paid the cheque into?

[Guest NATTIE]

until it is confirmed where the cheque has been paid into the liability is twofold. If the cheque was payable to you then the person that paid it into an account that does not have your name on it. It should have been spotted.

[bigkacker]

It's your responsibility to notifty them of chang of address, however if your wife has cashed the cheque she is a fraudster and I'd grass on her to the police.