Costly mistake

[Kendhni]

"A woman who paid £26,000 of wages into the wrong bank account over two years has been left unable to get her missing money back - after the recipient spent it."
Money deposited in wrong account

You can see all sides of this story and it is a tough one to call. The mistake was of the woman's own making; she should have checked the account; the bank did nothing wrong; even the recipient that spent her money probably has made up some excuse justifying their lack of integrity and honesty. I am also surprised that this could happen simply by typing one digit wrong .. I thought most bank account numbers contained a check digit, which while not fool proof usually detects transposition or a single digit being entered wrongly.

If the bank pays her back it could set a dangerous precedent .. personally I think the law should give the woman recourse against those that misappropriated it.

[Kendhni]

I wonder if the taxman or benefits office will take into account the money received by the morally inept?

[Mo2013]

I think the woman should have recourse to get her money back. Although she made a mistake there should be some process by which money is not deposited into the wrong account so easily. The person who has spent it was wrong, it was not their money to spend and they should have to repay every penny.

[jay-ell71]

How come neither of them noticed the lack of £1000 showing in the account. When you get the receipt from the ATM is shows your balance. Jay.

[david63]

I think the woman should have recourse to get her money back. Although she made a mistake there should be some process by which money is not deposited into the wrong account so easily. The person who has spent it was wrong, it was not their money to spend and they should have to repay every penny.

She can - by taking out a private prosecution against the person who "stole" her money, however the first hurdle is to find out who that person is which will, in all probability, require a court order for the bank to divulge that information.

[melsea]

Jay

Not all ATM dispenses the balance when you have taken out cash, I haven't had this for a long time but you can of course check at any time. What I do not understand is why the lady had not noticed their bank account was short of funds.
I can remember a company I worked for paid double our wages and this mistake was realised immediately and a meeting was held and letter sent to all staff warning them if they spent it they would be breaking the law, this was about 15 years ago.

[Wina G]

I can't understand how someone hasn't noticed/checked their balance for two years I always make a point of regularly checking the balances on our accounts

[david63]

As with all of these things that are reported in the media there is more to it than has been published.

Remember the old adage - "never let the facts get in the way of a [good] story"

[Boris+]

I think I smell a rat here folks! This person alleges that a regular amount was paid into a bank account. Ok, anyone can pay money into any bank account - but then in order to check that account online she would have needed to know passwords etc. If she had been paying money into an account number which was not hers then she could not have checked the balance, and furthermore if the account number she was using was not hers then she would not have received regular paper statements or a P60.

I don't believe it. Who on earth would just pay money in willy-nilly and not check the balance? Nobody or a dimwit! I use online banking and there are all sorts of double-checks with the system I use - some banks have pictures and phrases which you have to recognise before you can access an account.

We had an instance recently where my husband went to pay money in to a bank, and he completed the paying-in slip but the counter clerk would not accept the paying-in slip because whilst all the details on the main part of the slip were present and correct he had not written his name and account number on the stub part. We thought that the counter clerk was a bit silly because we knew whose account it was going into (his) qed we felt there was no need to write in that information. We also knew that the account number written down was correct, but still the counter clerk made a fuss and the stub was completed and accepted.

I just don't believe this story - and I can't accept it at face value.

Em

[david63]

Why would you get a P60 for transferring money from one account to another?

[Silver_Shiney]

She was foolish not to check her balance regularly, but the recipient had a responsibility to check her balance too, and investigate the appearance of unexpected funds.

Still, must be nice to be in a position where you can pay your salary into a bank and not need it for two years!

[Boris+]

Hi David - I always thought that if an account receives interest then a P60 should be issued. Where we have accounts which receive interest we usually get an email directing us to the secure facility for downloading/printing out/requesting a P60 hard copy - depending on the account and depending on the financial institution involved.

With some accounts we can download the item, with others we have to print them out - and with some we have to then request a hardcopy.

Em

[Silver_Shiney]

You're right, Em

[Boris+]

Hi SS,

It's just because I have the 'pleasure' of keeping records and doing the tax return stuff - and I tend to like life when all my calculations and spreadsheets are correct to the exact penny! Boy how 'sad' does that make me sound? Sorry.

Em

[towny44]

I can't understand how someone hasn't noticed/checked their balance for two years I always make a point of regularly checking the balances on our accounts

I can't understand how she managed for 2 years without needing to spend any of the money.

[Boris+]

Maybe she was saving up for something special - but then why didn't she double check what was going on whenever better offers arise? Normally there are good offers around at the end of the financial year, and also many of these saving schemes are such that the customer gets a good interest rate for 12 months and then the customer has to sort out either moving the money to a different financial institution or a newer version of the existing account (which after 12 months can plummet down to 0.5%).

So, double fishy - if this person was so keen on saving, surely there should have been an annual review?

Em

[Silver_Shiney]

Hi SS,

It's just because I have the 'pleasure' of keeping records and doing the tax return stuff - and I tend to like life when all my calculations and spreadsheets are correct to the exact penny! Boy how 'sad' does that make me sound? Sorry.

Em

You think that's sad? Not only do I do that, I check the unit prices of my pension funds every day!

[Boris+]

Hi Silver Shiney,

Snap!

I do my checking up and keep my graphs up to date - I'm so sad I even did spread sheets and graphs when practicing for golf!!!

Oh well - it's all grist to the mill.

Em

[Onelife]

Well this is what I think..

I think I smell a rat here folks! This person alleges that a regular amount was paid into a bank account. Ok, anyone can pay money into any bank account - but then in order to check that account online she would have needed to know passwords etc. If she had been paying money into an account number which was not hers then she could not have checked the balance, and furthermore if the account number she was using was not hers then she would not have received regular paper statements or a P60.

I don't believe it. Who on earth would just pay money in willy-nilly and not check the balance? Nobody or a dimwit! I use online banking and there are all sorts of double-checks with the system I use - some banks have pictures and phrases which you have to recognise before you can access an account.

We had an instance recently where my husband went to pay money in to a bank, and he completed the paying-in slip but the counter clerk would not accept the paying-in slip because whilst all the details on the main part of the slip were present and correct he had not written his name and account number on the stub part. We thought that the counter clerk was a bit silly because we knew whose account it was going into (his) qed we felt there was no need to write in that information. We also knew that the account number written down was correct, but still the counter clerk made a fuss and the stub was completed and accepted.

I just don't believe this story - and I can't accept it at face value.

Regards

OL

Em A box of keefy chocolates if you promise to say nothing

[Admiral of the Humber]

You are such a cynical little Midlander Keefy.

By the way, in your avatar, is that bloke riding a cow?

Neigh
Rob

[Onelife]

No Robbie it’s a donkey and I should know I’ve back enough of them

Actually the picture is of me jumping the last at Wincanton 42 years ago. But please don’t tell the others I’ve said that as I’ll also be known as the lying toad from Worcestershire

Regards

Keefy

[Dark Knight]

Too Late

toady boy

[Onelife]

See..told you so

[Kendhni]

I see the Guardian ran the same story

I have to agree with Em though that there may be something missing from the story (but then when it comes to reporting the Daily Mail and Guardian are often economic with facts).

Taking it as read I think the court should immediately inform the Nationwide that they can let the woman know who 'stole' her money so that action can be taken (including detemrining if there was any tax/benefit fraud). If nothing else the woman should get satisfaction of having the face and name of a dishonest thief splashed over the media.

[Silver_Shiney]

I see the Guardian ran the same story

I have to agree with Em though that there may be something missing from the story (but then when it comes to reporting the Daily Mail and Guardian are often economic with facts).

Taking it as read I think the court should immediately inform the Nationwide that they can let the woman know who 'stole' her money so that action can be taken (including detemrining if there was any tax/benefit fraud). If nothing else the woman should get satisfaction of having the face and name of a dishonest thief splashed over the media.

I agree