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How long have the bank got to correct their error?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I know I work in the HR Dept., but this is about banking errors, not work exactly.
On December’s payday, I was paid twice what I should have been. Two separate payments; one from the new bank the company I work for had just started using (as expected) and another from the old bank (Natwest) who were told to cancel the BACS agreement but didn’t (entirely their fault, which they admit).
Initially, we were given the option of either keeping the extra payment and not being paid in January, or of paying it back and receiving our salaries as normal in January (clearing up the few whose payments weren’t equal along the way – those who worked different amounts of overtime, etc). Now, we are told that we shouldn’t have been asked to pay this back to the Company as it wasn’t the Company’s error; it was Natwest’s, so it’s Natwest’s money and they should be the one asking for it back. Everyone who paid it back by cheque is now being paid that amount again, so in effect everyone will end up with twice the money they should have received.
Natwest apparently now intend on sending a letter to the Company for them to forward on to the employees to appeal for them to return the money (Data Protection prevents us sharing the names and addresses of the employees with Natwest so they can’t contact the employees directly. However, the Company is not legally obliged to forward on this communication nor are the employees legally obliged to return the money purely as a result of this plea from Natwest (so we believe).
We’re told that for the unfortunate thirteen employees who bank with Natwest, the money can be taken directly out of their accounts. However, for the rest (including me) who bank elsewhere, if we were not to respond to this communication from Natwest (if the Company does in fact publish it to all employees), how and when would Natwest be able to track us all down to issue court papers to demand the money back? Is there a time limit on how long they have got to issue demands that we pay? Is it a case of, if they’ve not been in touch in three months or so, are we free to spend the money because they’ve run out of time to collect it? In the meantime, mine is gathering dust and interest in a savings account.
Apologies for the length! Thanks to anyone who read this far and can advise!
On December’s payday, I was paid twice what I should have been. Two separate payments; one from the new bank the company I work for had just started using (as expected) and another from the old bank (Natwest) who were told to cancel the BACS agreement but didn’t (entirely their fault, which they admit).
Initially, we were given the option of either keeping the extra payment and not being paid in January, or of paying it back and receiving our salaries as normal in January (clearing up the few whose payments weren’t equal along the way – those who worked different amounts of overtime, etc). Now, we are told that we shouldn’t have been asked to pay this back to the Company as it wasn’t the Company’s error; it was Natwest’s, so it’s Natwest’s money and they should be the one asking for it back. Everyone who paid it back by cheque is now being paid that amount again, so in effect everyone will end up with twice the money they should have received.
Natwest apparently now intend on sending a letter to the Company for them to forward on to the employees to appeal for them to return the money (Data Protection prevents us sharing the names and addresses of the employees with Natwest so they can’t contact the employees directly. However, the Company is not legally obliged to forward on this communication nor are the employees legally obliged to return the money purely as a result of this plea from Natwest (so we believe).
We’re told that for the unfortunate thirteen employees who bank with Natwest, the money can be taken directly out of their accounts. However, for the rest (including me) who bank elsewhere, if we were not to respond to this communication from Natwest (if the Company does in fact publish it to all employees), how and when would Natwest be able to track us all down to issue court papers to demand the money back? Is there a time limit on how long they have got to issue demands that we pay? Is it a case of, if they’ve not been in touch in three months or so, are we free to spend the money because they’ve run out of time to collect it? In the meantime, mine is gathering dust and interest in a savings account.
Apologies for the length! Thanks to anyone who read this far and can advise!
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Comments
As for the bank I am not sure, there must be some kind of Financial Services/Bank Regulator, maybe you could try getting in touch with them and asking a vague ish question along the lines of 'If a bank pay me money in error what happens, do I keep it or can I be made to pay it back?'.
Failing that, I guess you could try Ask TheSite!
The bank will be able to trace the money using the sort code and account number of the mandate, and will be able to reclaim the money through the bank clearing system. When we send money to the wrong account we can recall it back, and NatWest will be no different.
Apparently they tried that but ran out of time due to all the bank hols getting in the way - this happened over Christmas and New Year.
If they can't do it that way (which they seemed to have stopped talking about), would they be able to track everyone down with only their sort code and account number?
There's a letter going out tomorrow apparently, including this plea from Natwest, so we'll see what that says.
Thanks!
they just kept forwarding threatening letters to everyone (via the company) but i don't know what happened then, i wasn't one of the ones overpaid