Lodged 900EUR to wrong bank account

Elevelyn

Hi All,

I lodged my rent money (cash) into what I thought was my landlords bank account. I put the right name, sort code and nearly the right account number on it, I just noticed that the last 2 digits are wrong.

I didn't know I had put the wrong details on the lodgement slip until this morning my landlord text me saying that our rent wasn't there. I thought it was the cashier that made the mistake because he counted the money 4 times and got it wrong and he had made mistakes with people in front of me. That was until I looked back and saw that it was my stupid fault.

Is there any way i can get this sorted because I don't have another 900EUR and I cant check with the bank till Tuesday :(:(

coylemj

If you lodged it as cash to a cashier then the official should have checked the name on the account to make sure that you gave the correct a/c number. That's unless the official just stamped the lodgement slip but didn't enter it in the system there and then which is probably what happened given that it was the Friday of a bank holiday w/e so maybe it was left to the backroom staff to enter it. That's why they ask you to enter your name and a contact number on a lodgement slip, it's so that they can contact you if there's a problem with the lodgement. Hopefully they will spot it on Tuesday and phone you but there's really nothing you can do about it until Tuesday I'm afraid.

For the future, you would be better off adding the landlord as a payee on your online banking system, then transfer the money electronically. If you're collecting cash from fellow tenants, just lodge it as cash in a branch of your own bank and it will be in your account immediately meaning you can then electronically transfer it to the landlord.

Elevelyn

Thanks for replying.

I lodged it on the 22nd April, and gave my phone number too. he was looking at the slip and was typing stuff before he stamped it so I guessed it went in fine and thought no more about it until today.

Hopefully I can get it back

Fred Swanson

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Kenno90

You should be able to get it back they have a paper trail. They could just transfer the money from this unknown account in to the right one.

Even if this unknown person spent all the money they second they received it, it shouldn't matter.

Stuff like this happens all the time

BazzaDP

Not sure where you get you information from but can I move to your bank? They sound great!!

Fred Swanson

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Gordon

Kenno90 wrote: »

You should be able to get it back they have a paper trail. They could just transfer the money from this unknown account in to the right one.

Even if this unknown person spent all the money they second they received it, it shouldn't matter.

Stuff like this happens all the time

That's not allowed in the UK, I would have thought it'd be the same in Ireland.

BazzaDP

Basically if it went to an account that didn't exist, then it should be in a holding account owned by the bank and you should get it back as soon as they track it down. Banks aren't always the quickest to react in these situations so might take a lot of pushing but pursue it.

If it went to another account that IS a real account then it gets complicated. Usually the bank basically needs to ask for it back from that other customer. The other customer isn't usually technically allowed to keep it but neither is the bank allowed to just go in and get it back. The idea being that the other customer may not have noticed this money wasn't their's and spent it and asking for it back immediately is a bit unfair. Obviously you can argue they should notice, it's not their money... etc. etc. but that's usually the principle the banks follow. If the other customer is being really awkward you'd need to sue them to get the money back. The other complication is that the bank are usually not allowed to tell you who got the money for data protection reasons so everything has to go through the banks at least until you start down the legal route - which as I said above can be a long, slow process.

One thing you can be sure of is that your bank will not just refund it if the recipient has spent it. Banks aren't that generous!

Best of luck getting your money back and hopefully it's in a bank holding account or the receipt is nice and honest and you get it back soon!

Elevelyn

Hi Again,

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

Went to the bank this morning and pretended I didn't know I had made a mistake (I changed the last 2 digits on the slip I had to the correct numbers) and explained that my landlord was onto me about the rent. The the cashier that I dealt with last time checked it out and said it went to a wrong account and said he would put it through straight away. So all is sorted thank god.

I'm guessing that it didn't go to someone else's account because it was sorted out so fast.

Thanks again everyone.

Gordon

Phew, it must have gone to a holding account as the account didn't exist, nice one

Had a similar situation myself about 4 years ago. My letting agent put the wrong account number on the standing order and my rent ended up in another landlord's bank account. They initially denied it and blamed the bank but it was obviously their fault.

I had to rely on the other landlord to lodge the money back to me, luckily he did.

Fred Swanson

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bijou

Similar (ish) thing hapened to me. Cashier forgot to close off my details after I'd paid in some money. So the next customers lodgement went into my account.

I wasn't 100 yards up the road when my phone rang and it was the cashier telling me she'd cocked up and was full of apologies and that she was letting me know that a substantial lodgement would appear going into my account followed immediately with a withdrawal.

Fair play to her for owning up!!

homer911

On an 8 digit account number, the last number is a check digit. Its calculated by reference to the first 7 digits and the sort code. Its unlikely you would have hit on someone else's account number by transposing digits

seamus

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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You'd actually sue the "chancer" who kept money which didn't belong to them. And you would win, quite easily.

It's pretty well established in law that money transferred into your bank account in error is not "yours" and you are obliged to return it.

If the recipient was a down-and-out who instantly spent your €900 and manages to convince the court that he can only afford to pay back €2 a week for the next ten years, you may as well not get the money back at all.

The main issue though would be legal costs, which could make it absolutely pointless to even begin proceedings for the sake of €900.

Fred Swanson

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