Help me please!

Loobz

Hi everyone.

I have recently been payed a sum of money which was trusted to me from a relative who passed away some time ago. The money was put into a bank account which I cannot touch for 4 years. Somehow, through human error, a large sum was also added to the sum that was trusted to me. It is sombody elses money, obviously, but the bank made the mistake.

Do I have any leg to stand on if I tell the bank that they cannot take that money? After all, it is in my account. I know that the money belongs to somebody else, but the bank slipped up big time. What should I do when the bank come looking for the money?

Im only 21 and have very little legal knowledge. Can anyone advise me on what I should do? The bank obviously have more 'power' than me but I would like to know if I have a fighting chance at all.

Has anybody seen this type of situation before?

Thank you for your help.

zenith

You don't have a fighting chance keeping it legally.

It's someone else's money, and the bank can/will take it back: through the courts, and trans-nationally, if necessary. Tell them now, and forget thinking you can keep it. They may reward your honesty, but that's about it. Let it go.

Unless you want to go for a life of crime, that is. But you'd be a bad person if you chanced waiting the four years, withdrew it all, and vanished.

BuffyBot

You don't have a fighting chance keeping it legally.

And the sooner you do it, the better!

Loobz

Thanks for the info.

What would the bank do if I had spent all the money the day I got it. Obviously I would never do that - keep it for a rainy day. But IF I did, then it would be gone and there would be no way for me to repay it. What would happen in that case?

I will give it back but so many things could of happened before they discovered the mistake - its about 6 months since I was trusted with the sum.

Thanks

Loobz

the bank already know about the mistake - thought id mention that. They told me about it. I did not know until they contacted me.

Lafortezza

The will have an electronic paper trail of all the transactions.
They will have all the details of the transaction that went wrong when the other persons money went into your account Therefore they can easily prove that the money wasn't yours and that it was a simple error and that you have no claim on that extra money.

Believe me there's rules and laws that always protect the banks against errors like this.

shoegirl

Ok, as far as I am aware if the bank made the error in your favour and you spent the money, unaware that it existed, technically the bank were in the wrong. However, I am not 100% sure if you have to pay it back. If you have not already spent it, then technicially the best thing to do is to simply allow them to fix the mistake.

However, if the bank gave your money to somebody else, its the bank thats to blame and not the person who receives the money. Its all extremely complex.

If you haven't touched the money, I'd advise that you don't. If you have, get a solicitor straight away. They may not be compelled to make you pay it back.