My wife sadly passed away in 2021, and I have spent some time sorting out her finances. She kept her savings in NS&I’s Premium Bonds, which can be held by a person’s estate for a year after they have died.
Once that time passed, the money was transferred to my Barclays current account. I decided I should put it to work and earn a better interest rate, so I opened a savings account with Coventry Building Society.
In October 2022, I transferred £2,000 into the new account using the Barclays banking app – but I made a mistake. I used the correct Coventry sort code for the transfer, but I accidentally put in the account number of my Barclays account.
I am 75 and not the best at using technology, and I was also suffering with Covid at the time which gave me ‘brain fog’ – but I accept this was my error.
Savings search: Our reader has been trying to track down a £2,000 sum after he mistakenly entered the wrong account number when transferring between accounts
I called the Coventry first thing the next morning and, to my relief, I was told not to worry and that the transfer wouldn’t go through as an account didn’t exist with those details. The person said the money would probably be put into a holding account and go back to Barclays.
I called Barclays, and was told it could take up to 20 days for the money to be returned.
I called back 20 days later after I didn’t get the money. This time, Barclays told me that, despite what the Coventry said before, the money had been paid into someone else’s account. This person had not responded to the Coventry’s request for the money back, Barclays said, so it couldn’t be returned.
I have made many complaints to Coventry and Barclays, but they fall on deaf ears. I’ve been a customer of Barclays for 50 years, as was my late wife.
Does someone else have my money, and will I ever see it again? A.K, Lancashire
Helen Crane of This is Money replies: Getting a loved one’s finances in order after they have died can be really difficult, and I know this money transfer mix-up will have made it even more challenging.
Entering the account number wrongly was an easy mistake to make – and one you freely admit to.
At 75 you say you aren’t especially tech-savvy, but with high-street banks closing at a rate of knots, going online often seems like the only option for many.
I don’t know if your local branch is one of those affected, but Barclays is closing 41 in 2023 alone.
Accidents will inevitably happen when sending money online.
This is why some banks now check the account details customers put in to confirm that there is a real person’s account at the other end, and the money is not just being thrown out into the ether – or worse, to someone who is not who they say they are.
This is under a system called Confirmation of Payee, which the UK’s six biggest banking groups were forced to sign up to back in 2020.
These are Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group (including RBS), Santander, HSBC (including First Direct) and Nationwide Building Society. Some other banks and building societies have since chosen to join, but many have not. Unfortunately for you, that list includes the Coventry.
When transferring money to and from someone who has an account with one of these organisations, the bank’s online system will check for a ‘match’ between the name and account number provided.
If the bank can’t confirm that there is an account with the same name and account number, the customer will be told there is ‘no match’. Ultimately, they can still choose to go ahead and send the money – but they will have been served a warning.
Lost cash: Our reader was worried he would never see his late wife’s £2,000 savings again after he accidentally entered the wrong details
If the bank, like Coventry, is not part of this system, a message will usually appear saying that the account cannot be verified.
In your case, you realised very quickly that you had sent £2,000 of your late wife’s money to the wrong place. You put in a panicked call to the Coventry, understandably worried about the money turning up in a stranger’s bank account.
I’m sure you breathed a huge sigh of relief when the person on the end of the phone told you that hadn’t happened – but unfortunately, that is not where this story ends.
You were told that the money was probably in a holding account and that Barclays, as the originating bank, would need to request the money back and then return it to you.
But when you checked in after the 20 days it asked you to wait had passed, you were shocked to be told that you couldn’t have your cash.
Desperate: Our reader even wrote letters to Barclays and Coventry in a bid to try and retrieve the money
It had ended up in someone else’s account after all, Barclays said – and that person had gone quiet when the Coventry asked for the money back.
As a Barclays current account customer of more than 50 years, you expected better – but your subsequent questions and complaints seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Unfortunately, money doesn’t legally have to be returned by a bank in cases where it has been sent in error.
You made countless phone calls to both Barclays and the Coventry, as well as sending letters, to try and find out more.
You asked them to confirm once and for all whether or not the money had been put in someone else’s account, who that person was, and whether the money had been spent – but both said they would not because of data protection.
When you contacted me, you said you were sure that you would never see the money again.
I got in touch with both Barclays and the Coventry to see if they would help.
With the former, I am afraid I had no luck. It told me that it followed the correct procedures and had not made an error.
A spokesperson said: ‘We have every sympathy with our customer who mistakenly sent funds to an unintended recipient, due to an incorrect account number being entered.
‘We realise this can be very distressing, and we encourage customers to always double check they have the correct account details before making a payment. We acted swiftly in approaching the receiving bank to recover any remaining funds, but this has been unsuccessful.’
The Coventry, however, was more sympathetic once I got involved. It admitted that the money was paid into another customer’s account and has refunded you the full £2,000 that you transferred, as well as a £200 goodwill gesture.
A spokesperson said: ‘We’re really sorry that A.K’s money was not returned to him sooner.
‘Cases like this are rare but when they do happen we typically resolve them quickly. We’ve put the money into [their] account and we’ve apologised to him for the worry and inconvenience this has caused.’
You have told me you are delighted and asked me to give the Coventry a ‘shout out’ for finally resolving your problem.
You also voiced your disappointment that, as such a long-standing current account customer of Barclays – which your late wife was, too – that the bank did not consider refunding your money itself.
I’m glad this bank transfer blunder has been put right.
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