# Bank Mistake



## Gerry (24 May 2006)

Hi Everyone

I hope someone can help me, I had two standing orders with the AIB and recently I have to change one of them, I had to increase a payment to a credit union from 90 euro to 120 euro (Nov 05). However I also had a standing order for 10 euro a week, which was sent to my dad. I now live outside of Ireland and do most of my banking via the internet.

I have now just found out that the girl I was talking to who increased the payment from €90 to €120, by mistake increased my dads also to €120 euro. He has been getting €480 euro since last November. 

I love my dad, and I know that he would have thought I had increased it for him before I left Ireland and I do not want to have to ask him to repay as he is not very well off. I know he would have used it for his day to day living.

Is he obliged to repay me or is it the bank, if its him I will not go any further with it. But if its the Bank then I would be very happy to get my money back.

Any advice would be welcome

Gerry


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## CCOVICH (24 May 2006)

Couple of things.

Did you give the instruction to the bank in writing?  Do you have a record of what you told them to do?

I can appreciate your situation, but would your dad not have noticed that he was getting €120 rather than €10?

Could you not pay your dad the €10 a month for the next 40 months or so?

If it is the bank's mistake, I would imagine that they would repay you, but they may then (try to) reclaim the money from your dad.


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## Gerry (24 May 2006)

Hi CCOVICH

Thanks for that, I gave the instructions to the bank via the phone on online banking to increase the 90 to 120 standing order.  They came back to me and told me the girl made a mistake.

second, yes my day may have noticed but i had just left the country and he just thought I raised the amount because I often give him money to help him out when i visit.

im not sure of the third part of the comment about me paying him 10 for 40 mts im think you are saying could he not pay me...

It is the banks mistake, but because I did set up a standing order and my dad new it and he was receiving €40 per mth, then it rose to €480 he just thought it was because I was leaving the country.  I dont think its fair for him to have to repay I think its the banks problem, and they should repay me.


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## CCOVICH (24 May 2006)

Gerry said:
			
		

> They came back to me and told me the girl made a mistake.



So you are in the right then, good news.  I'm still not sure if the bank will attempt to recover the funds from your father in order to repay you-but if you create enough fuss, I think they may repay you and not reclaim the funds from your father.  But I wouldn't be entirely confident of this.




			
				Gerry said:
			
		

> im not sure of the third part of the comment about me paying him 10 for 40 mts im think you are saying could he not pay me...



What I meant is this:


I presumed you were regularly paying your dad €10 per month   
You have paid him €480 for 4 months, €440 too much   
So don't pay him for the next 44 months and there is no difference, i.e. you have already paid him for 48 months instead of €40.
Best of luck.  Someone who has been through a similar experience may have some 'real life' experience.


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## Gerry (24 May 2006)

Thank you very much for your reply, I would love to hear from others who may be able to give me some advice?

gerry


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## Marion (25 May 2006)

Gerry

Has your dad spent the money or is it still in his account? 

I accept that it is a bank error, but if the money has not been spent then perhaps no harm has been done and the solution is just to explain to your dad that the bank made an error and took too much money from your account and lodged it into his. 

You could then ask him what he would prefer to do - a) leave the money there as a payment for the months ahead or b) withdraw the sum that should not have been lodged. 

If this is resolved by your father agreeing to either a) or B) then, you could perhaps let the bank know how kind your father has been to extricate the bank from a difficult situation and that perhaps a token of appreciation for your dad might be in order.

If the money has been necessarily spent by your dad in good faith - well then you need to negotiate with the bank to find a satisfactory solution.

Marion


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## conor_mc (25 May 2006)

Without wanting to sound a bit callous, if this standing order were for paying a gym membership or something, you or I would be screaming blue murder and insisting that the bank reclaim the funds and credit the amount back to our a/c's immediately.

While I can understand how you don't want to put your father out, I don't necessarily agree that the bank should have to tip-toe around that particular matter, as it is a personal one. If their normal procedure to make good this type of mistake is is to reclaim the amount paid in error, why should it be any different because you have a personal relationship with the payee?

Having said that, you can try and explain the situation to them. They may refund the money to your account, or agree to refund it in part, as a gesture of goodwill.


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## smmb (22 Jul 2006)

Firstly, the Bank has to agree that the standing order was changed in error and acknowledge that. A change to a standing order *has* to be confirmed in writing - even if you did it over the phone they would have written to you to advise you. If they didnt you re in luck, if they did, you re not. 

Secondly, regardless of where the money went, an account holder has an unusual obligation which has caught a lot of people out in court - if you have money lodged into your account which is deemed out of range transaction for your account (ie if someone lodges 1,000 into your account and your dont usually get lodgements of this amount) you rescind your rights to the extra money as it is out of your usual course. So they may try this tack with your dad to get the funds back, it does happen unfortunately.


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## Audrey (25 Jul 2006)

I think the Bank should repay you - it was entirely their mistake, which they have accepted.  For information, I recently returned from holiday in Croatia.  Had bought Kuna (Croatian currency) at a rate of 7.1 Kuna to the Euro before I went.  While I was away, the Kuna remained in or around 7 to the Euro.  When I returned the Kuna was 7 to the Euro.  However, when I lodged some Kuna that I brought back with me (amazingly!) the exchange rate given to me was 10.59 Kuna to the Euro, thus I lost Eur88 on the transaction.  Yet, the next day the rate was 7 Kuna to the Euro.  I wrote to the Bank.  I enclosed a printout of the rate of exchange on the day of writing, and a copy of the rate of exchange I paid before going on holidays.  I also said I would close all my accounts within a week if something wasn't done.  They said they made a mistake and would refund the overcharge - they in fact deposited 100 euro in my account straight away.  It only cost me the price of a stamp!  I advise you to complain to the Bank.


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## CCOVICH (25 Jul 2006)

Nobody disputes the fact that the bank should repay _Gerry_.

The issue is whether or not they reclaim the money from his father.


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## Audrey (25 Jul 2006)

Sorry, I thought he was asking whether he should approach the bank for repayment ........ "Is he obliged to repay me or is it the bank, if its him I will not go any further with it. But if its the Bank then I would be very happy to get my money back".


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