Hi my uncle who is 78 and of sound mind is very sick has been told by one of the pillar banks that his life savings account was closed in 2002 and all his savings are gone. My uncle who has been in hospital for over 10 years did not close this account or withdraw any savings, he had over 200,000 saved and we have the bank statements to prove this. The bank said they can only go back 6 years and basically it's tough! My uncle is distraught at this and does not know what to do. All his statements were going to his old address while in hospital. My question is do banks hold records on micro fiche going back to 2002 as we need these to prove his life savings were in there and he most certainly didn't close the account!
Bank say account closed all savings gone?
- Thread starter Coffey
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Brendan Burgess
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That is nonsense from the bank although I suspect that your uncle has misunderstood.
What has probably happened here is that the money has been put into the [broken link removed]
Assuming he is correct in his memory, he will probably be able to get his money.
It is, of course, possible that someone defrauded your uncle and withdrew his money in 2002. If the bank's records show that he allegedly withdrew the money in cash in 2002, it might be difficult to prove otherwise.
Brendan
What has probably happened here is that the money has been put into the [broken link removed]
Assuming he is correct in his memory, he will probably be able to get his money.
It is, of course, possible that someone defrauded your uncle and withdrew his money in 2002. If the bank's records show that he allegedly withdrew the money in cash in 2002, it might be difficult to prove otherwise.
Brendan
Brendan I went to the bank with him, it was a terrible day, we have been also onto dormant accounts within the bank and have been told sorry the account was closed in 2002 but they can't tell us by whom and what balance, my uncle has been in 3 different hospitals for past 10 years he has never needed the money and only went to check in September to get his " affairs into order " as he now has cancer, we have a solicitor on the case now but they are being told the same thing records can only go back 6 years. My uncle did not close the bank and had not been near them in 30 years as there was no need as this was savings only, we have statements going back to 1998 showing the money was there, we have requested a dirt tax statement from revenue to prove he paid tax on his savings. It's a complete nightmare.
He didn't need money at all as he had a stroke was in Beaumont for 3 years then rehab for 2 years learning to walk again then in nursing home for past 8 years, he had a small pension going into his current account and old age pension, it's his savings account that has been closed on him by the bank, my concern is this could happen to anyone, just because the bank says one thing doesn't mean it's true!
Brendan Burgess
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The bank doesn't just close savings accounts and take the money.
If the bank is telling you that the account was closed in 2002, it is because someone withdrew the money and closed the account.
I don't think that the 6 year statute of limitations applies. The bank should know what it did with the money. Did it transfer it to some other account or give it out in cash?
It is on direct debit from his current account, all that is in order. The savings account is a separate account number of which we have a statement to show the money was there but according to the bank is now closed since 2002, my uncles current account where his pension goes in and fees come out is ok, it's his separate savings account that is the problem. We are hoping a revenue dirt tax statement will prove he paid tax on his savings and the money was there, we really need access to those bank records showing a paper trail, I'm not hopeful as bank say they are not obliged to keep such records.
Brendan dormant accounts told my uncles solicitor that all they have is a note on their screen to say account closed in 2002, they say they have no further info as it's too old. My worry is that people have money they think is safe and they leave it there this really could happen to anyone, we need access to micro Fiche records to show who closed, the money hasn't been transferred anywhere and there was no need for it to be transferred it was there for safe keeping.
It wouldn't be normal to keep 200k in an account and never look at a statement in 12 years, though. Is there any way to chase up his old address to see if anyone kept the statements (a long shot, admittedly).
Hi dub nerd, I have been to the old address as he was only renting there for years and no post goes there any more, he hadn't even seen any of his current account statements until we went to the bank in September but we managed to get copies of those going back 6 years. With the savings account the bank said they simply can't go back more than 6 years and therefore can't show us any records at all of who closed account. The mantra we are getting all the time is that it's too old, it's 2002 we are talking about not 1942 but apparently that's too old.
What is the last statement date that you have?
Not sure if Revenue are going to have anything specific on DIRT, is it not just paid in bulk by banks, my recollection is that they don't return individual amounts for accounts.
Access to microfiche may not show you a lot either if it simply showed a cash withdrawal to close, you would need a copy of the closing withdrawal form if they still have them on film.
If dormant accounts have it on record then that must be where it went initially anyway which would be usual if there was no contact on the account for that amount of time.
Access to microfiche may not show you a lot either if it simply showed a cash withdrawal to close, you would need a copy of the closing withdrawal form if they still have them on film.
If dormant accounts have it on record then that must be where it went initially anyway which would be usual if there was no contact on the account for that amount of time.
€200k was not taken in cash unless through an ATM over a period of time. How does the bank know that it was closed in 2002. Was there a specific date of closure and what was the amount taken when the account closed? Was it the full balance or the remaining balance. It is highly unlikely that someone would actually close the account rather they would draw down the balance and leave a few € in it.
What the bank is saying is complete and utter rubbish. There most be at least an electronic trail of where the money went and how it was withdrawn. €200k is a significant movement of funds for any bank especially in 2002.
A bank I used to work with around that time used to put all records about to be destroyed on microfiche so if you do have serious concerns you should escalate the issue. If you get nowhere and you think a crime has been committed (I would be surprised to be honest) then your relative might need to contact the Gardai.
A bank I used to work with around that time used to put all records about to be destroyed on microfiche so if you do have serious concerns you should escalate the issue. If you get nowhere and you think a crime has been committed (I would be surprised to be honest) then your relative might need to contact the Gardai.
IIRC recent tribunals got lots of information from banks regarding transactions going back a lot further than 2002! So I would say that their "...can't go back further than 6 years..." is not the truth, the whole truth etc...
I agree with WBBS that info from the statement is unlikely to provide much other than whether the funds were dispersed over time or in one lump sum.
If the dormant account information given to the solicitor came from the department within the bank it doesn't help much. If the information came from NTMA - the final custodians of dormant account funds, then they MUST have details of how and who closed the account.
If you suspect fraud then you should/must alert the Gardai. The statute of limitations clock on fraud, AFAIK, starts ticking once the fraud is discovered!
I agree with WBBS that info from the statement is unlikely to provide much other than whether the funds were dispersed over time or in one lump sum.
If the dormant account information given to the solicitor came from the department within the bank it doesn't help much. If the information came from NTMA - the final custodians of dormant account funds, then they MUST have details of how and who closed the account.
If you suspect fraud then you should/must alert the Gardai. The statute of limitations clock on fraud, AFAIK, starts ticking once the fraud is discovered!
Certainly when we were working with clients providing information for amnesty on the foreign bank accounts investigation, banks were able to provide statements in microfiche form going back 20 years.
I know we have had bank accounts changed on us by the banks, when they decided not to provide a particular kind of savings account. Perhaps the funds were transferred into a different type of account?
I know we have had bank accounts changed on us by the banks, when they decided not to provide a particular kind of savings account. Perhaps the funds were transferred into a different type of account?