Hypothetical question: Bank error

T

tippergore

Registered User
Messages
24
What would be my legal position if my Bank where to lodge 10k into my account by accident and I withdrew the money and spent it?
 
Hi tippergore and welcome to AAM.

In response to your question - they'd be entitled to their money back. Wouldn't you expect the same if the situation was reversed?
 
Legally you wouldn't be allowed to benefit from their error - think it's called unjustified enrichment if this were to happen.
 
I surely would! So if said situation where to arise, it would be in everyones interest for it to be resolved sooner rather then later?

What would be the action taken by my bank to recoupe the monies if I where to go on a week long bender and spend it all?
 
Not sure but could you be prosecuted under criminal law for theft or under civil law for misappropriation of funds or something like that if it came to a head?

Post crossed with CCOVICH's.
 
Hmmm, that wouldnt be a good way to recover from a hang over! And would I be liable to legal expenses?
 
If you contested the claim, then you would more than likely be liable for costs.

The bottom line is that it is foolish to spend money that is not yours.
 
Sound financial advice CCOVICH. I had best leave this imaginary money alone before it gets me into trouble!

Have there been any cases similar to the one I have presented in the resent past?
 
Yes-I believe that there was a court case about some fella who took off to Spain after a lodgement made in error-it may have been last year.

There are real life situations discussed on AAM from time to time.
 
hi
this happened to me in an international bank and the law there was - banks fault banks problem. i returned the money out of goodwill (21K) as the bank was providing me with a lot of financing but had i not returned the money there was sweet fa they could do about it. the banks position is certainly far from straight forward they made the error, think of this way if you put 10k into someone account in error and they spent it, think about how far youd get taking them to court, you'd get a kick in the This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language!! the honourable thing is to give the money back but dont believe they have a gun to your head they certainly do not.
 
I'd offer to pay it back over 12 months, then put it in a high interest account (in another bank) for the period....
 
i remember the case of the irish guy who went to spain...the bank went nuts and were trying to bring him to court etc...but i think there's a whole lot of unclear legal issues surrounding cases like this...as far as i know, the bank had to settle with the guy in the end...so i presume he got to keep some of it!
 
I'm going to stop buying lottery tickets from now on (stupidity tax) and just watch for the bank making erroneous deposits into my account. Happy days.
 
ClubMan said:
Not sure but could you be prosecuted under criminal law for theft or under civil law for misappropriation of funds or something like that if it came to a head?

Post crossed with CCOVICH's.
Click to expand...


I dont think its theft if it was given even if given by accident.
 
The logic of what I said seems clear enough to me.
When someone transfers money to you they are effectively giving control of that money to you. If I got money like this whats to stop me transferring it to a higher interest account ? Temptation and entrapment springs to mind.

Being passively given money does not make you a thief and in no way can be defined as theft. Otherwise we would all be getting our rivals locked up by sending them money

However someone actively withdrawing money from your account without permission is one definition of theft.

I am however here to learn
 
Banks don't 'give' account holders money in the situation described-money is transferred to their account in error. If you then withdraw the money and refuse to give it back, it will look like theft-no matter what spin you put on it, e.g.if you normally have a balance of €500 and €50,000 just lands in your account, you would do well to justify spending it in the belief that it was rightfully yours.

sign said:
However someone actively withdrawing money from your account without permission is one definition of theft.
Click to expand...

Only when it is deliberate-again, mistakes happen.
 
Are you suggesting that if it's justifiably unnoticed - say an extra 10k added to a balance of 120k - that the bank won't be able to get it back if you contest that you didn't notice it wasn't yours?
 
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