Student loan gone into the wrong account!!!!

Hey Everyone,

I have a bit of a problem here..

When I was applying for student finance I must of entered the wrong account number and I just never went back on it to check I just assumed it was the right one. When it came to the day of getting my student loan on the website it was stating the fact that it has been paid but there was no money in my account that's when I decided to check and see my details.. After all it turns out the account number was wrong and my money has gone into a wrong account :frown:

After speaking to student finance they told me they will try and get the money back but yet nothing re-assuring me what the back up plan would be or how long the whole process would take..

I was just wondering if anyone has been through this or been in a similar situation and knew any information about this process of what could happen if they cant take the money back..

Reply 1

digitaljunki3

6

Usually if it has been paid into a closed account it is returned to student finance within 14 working days. If you haven't already, make sure you have updated bank details to correct details. Speak to your bank regarding payment with the reference number from student finance to see if they can help. If nothing, you will probably have to send in evidence that you never received payment etc so they can investigate. There is no real time frame on that really as to how long you might have to wait for this to be sorted.

Reply 2

AFC1093

Hi, the same thing has happened to me i accidentally put one digit in wrong on my bank details so didnt receive a payment when it said it had been paid. I rang student finance to explain and try to sort the situation and he told me that they would try and find out where they money had gone but would take 14 days. I was just wondering if you knew how long it takes roughly for it to come into my account or what happens if the money has gone into a live account?

Reply 3

Klix88

17

Original post by AFC1093

Hi, the same thing has happened to me i accidentally put one digit in wrong on my bank details so didnt receive a payment when it said it had been paid. I rang student finance to explain and try to sort the situation and he told me that they would try and find out where they money had gone but would take 14 days. I was just wondering if you knew how long it takes roughly for it to come into my account or what happens if the money has gone into a live account?

If it's gone into a live account, then there's not much they can do. The bank won't automatically take the money back out of the account, because both SF and the bank have followed your instructions. It doesn't matter that your instructions were wrong. The bank can write to the account holder, explain what's happened and ask them to return the money. However, the account holder isn't obliged to. Your best hope is that the account number isn't in use and that the bank has held the money somewhere.

Reply 4

AFC1093

Total nightmare. Thank you for your help, just going to hope it hasnt gone into an account and wait and see if it ends up in my own account. Do you know how long this usually takes if the account isnt in use?

Reply 5

Klix88

17

Original post by AFC1093

Total nightmare. Thank you for your help, just going to hope it hasnt gone into an account and wait and see if it ends up in my own account. Do you know how long this usually takes if the account isnt in use?

No way to know, I'm afraid. You'd be better off ringing your bank to ask.

Reply 6

chloepartlow

2

Im exactly the same today! was waiting for my finance and then decided to look on my details to check everything to find out my account number was wrong.

Can you please let me know how quick you received your money after this..as student finance said it will take 30 days :frown:

. Im at uni now and have no money for food i dont know what to do

Reply 7

Blackunicorn20

3

I'm having the same issue, let me know if you receive it!

Reply 8

arneldfad

12

I'm having the same issue, was supposed to get it on the 29th sept and still nothing

Reply 9

Blackunicorn20

3

Mine hasn't been sorted either and it's been since the 28th, they are saying there is nothing they can do as the money failed to return to them I'm so angry because I know I didn't change my bank details

Reply 10

arneldfad

12

Original post by Blackunicorn20

Mine hasn't been sorted either and it's been since the 28th, they are saying there is nothing they can do as the money failed to return to them I'm so angry because I know I didn't change my bank details

my bank have located the money and are sorting it out but its taking ages

Reply 11

Blackunicorn20

3

Original post by arneldfad

my bank have located the money and are sorting it out but its taking ages

Student finance are saying the money failed to return to them so nothing they can do and that my back is failing to respond to the last trace.... who do you bank with?

Reply 12

arneldfad

12

Original post by Blackunicorn20

Student finance are saying the money failed to return to them so nothing they can do and that my back is failing to respond to the last trace.... who do you bank with?

santander

Reply 13

Blackunicorn20

3

Original post by arneldfad

santander

Ah same...

Reply 14

Klix88

17

Just a quick note to those affected - Change your SF system password and check that your bank details are now correct. Change password and check your account details frequently over the Xmas petiod. That should ensure that at least your next payment will arrive with you.

If you know that you entered the correct bank details and the current ones are nothing like yours, then it's probable that your SF system password has been compromised somehow.

Unfortunately, banks have no way of recovering money which has been paid into live accounts, if the accidental recipient refuses to return it. The bank has followed the instruction sent from SF and SF will tell you that they just followed the details in your account. If your bank details were changed deliberately on the SF system by a fraudster, you're unlikely to get your money back. I have yet to see anyone on TSR who has been able to prove that their bank account details were altered maliciously by someone else. There's probably no way of doing that without SF's help, and they aren't likely to cooperate in proving that their system may be insecure.

Reply 15

tomjjeffery

Original post by arneldfad

my bank have located the money and are sorting it out but its taking ages

I am also with Santander and my finance has been sent to someone else due to a 2 digit swap in my account number. How did you get your bank to locate the money?
I'm currently £2000 down this term which hasn't been great. Thanks :smile:

Reply 16

Rarerusty

Hi

I was just wondering, did any of you guys ever have the money retrieved by SFE because i'm having the same problem and its been 3 months since SFE 'claim' to have sent the trace memo. they keep telling me the bank hasn't responded to them. Thanks

Reply 17

Lotte-Elizabeth

6

Hi guys,

You are not alone!! This happened to me October 2015 and unfortunately i have had no luck in getting my payments back (yet).

Has anyone had any luck?

PLEASE read this, it's going to be long but having first hand experience of the situation i know the best way in which to approach it.

FIRST OF ALL. I'm pretty dang sure the SF "Trace memo" does not exist. Twice, i was told a trace had been sent off, waited 30 working days twice, to be told "the trace never reached the finance department of student finance..?" it's safe to say i was very pissed off, as within that time that SF were meant to be helping me the person with my money had spent it. I then contacted the complaints, a guy called Ryan assured me he'd put it all through himself and still... NOTHING. This is 4 months down the line and all they did was fob me off, and you know what their response was?

"WE HAVE NOT HAD A RESPONSE FROM YOUR BANK" - sound all too familiar? I trust that my bank natwest, as they have been so great with me, would respond to a request for retrieving a sum of 2.5K...

I'm trying to take down student finance, they can't keep doing this to people and giving them false hope, they are a government funded company!!!!. If anyone who is reading this can contact/message me, however old this post is, maybe we can approach a newspaper and get an article written about it, i will not rest until their trace process has changed.

(i'm gonna make another post about what to do, this got long haha)

Reply 18

Blackunicorn20

3

Hey, my issue was resolved after a long 3 months, I actually got someone from a newspaper (a financial advisor) to help me and she did, you have to deal with your banks complaint department aswell (I know it's not there fault but that department can help you a bit more).

Reply 19

Lotte-Elizabeth

6

YOUR BEST HOPE OF GETTING YOUR STUDENT LOAN BACK.

First, ring SF asap, get them to set up a trace and pray that somehow that mystical rubbish actually locates the money. You need to figure out where the money has gone and which digit in either your sort code or account number you typed in wrong.

Fortunately for my, it was my last two digits which were wrong so i was able to guess the account and speak to natwest and locate the money a lot quicker than SF. They told me they could see the payments in the account which wasn't mine and unfortunately the person has spent it. I'm going to tell you how to try and get the account information, i can't guarantee they will give you proof but it worked for me.

DONT KNOW WHICH ACCOUNT THE MONEY IS?
As soon as you do this, write to SF and request a SUBJECT ACCESS REQUEST. This is a part of the freedom of information act, UK legislation which allows you to retrieve ALL information any Government funded company holds on you. Google how to write the letter, ask for all phone calls, emails, and transaction/bank proof. Add a £10 cheque and ask SF where to send it.

By the time you receive it, SF will probably still be lying to you and telling you to keep waiting. Here's what to do, go to your branch and show them the evidence of the payments, this worked for me. This was proof to them that that money was mine and that way they were able to contact the customer (again i can't guarantee they will help but if you cry on them and say how stressed you are they might lol).

If the person is honest? Hooray you'll get the money back. If not? The nightmare continues. So i know the account number and i know that they've spent my money, how do i take them to the small claims court (fee of £200+) and sort this thing out? Data protection won't allow me to find out who the person is by name. This is where i am now.

You can either contact the police and if they take you seriously, they will be able to investigate as the bank is legally required to provide them with the dishonest person's details. OR you're going to have to get a solicitor.

The data protection act of 1998, section 35 states that personal information can provided in legal circumstances. At the moment i am negotiating with natwest as to whether they would provide my solicitor with the guilty person's bank details if i were to hire a solicitor.

It's going to be a long process and you're gonna spend a lot of your life on the phone. But please don't give up, i'm not going to. Anyone else have any tips on how to get the money back? Thanks

Student loan gone into the wrong account!!!!

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