money deposited in my account

[supernovabbs]

A company has wrongly overpaid me and havent asked for it back, this happenned in January 2006. Its a tidy sum and i was wondering what te law is on this with regard to if they dont ask for it back?

[WoWo]

It's their money and you are legally required to pay it back. They can ask for it at anytime.

Personally I'd open an easy access savings account and move it into that, then just build up the interest. Give it 10 years and I reckon you could safely spend it. If they ever ask for it back you can keep the interest.

[peterd]

My girlfriend started a part time job in a major dept store over xmas but left after a few hours, but they actually paid her a full weeks wage. She's had no comeback form them & got a P45 from them recently. If it's a tidy sum like you say I'd transfer it to another account as prev advised.

[themas]

Look at the recent thread "Can we get away with this?" started by Scotty.

The money is not yours and can be demanded back but is probably covered by the Statute of Limitations, which means they could not go to Court to get it back if there had been no contact with you about it for 6 years.

Its up to you whether you think that ethically or morally you should tell them about it.

[rachela500]

A friend of mine has had many jobs (temp and perm) and has been overpaid about four times over the last couple of years. She has kept all the money and never been asked to pay it back.

It is the usual lack of communication in HR depts that causes things like this. I say keep it as I doubt they will even notice.

[supernovabbs]

OK thanks for the answers, my tidy sum is just short of �88000, does this make a difference?

[themas]

The amount makes no difference to the law. It just means that when they find out about it you could not possibly argue that you did not realise a mistake had been made. You could also perhaps (I am not sure about this) lay yourself open to accusations of deception - in other words keeping something which you knew full well you were not entitled to. If pursued, this could lead to a criminal prosecution.

My advice would be to tell them.

[WendyS]

I wonder what sort of society we're living in where we regularly get questions in this section about people who've had money wrongly paid into their bank accounts and ask whether they need to pay it back.

Of course you do. It's not yours and however you dress it up, it's theft. Tempting though it is to keep it, especially if you're hard up, it doesn't belong to you and the honest thing to do would be to tell them and arrange for it to be paid back. Quite apart from this, if you really need a loan from your bank in the future they're probably more likely to look upon your request favourably if they know they're dealing with an honest client.

[supernovabbs]

Your absolutely right, its the end of the tax year shortly and im sure that some sharp eyed accountant will pick this up and TRY to get in touch with me about it. I will just keep collecting the interest (�250 a month) and as soon as they ask i will hand it back gladly before i start getting investigated by the money laundering/tax authorities!

[peterd]

Wow, that is a tidy sum. I presume someone has made an input error somewhere. I shouldn't encourage theft/ deception or fraud, but wouldn't it be good if you got away with it.

[itsallyellow]

I had something similar happen to me and they asked for it back after about 6months, I did however put it into a savings account in the meantime and pocket about �500 from it. Also the company I used to work who made the error offered me a weekend at a health spa as part of the inconvenience, which was nice. With regards to what type of society we live in. I disagree with them, with all these huge banks and various other companies making a massive profit at our expense. "oops unauthorised �2 overdraft, right �30 fine to you my son, not cleared by the end of the week another �30 thankyou very much". Thats not work or anything its just there way of making more money through there unfair policies and the sooner the law do something about it the better. Its a bit of luck which in these times rarely happens to the every day person and if they say nothing about it is their fault. Supernovababs, just sit on it for a bit and see what happens.

[spaced]

supernovaabbs, lets be serious, its unlikely that �88k missing will go unoticed. I know its tempting, but honesty os the best policy. It will come back to bite you on your backside. Who knows, they may even give you a little something for being so honest.

[bekah]

I will gladly give you my bank details if you are looking for somewhere to hide it for a while!!! I would keep my mouth closed for as long as possible, their mistake, their problem!!!

[rachela500]

You seriously mean �88,000!!!

How can anyone be overpaid that much?!?!?

[dawn stevens]

Take the money and spend it when are you likely to have that 'wow' amount of money again what you worried about 3 months suspended,seriously yes there entitled to it back but privacy and confidentitly laws come into effect and they just cant take it back.