EE Just credited £400 to my bank account :O

[wazzickle]

I would imagine the force and severity of approach they would take to prosecuting you for £40m would be a lot lot stronger than £400.

The level of information they have access to is limited. They can't see when you've checked your bank balance, they can only see the transactions, i.e. they can't verify whether you were aware of that unless you spent specifically £400 more that month than you otherwise would, using that account. They certainly couldn't link a random forum post to IP addresses or anything (they probably could for larger cases but not the sort of thing they'll do for a £400 bill). As it stands this thread would not be permissible in court (IANAL!).

If you did spend it immediately on a fine 1962 chateau-lafite and some lagavulin, using your debit card, and then stick your fingers up to them, you won't get a criminal record either, you'll be asked for the money back and you could probably get away with paying less back.

I do actually have some experience with a very similar case when natwest transferred £2500 into my account mistakenly when I was a teenager. I spent a few hundred of it, they asked for it all back, I told them I didn't have it, they just accepted what I did have left.

Leave it in there, plead ignorance.

[Saracen]

I would imagine the force and severity of approach they would take to prosecuting you for £40m would be a lot lot stronger than £400

Indeed, but it doesn't change whether it's theft or not. The same criteria apply to both. For £40m, I'd certainly be tempted to consider doing a vanishing act, and that ought to be sufficient funds to manage a competent job of it.

[Macman]

Wish Vodafone would do that for me considering the run about I'm getting with them.

[cptwhite_uk]

I'm going to contact them in the next week to get it cleared up. Had lots of money flying through the account of late with moving house / new furniture purchases. So they're lucky I noticed on my statement, could have easily been missed as deposits going into the account to cover payment has been fairly common so a deposit of £400 wouldn't have been out of place.

[opel80uk]

Something similar actually happened to me in the UK. I was dealing with Amazon with regards to a refund, and it was a major balls up from the beginning with the first order being sent to an old delivery address I had deleted, then a quite obviously second hand one one sent out, etc…… long story short, I got refunded twice for the one item (and where I differ from the OP is that I genuinely didn't realise that was the case. I spent the money, and had I realised it was a mistake, I wouldn't have bothered as I knew legally the money would have to repaid).

However, I took legal advice from my legal (practising Lawyer) friend, and this topic was brought up. He told me that categorically, an individual is under no obligation to declare any money received passively, providing the individual made no attempt or effort to acquire it. If the company never claimed that money, and the person who received it never spent it, no crime would have been committed, even if the person knew it wasn't theirs. It is only when either the money is spent/withdrawn/used etc, or whenever the company seeks the return of the money that the law kicks in. And one thing is for certain, providing certain criteria has been met by whoever is seeking the money back such as within a certain timeframe of noticing the money was wrongly paid out, then you are obliged to pay it back. That said, even if you don't, whether a crime has been committed (or more accurately whether you could be charged with a crime) would depend on intent/knowledge etc. For example, if I'd been with EE for 5 years and received a payment for 400Eu, I might be able to argue that it was reasonable of me to assume that it was a refund for overpayments during those years. However, if EE pay 4M quid into my account, then there is no possible way for me to reasonably expect that amount paid into my account under any circumstances, and I'd start worrying if I had spent the moolah.

But to be honest, rather than worry about criminal charges, I'd be more concerned about the company using debt recovery agents to get the money back, and all the potential knock on effects that might have (credit rating etc). That is a far more likely scenario should the money not be given back if/when asked. If exactly the same thing happened to me as happened to the OP, I would certainly leave the money in the account until asked to return it.

[cptwhite_uk]

Just phoned EE, they can't see it on their system being paid to my account, as such no action is being taken. I've informed them of the situation so I guess legally I'm in the clear, and they have no intention of claiming it back having got no record of having sent it in the first place.

[TeePee]

No obligation to declare it, but if you spend it they could take it back, leaving you overdrawn and incurring fees which will be your responsibility. It is HIGHLY likely that they will take it back, probably within a few days, but possibly after much longer. Let it sit for a year.

[opel80uk]

Just phoned EE, they can't see it on their system being paid to my account, as such no action is being taken. I've informed them of the situation so I guess legally I'm in the clear, and they have no intention of claiming it back having got no record of having sent it in the first place.

Is it possible to get that in an email from them, just in case?

[cptwhite_uk]

They told me it's all recorded on my account and logged. I also have a reference number for the call

[The Hand]

They told me it's all recorded on my account and logged. I also have a reference number for the call

Congrats on randomly receiving £400! Even if they wanted the money back, EE don't have a leg to stand on.

[wazzickle]

Still don't spend the money for a year.

You need to consider the possibility that somehow you've made a mistake as well, and that you were actually due that £400 somehow.

[opel80uk]

They told me it's all recorded on my account and logged. I also have a reference number for the call

Excellent. I would still hold onto it though for the time being, as it's odd they can't find the payment at all.

[big_hairy_rob]

They told me it's all recorded on my account and logged. I also have a reference number for the call

Remember that your reference is only as good as the notes that the operator provided. Most likely it's a transfer from a different EE account where the wrong bank account has been entered. Though it may not show up on your EE account, it will show up on theirs and the money may be reclaimed in due course when someone complains that they never received their £400.

If it was me, I would take reasonable steps to return the money. This would be in the forms of telephone calls and emails. The latter would need to show in writing that the matter is closed prior to considering any money as yours. I suppose that it's also possible that the money could have been incorrectly labelled on your mini statement and may not be from EE at all?

[TooNice]

Personally I think that he has done enough. Though like others have said, I would not spend it just in case. I do not find it reasonable to be inconvenienced for their mistake beyond notifying them as he has already done.

[The Hand]

Personally I think that he has done enough. Though like others have said, I would not spend it just in case. I do not find it reasonable to be inconvenienced for their mistake beyond notifying them as he has already done.

Yes, he has done enough imo. The only other thing I would keep an eye on, is the credit record just to make sure they haven't interfered with it. That could be a little paranoid, but it doesn't hurt to check.

[Saracen]

Just phoned EE, they can't see it on their system being paid to my account, as such no action is being taken. I've informed them of the situation so I guess legally I'm in the clear, and they have no intention of claiming it back having got no record of having sent it in the first place.

As it's appeared on your bank account and EE say they know nothing, a reasonable inference would be it's a bank error. If you want to be truly covered, query it with the bank as well.