Be careful when providing bank details for inheritance payments

A recent case highlights the importance of checking your bank details (and checking them again!).

Peter Teich provided his name, address and Barclays account number to his solicitor in order to receive his £193,000 inheritance from his late father. However, he accidentally provided the incorrect sort code. The money was transferred to another Barclays customer, Tim Gray, who had the same account number but different sort code. Mr Teich did not know this.

Mr Gray thought that the payment was his inheritance from his late grandmother as she had used the same solicitors as Mr Teich some time ago. Mr Gray tried to return the money to Barclays but they would not take back the funds.

Barclays offered Mr Teich £25 as compensation and could not recover the funds for him. Mr Teich spent £12,000 on legal fees to obtain the name of Mr Gray as the other Barclays customer and spent £34,000 on an application to the High Court for a freezing injunction. This court order forced Mr Gray to repay the funds to Mr Teich. Barclays refunded the £46,000 in legal fees to Mr Teich.

If you are providing your bank details in order to receive a large inheritance payment, be sure to check that you give the correct name, account number, and sort code to ensure that you do not miss out on the inheritance payment that you are entitled to.

If you would like any further information or advice in relation to a probate matter or making a Will, our specialist Private Client lawyers are happy to help. Our lawyers have offices based in Wolverhampton and Cradley Heath and provide assistance to clients across the West Midlands including: Stourbridge, Kidderminster, Birmingham, Dudley and Walsall.

For all new enquiries, please call 01384 410410 to speak to a member of our Private Client team or alternatively you can complete our online enquiry form and a member of our team will respond.