Only when Guardian Money contacted the company did it discover the cash was wages owed to its staffIn May, our supplier, Yorkshire Water, made a surprise payment of more than £3,500 into my partner’s bank account.We assumed that it was an error and we would be told to repay it.
Anna Tims
In May, our supplier, Yorkshire Water, made a surprise payment of more than £3,500 into my partner’s bank account.
We assumed that it was an error and we would be told to repay it.
Exactly a month later, she received another payment, this time of £3,300. Yorkshire Water told us it did not recognise the payment reference and did not think it had made the payment.
My partner’s bank said there was nothing it could do to stop, or return, the payments. Both companies took the issue quite lightly and told us to enjoy the money.
We have transferred it into our savings account so it is not touched, but don’t know what else to do. We are concerned it might be some sort of money laundering scam.
DB, Leeds
The most extraordinary aspect of this bizarre story is the insouciance of Yorkshire Water and the ease with which an explanation was found when I questioned its unsolicited largesse.
It had gifted your partner almost £7,000 in four weeks and would probably, it turns out, have continued paying her in the middle of every month if you had not contacted me.
The press office was quick to realise what had eluded customer service: the dates of your windfalls exactly match the dates on the utility company’s staff payroll.
After this lightbulb moment, it did not take long to discover that an employee had updated their new bank details incorrectly on the company’s system.
The result? Their wages were paid to your partner. Why this individual apparently did not realise that they had missed out on two months’ salary, and flag it to Yorkshire Water, is a mystery.
Yorkshire, once galvanised by me, duly reclaimed the dosh and paid you £100 by way of a “thank you”, which strikes me as a pretty paltry reward for your honesty and tenacity.
Your bank also has questions to answer. It had a regulatory duty to investigate and return the payments once you had reported them. Advice to enjoy the windfall could, at worst, have landed you with a criminal conviction. Hoarding or spending accidental payments is an offence credit under the Theft Act 1968.
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