Sent money to the wrong account? How to get it back

Bank transfer to the wrong account? Your bank must try to recover it, answer a complaint in 15 business days, and help you claim. Here is what to send.

Updated 1 November 2026 · 5 min read

One wrong digit and the rent lands in a stranger's account. It happens to careful people, and it is often fixable. Call your bank straight away. Even when the mistake was yours, the bank must make reasonable efforts to recover the money, and the bank that received it must cooperate. If recovery fails, your bank must give you in writing the information you need to claim the money yourself. The person who received it has no right to keep it, and a complaint to your bank must be answered within 15 business days.

Your mistake or the bank's

This is the first question, because it decides how strong your position is.

If you typed the wrong details, the payment counts as correctly made to the account you entered. Under the EU Payment Services Directive (Article 88) and the UK Payment Services Regulations 2017 (regulation 90), the bank is not liable for the loss. The Court of Justice of the EU confirmed in 2019 that this covers both banks, even when the name did not match the account number.

If your details were right and the bank sent the money elsewhere, or for the wrong amount, the bank must refund you without undue delay (Article 89 in the EU, regulation 91 in the UK). Check the statement line against what you meant to type before you call.

What your bank must do, even when it was your mistake

The rules still put three duties on the banks:

Your bank must make reasonable efforts to recover the money.
The receiving bank must cooperate, including by giving your bank all relevant information.
If recovery fails, your bank must, on written request, give you all the information it has that you need to file a legal claim to recover the money.

The bank can charge you for the recovery only if your account terms allow it. Ask to see the clause.

The name check before you pay

Banks now check the name you enter against the account before you confirm a payment.

Where	Name check	If it went wrong
Euro countries (France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands and others)	Required on every credit transfer since 9 October 2025: match, close match or no match	If the bank failed to run the check properly and that caused the wrong payment, it must refund you without delay
EU countries outside the euro, such as Poland	Required from 9 July 2027	Until then, the recovery duties above apply
UK	Confirmation of Payee shows a warning before you pay	Going past a warning weakens a refund claim; the recovery duties still apply
US	No general name check	ACH transfers to the wrong receiver can be reversed by the bank within five banking days of settlement

The check never stops you paying. If you went ahead after a no match, the bank is not liable for the loss, but it must still try to recover the money.

How to get it back, step by step

Call your bank now. Use the number on your card or in the app. Ask it to recall the payment and contact the receiving bank. Write down the reference, the time and the name of the person you spoke to.
Cancel anything still to come. A standing order or future-dated payment can be cancelled until the end of the business day before it is due.
Put it in writing the same day. A secure message in the app: the payment, the mistake, the reference, and a request to recover the money under the payment rules, with a date for an update.
Ask the person you meant to pay to confirm in writing that nothing arrived. It is useful evidence.
Write to the recipient only if you know them, such as an old landlord or a former supplier. Never try to trace a stranger yourself.
Chase on the date. If nothing comes, a short chase with a new date five business days away.
If recovery fails, ask for the information in writing that you need to claim the money from the recipient.

The message to send

Subject: Payment sent to the wrong account on 30 October 2026: request to recover £1,150

On Friday 30 October 2026 at 18:40 I sent £1,150 by Faster Payment from my current account ending 4471 to pay my rent. I swapped two digits in the account number, so the money went to an account I did not intend. My landlord has confirmed it did not reach him. I reported this by phone on 31 October and was given reference NB-77310.

I accept the details were my error. Under regulation 90 of the Payment Services Regulations 2017, please make reasonable efforts to recover the money, with the receiving bank's cooperation.

Please confirm in writing that you have contacted the receiving bank and when, and update me by Monday 9 November 2026. If recovery is not possible, please send me in writing the information I need to claim the money back, as regulation 90 requires.

In the EU, name Article 88 of the Payment Services Directive instead. Swap in your own details.

Time limits and where to complain

Complaint to your bank: it must answer within 15 business days, or within 35 business days in exceptional cases if it tells you why.
Bank error: tell the bank without undue delay, and within 13 months of the payment at the latest.
Ombudsman: in the UK, the Financial Ombudsman Service, free, within 6 months of the bank's final response. In the EU, your country's banking ombudsman or complaints body: the bank's médiateur in France, the Schlichtungsstelle in Germany, the Banco de España, the Arbitro Bancario Finanziario in Italy, the Banco de Portugal, Kifid in the Netherlands, the Rzecznik Finansowy in Poland. In the US, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The recipient: if they refuse to pay it back, a letter before claim and then the small claims court. Across EU borders, the European Small Claims Procedure covers claims up to €5,000.

Ombudsmen judge how the bank handled it. They cannot order a stranger to pay, which is why the information from your bank matters.

When it is not a mistake

If an email changed the account number or someone posing as your bank told you to move money, that is a scam, not a misdirected payment. Call your bank's fraud line now: different rules apply. Money that left your account without you sending it is an unauthorised payment, with stronger refund rules.

The short version

Call your bank the moment you notice and ask it to recover the payment. Your own typo means the bank does not have to refund you, but it must try to get the money back, and if it fails it must give you the information to claim it yourself. The recipient has no right to keep it. Put every step in writing, with a date.

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Questions

Can my bank just reverse the payment?

Not on its own. Once your bank has received a payment order it cannot be revoked, so the receiving bank has to cooperate and usually the account holder has to agree. A payment set for a future date can still be cancelled until the end of the business day before it is due.

The bank showed a no match warning and I paid anyway. Have I lost the money?

Not necessarily. Going past the warning means the bank does not have to refund you itself, but it still has to make reasonable efforts to recover the money, and the person who received it still has no right to keep it.

Will the bank tell me who got my money?

Not at first. If recovery fails, your bank must give you, on written request, all the information it has that you need to file a legal claim. A court can also be the route to the recipient's identity.

What if the bank made the mistake?

Then it is the bank's problem. If your instruction was correct and the money went elsewhere or for the wrong amount, your bank must refund you without undue delay. Tell it as soon as you notice, and within 13 months at the latest.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and depend on where you live: check the official source before you rely on a date or an amount.

Sources

The pack for this

Sent Money to the Wrong Account$12Get back money you sent to the wrong account. It gets your bank to recover it, writes every message and the complaint if it stalls.