KVV Inc
  • About Us
    • Meet The Team
      • Staff Photos
    • KVV Masters
    • Blog
  • Registration Process
    • I Am a Buyer
    • I Am a Seller
    • I Am An Agent
  • KVV Training Centre
  • KVV TV
  • KVV Cares
  • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • PAIA Manual
    • POPI Policy
  • +27 12 006 5171

Accidentally Paid the Wrong Person? Lessons From a R862k Banking App Error

Home / Blog / Delict and Civil Claims / Accidentally Paid the Wrong Person? Lessons From a R862k Banking App Error
June 5, 2019
Delict and Civil Claims, General Interest, Litigation
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch” (Economist Milton Friedman)
In these days of online banking and electronic payment, it’s not uncommon to find out to your horror that you have made a payment to someone in error, either to the wrong recipient or in an incorrect amount. If that happens to you and the recipient refuses to pay you back, what can you do about it? The other side of the coin of course is whether the recipient of an unexplained and unexpected bank account credit can safely go ahead and spend the windfall (the answer in a nutshell is very strong “no” – if there are indeed any free lunches in the world, this is unlikely to be one of them!). A recent High Court judgment sets out the requirements for a claim based on “unjustified enrichment”.
A banking app duplicates payments of R861,940
  • A couple were the happy beneficiaries of a malfunction in their bank’s “remote banking” app.
  • In effect they received duplicate transfers into their two accounts totalling R861,940
  • The bank duly sued them for return of the money on the basis that they had been “unjustifiably enriched” at its expense.
  • Initially the couple denied that any duplication had taken place, but at trial they dropped their denial, claiming instead to have repaid the bank in cash.
  • The husband’s story was that he had paid a bank employee, since deceased, who had put the cash into a safe “in case a claim was made”. He was unable to say how much money had been handed over, he could not give dates, and no receipts were requested or given. Nevertheless his evidence was accepted by the trial court and the bank’s claim failed.
  • However on appeal to a “full bench” (a “full court” of three High Court judges, sometimes more), the husband’s version was rejected as “inherently improbable”, and the couple was ordered to repay the bank together with interest and legal costs.
What must you prove?
The requirements for an unjustified enrichment claim are –
  1. The recipient has in fact been enriched by receiving the money (it needn’t be money, it could for example be an asset of some sort)
  2. You have been “impoverished” by the transfer
  3. The recipient’s enrichment was at your expense
  4. The enrichment was legally unjustified.
Once the couple admitted receiving the money without a legal basis, held the Court, the onus shifted to them to prove that there was no enrichment. So their failure to prove repayment was the end of their case. Don’t despair if the facts of your case don’t tie in fully with the above requirements – our law may have other remedies for you. Ask your lawyer for help.

Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice.

© LawDotNews

Share
Previous Post
April 2019 - A Note from our Directors
Next Post
Expats and Employers: Plan Now For the New Expat Tax Changes
Recent Posts
  • KVV | A Note from our Director
  • Buying and Selling Property: Who Pays What Costs?
  • Bodies Corporate: Forcing Access to Units, and Round Robin Resolutions
  • Verbal Agreements – Not Much Good, But Lots of Bad and Ugly
  • Trusts on Divorce: Are You Stuck with an Ex-Spouse as Trustee?
Contact Info

Ground Floor, Block D, Jigsaw Park 7 Einstein Road Highveld Techno Park, Centurion
Phone: +27 87 351 2022
Fax: (012) 655-1053

Get Directions
Archive
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • July 2021
  • April 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
Categories
  • Bank And Financial
  • Business
  • Contract
  • Corporate
  • Criminal Law
  • Debt
  • Debt recovery
  • Delict and Civil Claims
  • Delit / Civil Claims
  • Employment and Labour Law
  • Employment Law
  • Family Law
  • General Interest
  • Information Technology Law / Cyber Law
  • Insolvency
  • Insolvency / liquidation
  • KVV News
  • Litigation
  • News
  • Property
  • Property Law
  • Road Traffic
  • Tax
  • Trusts
  • Uncategorized
  • Website Of The Month
  • Wills and Estates
Pages
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Blog Archive
  • Blog Classic
  • Contact Us
  • Cost Calculator
  • How We Work
  • I Am a Buyer
  • I Am a Seller
  • I Am An Agent
  • KVV Inc – Your Property Partner
  • KVV TV
  • Master Lounge
  • Meat the Team
  • Meet The Team
  • Registration Process
  • Shortcodes
  • Staff Photos
  • Testimonials
  • Training Centre

Designed by eMSDigital Group © 2021. All Rights Reserved

  • About Us
  • Registration Process
  • KVV Training Centre
  • KVV TV
  • KVV Cares
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • Meet The Team
      • Staff Photos
    • KVV Masters
    • Blog
  • Registration Process
    • I Am a Buyer
    • I Am a Seller
    • I Am An Agent
  • KVV Training Centre
  • KVV TV
  • KVV Cares
  • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • PAIA Manual
    • POPI Policy