USADragon

I'm having the worst time getting a lump sum payment from Aviva. They claim the payment was made almost 3 weeks ago to the GBP Wise account I provided them with but the funds have not been received. Calls to them are lengthy and basically useless. Their (delayed) response each time has been to provide me with identical copies of the same payout letter with no reference to the bank transaction, so I've been unable to query it with Wise from my end. I raised a complaint and received a final response letter which says they're glad they were able to help!! I've filed a complaint today with the financial ombudsman but I'm concerned about how long it will take to process. Has anyone else had problems with them? Any advice?

Glasgow Girl

Don’t have any experience or knowledge with Aviva, but can you ask them for a Transaction Reference Number (TRN). I believe such a number is associated with all transactions and allows the sending and receiving banks to trace missing funds. Usually when a transaction goes missing, someone fat fingered the details, or the name on the accounts do not exactly match, and the funds end up in a suspense account until someone tracks them down, or they get returned to the sending bank after a while (could be months). But in any case the sending bank ought to be able to trace the funds all the way through the banking system, and determine where the funds landed.

USADragon

Thanks Glasgow Girl ! You would think it should be as simple as that, but instead, they send the same letter repeatedly, which basically says "we've sent your money". I've asked them to trace it from their end, and also requested the transaction details so I can trace with Wise. This has been going on since they claim they made the payment on 3/19. It took 2 months to reach that point. They seem to delay at every opportunity. Awaiting a call back from a manager hopefully on Monday. I really hope I don't have to wait on the ombudsman to resolve this.

Pulaski

I agree with this 100%, this is pretty much how it happens - the risk is that, like an incorrectly-address envelope, a wire with the wrong details will come back, but it might take weeks to do so. Despite what people might think, the sender of a transfer/ wire has no way of checking that the intructions for final delivery are complete or accurate, all the sending bank can do is be certain that the transfer/ wire was sent to the right bank. All the delivery instructions for the specific account at the destination bank (like the street address on an envelope) cannot be prechecked (other than a logic check for an IBAN number - does it have the right number of digits, and potentially does it meet the check-digit test?), and are subject to keying/ fat finger errors.

USADragon

Thanks! It appears we are back to square one. The money has now landed back with Aviva and they are looking into what happened. They are so slow with responses, I feel this may take a while. I'll probably get the tax back from HMRC before I see the original payout!

durham_lad

That seems really sloppy by Aviva. I make UK bank to bank transfers regularly and the first time I add a payee my bank compares the sort code, account number and account name of the recipient and first reports if it is an exact match, a close match or a mismatch before proceeding with the transfer. If I am unsure then I will send a small amount first. Surely large companies can be at least as vigilant.

Last year I set up my Wise USD bank details to receive payments from Vanguard US and before they would send anything they tested the account by sending very small amounts (less than $1) and having me confirm within my Vanguard account exactly how much they sent.

USADragon

I did exactly the same with Vanguard. Aviva have been diabolical! They made such a fuss about having a certain number of transactions on the account - I had to make transfers in and then buy stuff on Amazon over a 5 day period before they would approve the account. Given that I've been complaining about not receiving the money for over 3 weeks, you'd think the first thing they would do when the money was returned would be to give me a call. But no, you get nothing from them unless you call - and then all you get is fobbed off. I have complaints ongoing with both Aviva and the ombudsman at the moment.