Here's a quick sob story. My Mum and Dad moved to France in 2002 and Dad passed away in 2005. Mum sold the house on Monday this week, ready to move back to the UK to be near to Dutiful Son, and is attempting to send the money back to us so we can buy a house for her to live in.

In anticipation of being able to grab a property we exchanged contracts on the UK house we have found on strength of the sale of the French house and the assurance of the notaire that she was sending the funds we need to complete via urgent SWIFT money transfer. We set a completion date of this Friday so we could move Mum in at the weekend, her belongings are en route and the removals company decided to take a leisurely route and charge the minimum of storage costs.

My experience of SWIFT international interbank transfer is it is same day when requested as Urgent. This is what we were led to believe when we completed.

What we didn't know was the notaire screwed up and sent them to Mum's current account in France, not her UK account, and as at 2pm today Tuesday they still hadn't arrived there. She approached her local bank (Banque Postale) and they said a SWIFT transfer, when the funds arrive and are available (lets assume tomorrow), would take a minimum of 48h and probably 3-5 working days. Which means we won't have the funds necessary for completion on the house purchase and may lose our deposit.

We made sure we asked for an urgent SWIFT transfer and that was the quoted timetable - not intra-day or 24h. And they phoned head office in Paris to be sure.

This is causing us major stress. I have to ask for some expert and urgent help - what options do we have available to us? Assuming funds from the notaire arrive tomorrow and are 'sent' immediately by Banque Postale, why on earth does it take 48-60 hours to get to a perfectly regular UK bank account and what can we do (a) otherwise or (b) to accelerate the process?

Thanks in advance for any useful advice - very grateful as you might imagine!

Can't advise on detail. Sorry. But, please do not panic. Communication is a key I feel. You need to advise/share with all parties the issues/their responsibilities. Ensure Notaire is included in this as it was their initial failure. Look at forward picture and mail/telephone those you need to. Ensure UK other party is advised. Two days may not be an issue. Good luck

Hi
I cant help with the french side because I have only transferred the other way.
Speak with your UK solicitor; UK bank & keep the seller in the loop also.
I sold a property a couple of years ago and the purchaser was a few days late in completing because of a bereavement. There were penalty clauses in the contract and a few days later the sale completed ok.
Ask your solicitor what your options are.
1. Agree a delay until funds arrive.
2. Agree a bridging loan from the UK bank.
3. Pray.

Your situation is no different from the possible delay in an english chain.

I agree with cjm - keep everyone informed.

Good luck

Welcome to the Forum, I have never known a Swift or IBAN transfer to be the same day when going between France and England. 48 hours yes but same day no. I can assure you it's probably better that you just let it run it's course because you wont speed up La Poste bank.

I have to agree with everything that has been said so far. Let the transfer run its course, speak with all parties concerned and explain the situation and don't panic!

Most people are understanding in these situations, particularly when they know money is being transferred from another country. From the sellers point of view, I would think that they would be happy that their house is sold in the current market.

Can you get some kind of proof from your French bank to indicate that the money is on its way? This may ease the situation with the sellers.

I hope it all works out for you. I am sure it will in time.