We’re baffled by the surprise £50 we received from HSBC

Eight years ago, my wife and I closed our joint current account with HSBC and transferred our funds to Nationwide.

Three years ago, we moved from Surrey to Shropshire. Then, out of the blue last week, my wife got a £50 cheque from HSBC saying it was for compensation because the “quality of the service she received from us did not meet the standard we would expect to give”.

We are both baffled and wonder how HSBC got our present address.

There are various phone numbers in the covering letter but both of us are wary, to say the least, of phoning them.
BH, Shropshire

This was a bit of a first for Consumer Champions – a reader complaining because they had unexpectedly been sent money by their bank.

My immediate reaction was that there must have been an outstanding complaint being investigated at the time you closed the HSBC account – and so it proved. It is unusual for a bank to go to these lengths to reunite you with the money that has probably been sitting in the account all this time.

Had someone contacted you, claiming it had a bank refund for you – and asking for your bank details – that would be a matter for concern. But not in this case.

Pay in the cheque, spend the money, and don’t give it another thought.

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