I won't be making that mistake again

Checking your bank statement is one of those blindingly obvious, incredibly easy things to do. Could it be for this very reason we don't do it more often? 

Still, quite why I thought it too much bother to rip open an envelope once a month and scan the sheet inside for 20 seconds is beyond me.  But I won't be making that mistake again. Sometimes it takes a nasty shock to teach you.

It was a recent Sunday night. In a rare moment of organisational fervour, I began going through the heap of unopened envelopes on my desk. I got to my bank statement and, for the hell of it, tore it open. What could this paltry piece of paper tell me that I didn't know from my sporadic but fairly frequent bouts of online banking?  I had almost tossed the sheet away when my eye fell upon something odd in the "out" column. A direct debit to the account of one Justin Barrington. My former landlord, with whom I thought I had had nothing to do for 3 months. I had forgotten to stop my standing order to him when I'd moved out of his flat and I was still paying him rent on the 12th of every month!

After turning cold, hyperventolating and entertaining visions of a legal battle to recoup this extra rent, I vowed never, ever to be so stupid again. Were it not for random whim, I might not have noticed the funds exiting my account until I'd lost thousands and thousands. The landlord evidently wasn't going to tell me.

As it turns out, Mr Barrington was perfectly prompt in repaying the funds. Had he not been, or refused entirely, I'd have been down well over £1,000. And, no matter how you look at it, the effort it takes to read your statement in paper form, so that it's easier to see your monthly transactions, is far less than the effort it takes to earn back a lost £1,000.

Comments

[David Mundy]

Why it's important to read your statements? Because you can't trust that money you've paid in will be credited to your account! I've just got my latest statement from the Woolwich (end date 1 March), only to discover that five cheques I paid in using my Woolwich paying in book at a branch of Barclays on 6 February have not been credited to my Woolwich account. Several 'phone calls (over two hours!) to the Woolwich and to Barclays left me less than impressed: each say it's the other's problem - and I naively thought that as Barclays and the Woolwich were about to become one bank they might at least be working together now! Both banks admit that I've done nothing wrong. Meanwhile, one month after I paid the money in, I'm left out of pocket by nearly £700 while Barclays pursue it as a 'customer complaint' and the Woolwich pursue it as a 'Customer Care Issue'.

[vernon kaye]

STUPID YOU FOR FORGETTING 0 YU OBVIOUSLY HAVE TOO MUCH MONEY - CALL THIS AN ARTICLE? WHAT A WASTE OF MY TIME!!!

You mention that you check your transactions online. How could you not see rent going out of your account online? Okay, on the web, the transactions might not look as clear as on paper, but the numbers cannot be mistaken.

I don't think the problem is that people do not bother to read their statements anymore. I think the problem is that people do not appreciate the value of money anymore.

In a society where being in debt in the norm, where having more than three credit cards is a rule and where satisfying one's material need is a given, maybe it would be good for people to actually take finances more seriously.

Then, maybe, will you notice that you were paying out £300 more than usual...