What to do if…
your bank says a recent deposit was reversed and your balance is now negative

What to do now

1. Freeze the damage for the next day or two.

   • Check your balance, available balance, overdraft position, and pending transactions in your banking app.
   • Check direct debits, standing orders, card subscriptions, and scheduled payments due soon.
   • Pause or cancel only non-essential payments where it is safe to do so.
   • For essentials such as rent, council tax, utilities, insurance, or phone service, contact the payee before the payment fails if you can.

2. Contact your bank through a trusted route. Ask the bank to tell you:

   • which deposit was reversed, including the date, amount, reference, and deposit method;
   • the reason or description the bank can share, such as unpaid cheque, returned payment, duplicate entry, fraud check, or account restriction;
   • whether your account, card, app, or outgoing payments are restricted;
   • what action they need from you now;
   • whether they can send a secure message or written note confirming what they have told you.

3. Ask the bank to reduce immediate knock-on harm.

   • Ask what interest, charges, declined-payment effects, or account restrictions may apply while the account is negative.
   • Ask whether any pending outgoing payments can still be stopped safely.
   • Ask whether they can pause, waive, or refund any charges while the reversal is being checked.
   • Ask what you should do if you cannot bring the account back above zero immediately.

4. Save the evidence before it disappears.

   • Screenshot or download the balance before and after the reversal if visible.
   • Save the reversal entry, deposit entry, receipt, cheque image or paying-in confirmation, and any bank messages.
   • Save messages from the payer, buyer, employer, marketplace, or anyone asking you to move or return money.
   • Write down call dates, times, names, and what was agreed.

5. Check the payer without using details from a suspicious message.

   • If the deposit was wages, benefits, a refund, sale proceeds, or money from someone you know, contact them using a number, portal, or email address you already trust.
   • Ask whether they know why the payment was returned, cancelled, duplicated, or disputed.
   • Do not accept pressure to send money elsewhere while the bank is still explaining the reversal.

6. Treat it as a possible scam if the story involves overpayment or forwarding money. Red flags include a stranger’s cheque, a buyer paying too much, a request to refund part of the deposit, pressure to act fast, or someone telling you to ignore the bank.

   • Tell your bank you are worried about fraud or a scam.
   • Follow the bank’s security steps before moving any money.
   • If your card, cheque book, banking app, or account details may have been misused, report that to your bank immediately.
   • You can also report fraud or attempted fraud through Report Fraud, the UK police reporting route for fraud and cyber crime.

7. Make a complaint if the bank will not explain or you think it has made a mistake.

   • Use the bank’s formal complaints process and ask for a written response.
   • Include the deposit date, amount, reversal date, what the bank told you, and what harm the negative balance has caused.
   • For many payment-service complaints the bank usually has 15 days to reply; for most other financial complaints it usually has up to 8 weeks.
   • If you receive a final response you disagree with, or the bank does not reply within the relevant time, you can usually ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to look at it.