uk Work & employment crises

What to do if…
your payroll bank details are changed and your pay goes to the wrong account

Produced and maintained by PanicStation.org Published: 20 July 2026 Last reviewed: 16 August 2026 Editorial policy UK guide

Short answer

Contact payroll or HR immediately through a phone number or internal channel you already trust. Ask them to secure your payroll record, check whether the payment can still be stopped, and contact the employer’s bank urgently if it has already been sent.

Do not do these things

Do not reply to the message that requested or confirmed the change until you have verified it through a separate trusted channel.
Do not send bank details, passwords, security codes, or identity documents to an unverified contact.
Do not assume that correcting the payroll record will automatically recover money already sent.
Do not delete suspicious emails, messages, payslips, or payroll notifications.
Do not contact the holder of the receiving account yourself.
Do not rely on an immediate recovery or replacement payment until your employer confirms the arrangements.

What to do now

Call payroll, HR, your manager, or another authorised workplace contact using details you already trust. Say that the bank-detail change was unauthorised or incorrect, and give the affected payday and payment amount.
Ask them to restrict further changes to your payroll record and check whether the payment is pending. If it has been sent, ask the employer to contact its bank immediately to request a recall or recovery attempt. Recovery may not be possible, but prompt action can improve the chance of tracing or returning the payment.
Ask payroll to restore and independently verify your correct bank details before any replacement or future payment is made. Use the employer’s approved secure process rather than sending full details in an ordinary email where possible.
Confirm your report in writing. Record when you noticed the problem, the payday, the amount, the account details shown on payroll, and the names of the people you contacted. Share only the minimum banking information needed.
Ask your employer when it will update you and what it will do about the pay you have not received. Employers dealing with a payroll mistake should keep workers informed and make payments owed as soon as possible.
Check your work and personal email accounts for unfamiliar sign-ins, forwarding rules, password-reset messages, security-setting changes, or sent messages you did not create. If an account may be compromised, change its password from a trusted device, sign out other sessions, and enable two-step verification where available.
Contact your own bank promptly if your bank account information, online-banking credentials, card details, or security codes may have been exposed. Use the number on your card or statement, or contact the bank through its official app.
If fraud or cyber crime appears to be involved and you are in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland, report it to Report Fraud. In Scotland, report it to Police Scotland online or by calling 101. Call 999 only when there is an immediate danger or a crime is in progress.
If the missing pay is not resolved, raise the problem with your employer in writing. You can contact Acas in England, Scotland and Wales, or the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland, for guidance about unpaid wages and workplace procedures.

What can wait

You do not need to decide immediately whether to raise a formal grievance, bring an employment claim, change banks, or establish who changed the details. First secure the payroll record, alert the employer’s bank, protect any affected accounts, and obtain a written response from your employer.

Important reassurance

A changed payroll record does not necessarily mean that every part of your identity or banking has been compromised. Reporting the problem promptly, securing affected accounts, and keeping a clear record are useful steps even while the cause remains uncertain.

Scope note

This guide covers immediate steps after discovering that payroll bank details were changed and pay was sent elsewhere. Questions about responsibility for replacing the payment, formal grievances, employment claims, data protection, or losses caused by delayed wages may require help from Acas in England, Scotland and Wales, the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland, a trade union, Citizens Advice, or a solicitor.

Important note

This is general information, not legal, financial, employment, fraud-investigation, or cybersecurity advice. Payment recovery, replacement pay, and responsibility for losses depend on the facts, the payment method, the banks involved, and your employer’s procedures.

Additional Resources

About this guide

This guide was produced and is maintained by PanicStation.org using its published editorial process. Official and specialist sources are checked where relevant, and AI-assisted tools may be used for drafting, organisation, and consistency checks. The site operator remains responsible for publication, revision, and removal decisions.

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