Familiar failings as Barclays outage delays transactions

Conveyancers were left in limbo again on Friday as an outage at Barclays bank left many firms and individuals unable process payments and complete transactions. On Sunday the bank confirmed services were up and running and it was ‘bringing balances up to date for some of our customers and addressing any outstanding issues.’

The outage was first reported on Friday 31st January and quickly confirmed not to be a cyber attack. It left many unable to make payments or access their online banking. Alongside the many property transactions unable to be processed, 31st January was the final day for self-assessment tax payments, although HMRC confirmed it would not fine those affected as late payment penalties don’t apply until 1st March. Barclays said it would ‘ensure that no customer is left out of pocket because of delayed payments caused by this incident.’

Frustrated home movers and professionals took to social media to tell their story. And as usual, many professionals found themselves the subject of criticism and threat. Writing on LinkedIn one solicitor said

“So, Barclays Bank went “down” today. You know what this means? Lots of failed completions – buyers and sellers across the UK sat stranded in their removal vans relying on the already pre-exchanged contracts to allow them (hopefully) access under licence.

One particular file of mine was due to exchange and complete today. An investment purchase, buy to let, no lender & no disclosed reason for any urgency. Client couldn’t get funds to us in time to initiate exchange. Not a [legal] problem.

Estate agent to my team about me; “Estate agent called and said he would like to put in a formal complaint to the directors of the company about (name) to say that (they are) not fit to practice law”

Estate Agent to my client; “I can’t see why she is doing this as there is no legal basis. Let’s not let (them) get away with this 👌🏻”

Client to me directly; “I have instructed you and you refused. It’s your fiduciary responsibility to do that. You haven’t. You are a joke. You are not representing me your client and their wishes, and you are legally obligated to provide council to your client under the guidelines of the SRA. This is a breach of your duty of care and I am suffering a loss as a result owing to professional negligence. The financial ombudsman will be duly notified”

Me to Me “just protect the client, to protect yourself”.

Many comments in response were words of encouragement and support:

“This is just awful, I hope you are ok. Take time to look after yourself. You know you did nothing wrong and this is appalling behaviour. Keep your head high and remember your worth”

“Tell me you disinstructed that client and sent them a bill for the work you’ve carried out to date? Disgusting behaviour.”

“Let them waste their time drafting a written complaint. Then deal with accordingly by putting it in the nearest bin!

Some clients are wild at the moment and it’s not being helped by the attitude and lack of support from some third parties, which is clearly demonstrated here.”

On Sunday a spokesperson for Barclays said

“We are very sorry for any disruption and will ensure that no impacted customer is left out of pocket. We are keeping our call centres open for longer this weekend and we will be proactively contacting customers who may be vulnerable.”

The latest outage brings back memories of the Microsoft issues last Summer which affected many CHAPS payments, and the CTS issues in November 2023. 

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