Missing Cleared cheque

bigrj141 · 20 August 2014 at 11:48AM

3 weeks ago I had some work carried out on my car by a small BMW independent. When it came to making the payment, Visa was not an option and the gearage requested Cash or Chq.

I opted to pay via chq (Trance the funds), However in error I used the wrong Chq book and used the book from an account that I run down and top up each month for house bills only.

Chq was presented and I didn’t have the funds available in that account at that time. 2 days later the Chq was presented again and the same thing happened. I noticed the error and contacted my bank to discuss the matter.

Bank noted it was a simple error and reversed the bounced chq changes and advised me that the chq would not be presented again and I should arrange an alternative method of payment. I contacted the Indy to profusely apologise and ask for his bank details so I can arrange an immediate bank transfer.

Indy was understanding and provided bank details. CHAPS payment done and I thought noting more of it.
Fast Forward 6 days. Checking my bank account I noticed that the Chq was presented for a 3rd time only this time it cleared as I had transferred funds into the account to pay rent.

Now it gets messy. Gearage says he has only had the funds ONCE and that was the chaps payment I made to him. Indy is not overly helpful and has no interest in going out of his way to look into the matter as he has had the full payment.
I have asked my bank to provide me with a copy of the presented chq which i should get within 14 days, but I’m at of loss of what to do with it and who I look to, to get my money back?

Any ideas from you wise old owls?

Thanks
Ryan

agrinnall · 20 August 2014 at 12:49PM

I'm afraid Indy (or possibly one of his employees) is lying to you, if the cheque has been presented and cleared then the money is in his account. Get the cheque back then use that as evidence to demand repayment.

As an aside, what on Earth possessed you to make a CHAPS payment, when you could have done it free through Faster Payments?

bigrj141 · 20 August 2014 at 1:28PM

Thanks for the reply. I intend to show him the chq once I've obtained a copy. Do I then confront him and ask him to confirm the details are current? Ask for the money back? and if he declines do I make a small claims against him ? Or is it possible the bank has messed up in some way?

agrinnall · 20 August 2014 at 3:30PM

Yes (although you shouldn't need to as you already have his current bank account details, which will be what the cancelled cheque shows), yes, yes, and unlikely but possible.

alanq · 20 August 2014 at 4:13PM

bigrj141 wrote: »

Bank noted it was a simple error and reversed the bounced chq changes and advised me that the chq would not be presented again ...

I may be wrong but I would have thought that the payee's bank would have to present the cheque again. If that is the case I don't see how your bank could stop it being presented again. All it could do would be to put a block on it so that if it was presented again payment would be refused. It seems that it failed to do that. So I would say that "the bank has messed up in some way".

bigrj141 · 20 August 2014 at 5:47PM

Thank you all for your comments so far. I'll just have to wait and see what account details are on the chq.

I'll be sure to update the post when it arrives.

pmduk · 20 August 2014 at 8:09PM

Note he may seek to reclaim any charges his bank have levied for having your cheque referred twice.

bigrj141 · 21 August 2014 at 8:32AM

I have already offered to repay any of his charges. In the scale of things the charges are minimal.

jonesk733 · 22 October 2014 at 11:14AM

I have had a similar problem. I wrote a cheque for payment of services. on the sunday before the cheque cleared my account I had to withdraw the money to give to my son (uni emergency) on the monday I checked my account and saw that the cheque had been debited from my account thus putting it overdrawn. I immediately paid the money back into my account to cover the cheque. On the thursday of that week the company the cheque was made to phone me to tell me that it had been returned unpaid. I paid them cash and phoned my bank who said that the money would be returned to my account by the following monday. to date no money has been returned to my account. my bank say 100% it has been paid, the company says no. either way I am out of pocket by £200. Bank are sending me copy of paid cheque, they told me to get returned cheque back off the company. Anyone have any other useful information to hep me.

grumbler · 22 October 2014 at 11:52AM

jonesk733 wrote: »

... my bank ...said that the money would be returned to my account by the following monday. to date no money has been returned to my account...

Your bank misinformed you. I think it's their duty, not yours to put things right. If they ask you to help, do what you can. Stick to your guns and don't let them fob you off

jonesk733 · 22 October 2014 at 1:26PM

Malcnascar wrote: »

As regards the original cheque your Bank had three choices when it was originally presented for payment.
The could have paid the cheque thus creating an unauthorised overdraft on your account.
They could have returned the cheque unpaid (bounced) to the payees Bank marked "Refer to Drawer" This should remove the cheque from the Banking system leaving the payee seeking redress from you.
They appear to have returned the cheque marked "Refer to Drawer please Represent" This effectively says that at the time presented for payment there were insufficient funds in your account for it to be paid but your Bank felt there was a reasonable chance that it would be paid when presented again for payment.
If your Bank did not amend the marker on the cheque then it always was going to be presented again for payment.
You will see the marking on top of the cheque when it is returned to you. If it has not been amended to "Refer to Drawer" then your Bank appears to have misinformed you.
However, as has already been said, the Garage owner has had the funds twice. He is not entitled to this. You should request that he checks with his Bank that the cheque has passed through his account 3 times, when he paid it in, when it was bounced for the first time this will show as a debit and credit to his account and lastly after it had been bounced the second time which will also show as a debit and credit to the account. His account will show three credits and two debits.

Is there any way that my bank can get the funds back, as the company I paid claim the money has not gone through?

Missing Cleared cheque

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