How long are cheques valid for ?

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Comments

  • iolanthe07
    iolanthe07 Posts: 5,493 Forumite
    Why all this 'morality aside' business? You can't just put morality aside. You are not entitled to this money and to try and cash the cheque would be both immoral and probably illegal. If you do, I hope it comes back and bites you on the bum.
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  • iantoday
    iantoday Posts: 10 Forumite
    edited 14 March 2011 at 10:09AM
    Is this still true about the six month rule? Just thought I would ask as the last reply was in 2006 as are all messages I've found answering this question. I may ask my bank for written confirmation that they will accept a cheque that is older than six months old but 'newer' than six years.

    I wonder if the case for being moral is as strong if the money, if not received by me, instead goes to a huge bank that failed to act with due diligence causing me insurmountable debts which they refused to help me address the cause of, choosing instead to hide behind legal jargon. The cause incidentally was the person I invested in who lied both to me and to the bank, claiming that they would pay me sufficient income to so the bank could justify lending me the money to invest.
  • fermi
    fermi Posts: 40,546 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker Intrepid Forum Explorer
    http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/faqs/-/page/is_it_true_that_cheques_are_only_valid_for_six_months/
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  • sylhet
    sylhet Posts: 16 Forumite
    i come a cross a cheque dated 2005, its almost 6 years now. I am going to write to the Birmingham Midshires and ask them to issue a new cheque.
  • pauletruth
    pauletruth Posts: 1,133 Forumite
    its fraud. do it and get done and your credit will be wrecked.
  • Flash123
    Flash123 Posts: 4 Newbie
    This clears the matter up: from the cheque clearing people themselves.....

    chequeandcredit.co.uk/
    facts_and_figures/
    key_customer_faqs

    Is it true that a cheque is only valid for six months?
    No. A cheque is valid for as long as the debt between the two parties (i.e. issuer and payee) exists. In other words, cheques don’t have an expiration date. However, it’s common banking practice to reject a cheque that’s more than six months old to protect the payer in case the payment has already been made another way. This is at the discretion of individual banks. Where there is a dispute, a cheque remains legally valid in order to prove a debt for a period of six years, which is the Statute of Limitations.
  • sijomi
    sijomi Posts: 8 Forumite
    An elderly relative of mine (no it really isn't me!) has just found a cheque payable to him for £20K dated about 9 years ago! It was a payment from the Woolwich Building Society drawn on a NatWest account. He has no other supporting information. Is there any hope of obtaining these funds and if so then where should he start?
  • Goldiegirl
    Goldiegirl Posts: 8,805 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Rampant Recycler Hung up my suit!
    In the dim and distant past when I was a bank cashier, our instructions were not to accept any cheque more than six months old.

    It might look as if the cashier is just stamping the cheques ....... But they are looking at them too, and if it's noticed it wouldn't be accepted.

    Same goes with cheques paid into a machine, they are looked at by a human, and if noticed, the credit would be reversed out of the account.

    I now work for a very small bank.

    If cheques have been presented for payment, and they have been drawn more than six months ago, they are bounced with the reply 'out of date'. Because we are a small bank, every cheque is looked at by a human, so it doesn't just get lost in the system.

    If you pay a cheque into your account and it bounces, your bank will charge you a fee.

    The best thing to do in these situations is to contact the drawer of the cheque and ask for a replacement.
    Early retired - 18th December 2014
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  • dancingfairy
    dancingfairy Posts: 9,069 Forumite
    Was it from his savings account? If the money hadn't been cashed in he could maybe trace the old account somehow and withdraw it from there.
    If it's a from a third party (which I'm assuming it is) it could be a lot trickier.
    Is it from a private individual or a company?
    I believe cheques are only valid for 6 years but I'm not sure. In law you can sue someone and you have 6 years to take action. Now that 9 years has passed it would seem that he has perhaps missed his opportunity to chase this although it's worth a shot.
    Are you sure a replacement was never sent?
    df
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