Post Office !!!! Up (cheque Reture From 3 Years Ago!)

BECCAELLIE

please can somebody give me some advise i paid a cheque in to my post office savings account in 2006 for £500 of wages, i requesred a demand last feb for £1k and sent my book off to be updated they also added the intrest at this point. imagine my shock when i come to withdraw the money & recieve the cheque back fom 2006! with stoped written on it & my book has bee completely re-written minus the cheque & the intrest from the cheque!! i have had a account with the post office for 25 years! theyve just said it was a error sorry!? and im down £500 + intrest surely there must be some kind of law? whay wasnt the cheue returned 3 years ago & the book rectified last year? can any body help please

Pagan98

There are 2 issues here: (i) pursuing the originator of the cheque for the £500, (ii) pursuing the Post Office for the lost interest, inconvenience and the £500 if you aren't able to retrieve it.

(i) Pursuing the originator of the cheque.
You have up to 6 years to enforce a debt through the courts and I believe that the original cheque is evidence of a contractual commitment to make payment. To defend a claim the originator would have to defend their action in cancelling the cheque (e.g. by stating that the original was lost and showing an alternative proof of payment). I suggest you write to the originator explaining that the stopped cheque has only just been brought to your attention and requesting a replacement.

(ii) Pursuing the Post Office
You have a valid complaint against the Post Office for failing to act in a timely manner and a a minimum I would expect them to pay compensation for the loss in interest. I suggest you put a formal complaint in writing stating the situation and requesting that they cover the interest payments. You might also want to state that you are pursuing the originator for repayment of the original sum but that if this proves impossible you reserve your position to make a further claim against the post office. I'm not sure where you stand legally on this but I would expect the Financial Ombudsman Service to uphold a complaint if it goes that far.

I hope this helps!

Incisor

Pagan98 wrote: »

There are 2 issues here: (i) pursuing the originator of the cheque for the £500, (ii) pursuing the Post Office for the lost interest, inconvenience and the £500 if you aren't able to retrieve it. ...

Excellent post