A&L are refusing one of their own cheques - !!!!!! ?

Snooze

I've moved house several times over the past 5 years or so and while sorting through some stuff I discovered an old cheque from them dated in 2003 for £22. I'm pretty sure it was issued by A&L credit card department when they used to do yearly cash back (no idea if they still do).

Anyway, I had some other cheques to bank so I popped it in with them and added it to the deposit slip and sent them off. They all got credited except this one, which they sent back as "account closed".

Where do I stand with this given the time period? Do cheques need to be banked within x amount of time? As it's one of their own cheques can I do anything about it or is it now a worthless piece of paper? Anyone with inside knowledge to advise please?

Thanks.

Rob

newlywed

This is from A&L FAQ:

You said:
How long are cheques valid for?

Our answer is:
Cheques actually remain legally valid for six years, however Banks may reject cheques that are more than six months old or query the cheque with the payer before deciding whether to pay it.

Mikeyorks

They're legally valid for 6 years. But it's absolute practice that they're declined after 6 months - if the date is noticed - and you won't get around that by arguing the legality period. In your case - as the drawing account appears closed - you certainly can't encash it. You either get a fresh cheque drawn - or write it off :-

http://www.apacs.org.uk/resources_publications/faqs/cheques_10.html