Cheque Lost By Office Post/bank And Cashed. What To Do?

julianw_2

Paid two cheques on 31.10.08 in at my local post office via a sealed envelope into my Alliance and Leicester account. Checked online and the money had not arrived in my account. Telephone Alliance and Leicester and was told cheque had not arrived and to contact the people who had sent them. They reported cheques as being cashed. Back to Alliance and Leicester, they wanted me get to copies of the cheque as they have paying in information on the back of the cheques, back to the issuers of the cheque to get this information which will take a few weeks.

In the meantime what to do. The post office says Alliance and Leicester are the people to speak too, Alliance and Leicester seem to be hinting that the post office has lost the cheques. I am waiting to get the information from the cheques but in the meantime someone could have opened an account under my name, paid the cheques in and is now closing it after withdrawing the funds while I wait for the paperwork.

No one at the post office or Alliance and Leicester seems much interest. Last month my Credit Card statement was lost in the post (an ideal bit of information to open an account under my name) and York postal sorting has been moved to Leeds from York, so letter posted in York to York address got to Leeds for sorting. So if it is a fraud the Bank/Post office is by their procedure giving the criminal plenty of time to get away. Any advice what I should do or just write off the £696. Seems as we are now all stake holders of the banks they seem to play little heed to the tax paying customer.

If this is not an error by the bank/post office but a criminal offence the bank seems to be colluding with the criminal by the slow response and time consuming system by which they give the criminal time to open and close an account. If the bank traced the cheque as soon it was reported they could catch the criminal before he had time to close an account.

Any suggestions what I should do. Call the police or just wait?

~Beanie~

You do need to get a copy of the cashed cheque which shouldn't take a few weeks. Don't just write the funds off!

It doesn't matter whether the person who cashed the cheque has withdrawn the funds and closed the account, if you can get a copy of the cheque which will prove it wasn't paid into your account then you will be credited with the funds.

Did you enclose a paying-in-slip with the cheques and have both gone missing? It could be something as simple as a keying error - someome could have entered one digit wrong and the cheque could be credited to someone else's account.

julianw_2

Thanks for the info. Have photocopy of the cheques, receipt from the post office and paying in slip. So let hope.

Mikeyorks

julianw wrote: »

I am waiting to get the information from the cheques but in the meantime someone could have opened an account under my name, paid the cheques in and is now closing it after withdrawing the funds while I wait for the paperwork.

How could they do that? If you handed the cheques into the Post Office they pouch them and sent them direct to A&L. So how did someone 'who found your CC statement' also manage to coerce the sealed envelope away from the PO stream and get their hands on the cheques? Regret your imagination is getting the better of you!

The more likely outcome (was the paying slip machine printed with the account number .. or handwritten?) is that A&L have processed to the wrong account. So it's gone to someone else or is sitting in a suspense account whilst they scratch their heads and wonder who the owner is.

All the processing details are ink sprayed on the backs of the cheques .... all you can do is hasten the copies (it's the back that's important) as much as possible from the drawers's Bank. Then get A&L to investigate.