Cheque bounced due to bank error advice needed

Thegirl

My partner and I opened a bank account last year which we are currently using as a 'wedding fund' account.
The first transaction debiting the account was for the deposit for our wedding venue, which we paid by cheque at the begining of May.
I arrived home of Friday to a letter from the bank (sent 2nd class) telling me they had not paid the cheque as there was 'No mandate - We do not hold a signature mandate on this account'. This means:
1 They did not set up our new account properly
2 My venue is not secured

The venue have told me verbally that they will honour the agreement, but have still not confirmed this in writting. Until they do, worst case scenario-I still have to pay 75% of the fee, with no wedding due to signed contract that was sent with the cheque.

The bank have apologised. Has anyone got any advice on what the bank are liable for, should the worst case scenario happen? I feel so angry and physically sick having this hanging over us still, I can't even think straight.

Hazzanet

If you've suffered a financial loss as a result, then they may be liable for that depending upon the terms and conditions of the account.

Other than that, maybe a tenner for incovenience?

martafdz

I would go every now and then to check if they have updated your account with the signatures, until they say "yes".
Try to pay the venue by card, per example, or ask your branch to give you a draft for free as compensation (it usually costs around 12 pounds). This means that they debit your account with that amount, and they give you a cheque signed by the bank, so no problem with signatures. It still goes through the clearing cicle, but you won't have problems. Knowing it was their error, they should do it, if they give you problems, tell them that if you don't pay within the right period of time you have to pay a fee, you lose the discount, or they don't secure the venue or whatever. i am sure they prefer to pay those twelve pounds, instead of having to deal with compensation.
I would pay the venue, even if they say they keep the booking and so on, better done and secure. By the way, have you got wedding insurance? Idk about that, but I heard people around this forum saying that you always should get one, just in case.

Thegirl

We have to both go into a branch today to update our signatures. The bank will then to a same day transfer to the venue. This had to be offered as it takes them over a week to update a signature mandate (tell me, are we in 1989 or 2009) so the venue would not have been able to represent the cheque.

We do have wedding insurance, this wouldn't have been covered.

I think we'll be voting with our feet on this one and moving our account elsewhere.

willo65

Thegirl wrote: »

(tell me, are we in 1989 or 2009)

Yes tell me, why are you using cheques in 2009??

mancitychick

willo65 wrote: »

Yes tell me, why are you using cheques in 2009??

...and the need for this was??? For all we know this may be the venues preferred method of payment.

Extant

mancitychick wrote: »

...and the need for this was??? For all we know this may be the venues preferred method of payment.

Because it's amusing.

Apparently it's not okay for a mandate (a piece of paper with a signature on it) to take a week to update/clear, but it is okay for a cheque (a piece of paper with a signature on it) to take that long to clear.

Hence the idea of saying about 1989/2009 is just ridiculous, preferred method or not.

Thegirl

The venue asked for a cheque.

For the record, I don't think it's ok for a cheque to that long to clear. But I don't control how my venue want to be paid or the cheque clearing system. My bank however does control how long it takes them to update the records on my account and taking over a week is ridiculous.

I was looking for some advice on a situation concerning a bank failing to set my account up correctly, the result of which was my wedding being jeoparised and leaving me thousands of pounds out of pocket. Thanks for ignoring that and ridiculing me for paying by cheque as requested by the venue.

willo65

Thegirl wrote: »

The venue asked for a cheque.

For the record, I don't think it's ok for a cheque to that long to clear. But I don't control how my venue want to be paid or the cheque clearing system. My bank however does control how long it takes them to update the records on my account and taking over a week is ridiculous.

I was looking for some advice on a situation concerning a bank failing to set my account up correctly, the result of which was my wedding being jeoparised and leaving me thousands of pounds out of pocket. Thanks for ignoring that and ridiculing me for paying by cheque as requested by the venue.

I think you mean - Possibly leaving you out of pocket? Anyway I was reading the thread and wasn't going to post as I didn't have anything constructive to say but when people make silly comments about the time it takes to do things when they choose to use Cheques does get me going and I can't help myself.

If you are offended by my comment then I apologise but maybe not a good idea to comment about the length of time things take when you are paying by an outdated payment method which takes a long time.

If the venue has now cancelled your wedding then this is bad news and I hope the bank will investigate correctly and reimburse where necessary. On the other hand you do have to think that if a cheque for £xxxx.xx is presented to debit your account and it turns out to be a stolen cheque would you prefer for the bank to pay it even though they don't have an upto date signature?

Extant

Thegirl wrote: »

Thanks for ignoring that and ridiculing me for paying by cheque as requested by the venue.

Nobody here has actually ridiculed you at all. There's been commentary on cheques and a legitimate challenge as to why you're using a cheque when they have shown themselves willing and able to accept a transfer.

simon_templar_2

Wonder which bank the OP is with, i reckon Barclays cos they are !!!!ing useless !!!!s