Slightly OT - salary advance cheque, £3 in purse...

affluenza

Hello all

I have just started a new job and asked my bank for a short term increase in my OD for about 1 month (they declined) - I went over by 28p and they have charged me a £50 unauthorised OD fee. I know this goes against the whole spirit of this forum - but I couldn't think of anyone else who could help.

I called them today explaining that I need some help and they declined again - even though I managed to get a salary advance in the form of a cheque. They declined to help me even until my employer's cheque cleared which would be Thursday next week.

My question is does anybody know how to get the cheque cashed and what kind of fees to expect, do I have to take additional documentation or do they credit check you further. I am absolutely desperate, I have no friendships or family to help me.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

DON79

Hi Affluenza, sorry, not sure what to suggest really, i know you will pay fee's for getting the cheque cashed immediately but I am not sure how much really. Did you complain about the overdraft fee and ask for a refund, I think you should definitely do that because that is a very excessive charge for 28p.

I am going to tell you about another option but I absolutely do not want you to take this option without giving it some serious thought?!! Because this is not a thing I would mention to anyone normally because of what it is.

If you go through Quidco which is a cashback website, they are giving you cashback if you go through a company called PaydayUK, they are giving £65 cashback. The way it works is that you borrow £80 from PaydayUK, pay back £100 to them when you get paid, and then because you have completed the transaction through Quidco, you will get the £65 cashback about a month later which actually means you have made £45 profit overall which will be paid by quidco to your bank account. They pay the cashback at the end of each month.

Please please don't think I am encouraging you to get into debt of any kind but this could be a way which you could get some really quick help and still actually make a little money from it.

I apologise if this is not much help and I know it sounds really bad what I have told you about.

Sorry! I do hope that you can get some help and that you get the charges back from your bank too.

Donna :D

affluenza

Thanks for the info but I don't think I would consider something like that - because I need to get the money asap and I might be as well just sticking the cheque in the bank and living on air until Thursday.

There is something about Quidco I don't feel comfortable with.

I have been trying to find rates on cheque cashing. Has anyone done it and and what was the procedure - was there a credit check or something?

I really need some credit for my electricity and just add 5litres of petrol - I can miss breakfast and lunches this week and I can live on one meal a day; today I was on a course and I treated myself to £1.10 plate of chips (I actually took 2 days to decide to spend £1.10 - the other days I have just not eaten).

DON79

Hi affluenza, that's ok, I haven't done anything like that myself and am a bit wary too of these payday companies.

However I have used quidco and gotten cashback on purchases etc and they are very good for things like cashback on your home insurance/car insurance, even any ebay purchases lol!

I am sorry if I caused any offence for suggesting it. I don't know much about cheque cashing at all am afraid.

I really hope you can get something sorted out asap. Best wishes.

Donna

Feelingfoolish_3

Hiya

To do it 'legit' then you could pay your bank to express the cheque, when I worked in a bank yonks ago it cost around £15 but you got your money the next day usually. Alternatively there are cheque cashing 'shops'? but not sure about them at all. Could you get your work to change the name to cash?? Obviously that couldnt happen till Monday but just trying to think of ways to help.

As Donna says I would definately write a letter of complaint to your bank as the charge against the overdrawn balance is disproportionate. State that if the complaint isnt resolved to your satisfaction then you will take it to FOS (you need to give the bank 8 weeks to respond).

Banks say they are there to help and you should approach them, but when push comes to shove........

Good luck x

affluenza

Didn't mean to sound off - just had the worlds most boring course today and the bank's letter and attitude was the icing on the cupcake of my day.

medders2604

I believe the cheque cashing companies charge a percentage of the value of the cheque, sorry don't know how much)
Have a look here for the sort of details and extra info they will need.

http://www.cashconverters.co.uk/financial-services-from-cash-converters/3/cheque-cashing

As feeling foolish said though you should compare cost of cashing the cheque with the fee from your bank for a fast track.

Hope you get sorted.

affluenza

Yes, I have done that before but I remember being asked to pay the fee as cash, and as now have £1.90 (I had £3 before my chips - I just realised). I am even considering asking if I can sell back a book of stamps to the post office! It is ridiculous.

wayforward_2

Hi there - a previous job of mine at a building firm used to pay the workers by cheque and we would often get calls from cheque changers and the like validating the cheque - i am fairly certain they don't credit cheque you (that's the whole point of them i feel) and seem to remember they charged approx 10%? Not sure though - but i think it's pretty easy.

wayforward_2

http://www.moneyshop.tv/cheque-cashing/

affluenza

Hello all

Thanks for your advice!

I went to the moneyshop, they did it for me! It cost me £2.50 to join the scheme, plus I found a 2% on first transaction special voucher in yellow pages - so it cost me £11.87 or thereabouts (I think that is actually not quite right but I am not complaining as it seems to be in my favour ).

OK, I have done it now and it is just a relief to know that if you do get a cheque, it is not a completely impossible situation to deal with.

No credit check (phew) - I needed to provide a photo id, address confirmation (utility bill not mobile) and a secondary confirmation (but I don't think the secondary was really necessary).