Advice needed on cashing cheque dilemma!

fruitcake_2

I urgently need advice on a dilemma my friend is going through, she is looking after her ill gran, who is over here from Barbados, while she has Alzheimers tests and looks at Nursing homes.
She was having money sent here to a post office from Barbados, which she needed desperately to pay for bills, rent and the care worker. To cut a huge story into a tiny one, the Post Office said it would be no problem opening an account and depositing the cheque with them.
After a number of delays which were down to the poor administration at the post office, a month had passed and then she was told to wait for the paper work to come through the post - that was last Thursday.
After no post had arrived, she contacted the Post Office, who now say that they cannot open the account as there was a misspelling of the address on the letter (from the Bank in Barbados) being used as proof of address (an ‘a’ had been replaced with a ‘u’) This is her only proof of address in this country! Its has taken so long that she is contemplating going to one of those independent “ we cash your cheques” outlets! She has borrowed from friends and family and has two months of rent to pay.

In the meanwhile the Post Office have been sitting on the money for a month with the letter making a tidy profit, no doubt, in interest on the £8k and now are unable to do anything and will write out a cheque in her Gran's name, so she is back to square one.

Any advice to pass on is greatly appreciated she is about as I am stuck for suggestions.

McKneff

If she's your friend could you not pay it into your account and wait till it clears before giving her the cash?

fruitcake_2

McKneff wrote: »

If she's your friend could you not pay it into your account and wait till it clears before giving her the cash?

Sorry, I should have specified, the cheque is in her Gran's name from an account in Barbados, and the proof of address is for her Gran from the same Bank...otherwise it would not have been a problem.

McKneff

Could the person who issued the cheque not re-issue it in your name or indeed just transfer funds electronically to your account,

fruitcake_2

I think the rules in Barbados are different, not sure you can have a cheque written in anyone else's name, will pass it on anyway, plus the cheque is already in this country...at the post office, and it took a month already, not sure how long the whole procedure would take if started again now!! Afraid they will become homeless if they can't get hold of their funds soon, just wondered if someone knew the rules and if the post office could do something too.

bendix

I don't think you're thinking clearly.

For a start, the cheque already issued will NOT have been cashed. The money won't yet be deleted from the account in Barbados.

The solution is pretty simple. Call the person in Barbados who issued the account and tell them to cancel it.

Then, tell them to electronically transfer it to your account. That's very simple. I have used electronic transfers from countries much less developed than Barbados, so it can be done.

It sounds like you're overcomplicating it.

fruitcake_2

bendix wrote: »

I don't think you're thinking clearly.

For a start, the cheque already issued will NOT have been cashed. The money won't yet be deleted from the account in Barbados.

The solution is pretty simple. Call the person in Barbados who issued the account and tell them to cancel it.

Then, tell them to electronically transfer it to your account. That's very simple. I have used electronic transfers from countries much less developed than Barbados, so it can be done.

It sounds like you're overcomplicating it.

I've passed the info on to her and she told me she asked the bank about it there, but it can't be done. The cheque is in her Gran's name from her Gran's account, she has no bank account in the UK, and they are refusing to transfer into her granddaughter's account....I did say I was cutting a long story short, many thanks for the suggesstion, but unfortunately it hasn't proved as simple as it should be......and the post office is writing out a cheque;
but on that note, another piece of proof of address has turned up for her Gran, so I believe she is taking her business away from the blasted post office and to a Bank that will deal with the matter a lot more quickly and help her Gran open an account ....hopefully :T

fruitcake_2

Ok, still a problem, can someone point me in the right direction to get some financial legal advice on this, as the post office DID bank the money and rewrite the cheque from themselves, therefore making a profit on the money for the month, and I have been informed this is illegal, also apparently the banks aren't accepting a pension letter as proof of address to open an account?! A couple of us are helping out as much as we can, but she is pretty much at her wits end, would be great if I could pass on something positive and constructive.