Can a cheque guarantee card be declined?

RichyRich

Unlawful means that it is not allowed by law (e.g. trespassing).

Illegal means that it is a criminal offence (e.g. theft).

There is a difference between the two terms (i.e. it is unlawful to trespass but is not illegal. It is both illegal and unlawful to steal)

moongarden

you could ring your bank and ask for an authorised overdraft?

MikeLB

When it used to be close to Pay Day in our shop, amongst the staff, was fold the cheques at least 3 times after they had been printed by the machine. This left bad creases which meant the cheque could not be machine read and was usually delayed by a day while it was manually read during clearing.

I never to this day knew if that was actually true or not but it did seem to work by delaying clearance by a day or so.

bargains83

Cheque guarantee cards are designed to be a budgeting tool.

I.E If I get payed £300 every Friday but do my shopping on a thursday and my Current account is empty, I could use my cheque guarantee card to do the shopping safe in the knowledge the funds won't be taken until 3+ days later. My wage gets paid into my account tomorrow so theres no problem.

This is not illegal or fraud, its pretty much what the card is designed for. A £100 cheque card is a £100 credit limit to use on a cheque Whenever you need it as long as you have the intention of paying it back.

If however, I have lost my Job, have nothing in my account and go on a 'Cheque guarantee'ing spree' writing a few out willy nilly and knowing full well that there won't be any funds there to cover it then that could be constued as fraud/deception.

Mikeyorks

boo_star wrote:

No, it isn't unlawful, but it is illegal to write a cheque that you know will not be honoured.

It's called fraud.

Agree with you 100%. Now go back and read the thread again - and you will find it is all about the funds being there when the cheque hits the drawer's Bank. Even the section (of mine) you quoted makes that absolutely clear.:rolleyes:

Mikeyorks - don't know where you get your information from but with 20 years experience in the banking world I would say you are the one that is wrong. Firstly, as stated it is fraud to write a cheque knowing there are no funds in the account to pay it. Secondly, it is exactly this sort of behaviour that banks would class as misuse and they could withdraw the card.

And I never cease to be amazed at the number of people who work in Banks ... and don't know how their own systems work!

Mikeyorks

bargains83 wrote:

I.E If I get payed £300 every Friday but do my shopping on a thursday and my Current account is empty, I could use my cheque guarantee card to do the shopping safe in the knowledge the funds won't be taken until 3+ days later. My wage gets paid into my account tomorrow so theres no problem..

Fully agree with you. Except the cheque guarantee bit is academic to the point you make - as the funds will be there when your cheque hits your Bank. All this bit about it being 'illegal' is fanciful. It's no more illegal to anticipate funds being there than the converse where you pay a cheque into your Bank .... then have to wait days until you can draw on the cleared funds. It's simply how the systems work - and making use of knowledge of that, sometimes makes good sense.

If however, I have lost my Job, have nothing in my account and go on a 'Cheque guarantee'ing spree' writing a few out willy nilly and knowing full well that there won't be any funds there to cover it then that could be constued as fraud/deception.

..... goes without saying ... and whether or not you use the guarantee card.

Tootsie_Roll

Mikeyorks wrote:

Agree with you 100%. Now go back and read the thread again - and you will find it is all about the funds being there when the cheque hits the drawer's Bank. Even the section (of mine) you quoted makes that absolutely clear.:rolleyes:
And I never cease to be amazed at the number of people who work in Banks ... and don't know how their own systems work!

OK Oracle - where do you get your information from that makes it so correct ?

I stand by my post - To write a cheque in full knowledge that there are no funds in the account AT THAT TIME is technically fraud even though 999/1000 you will probably get away with it as by the time the cheque clears the funds will be there. On the 1/1000 occasion that the funds aren't in the account you have been caught out and will most likely be penalised. Just because you get away with it nearly all the time doesn't make it legal, you're just playing the system.

As for using it as a budgeting tool :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Well pop over to the Debt Free site and see how many people have become seriously unstuck doing just that. 'Oh the money will be in the account tomorrow' - NOT !

choccyface2006

Just a quick thought, if the shop that you write the cheque for banks with the same bank as you and they cash the cheque the same day then it could clear very quickly, like within 24 hrs.

Sarah

bargains83

Tootsie_Roll wrote:

OK Oracle - where do you get your information from that makes it so correct ?

I stand by my post - To write a cheque in full knowledge that there are no funds in the account AT THAT TIME is technically fraud even though 999/1000 you will probably get away with it as by the time the cheque clears the funds will be there. On the 1/1000 occasion that the funds aren't in the account you have been caught out and will most likely be penalised. Just because you get away with it nearly all the time doesn't make it legal, you're just playing the system.

As for using it as a budgeting tool :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Well pop over to the Debt Free site and see how many people have become seriously unstuck doing just that. 'Oh the money will be in the account tomorrow' - NOT !

I remember one supermarket (think it was Iceland) had an advert on the checkout stating the procedures for Cheque Guarantee cards. In bold letters I think it was something like "Pay using your Cheque Card and we won't cash your cheque until at least 3 days later".

Now any genuine customer seeing that would naturally think its ok to use their card if they are EXPECTING funds in the account in the next few days, whether the account is empty at the time or has sufficient money in it.

The whole Cheque Guarantee system is pointless if it is as you say 'Fraud' to use the card like this. I can't think of anywhere that accepts Cheque Guarantee cards but doesn't accept Debit cards.

The only realistic reason to use a Cheque card is so that you can budget and force a payment to come off your account later rather than immediately, for whatever reason.

Tootsie_Roll

bargains83 wrote:

I remember one supermarket (think it was Iceland) had an advert on the checkout stating the procedures for Cheque Guarantee cards. In bold letters I think it was something like "Pay using your Cheque Card and we won't cash your cheque until at least 3 days later".

Now any genuine customer seeing that would naturally think its ok to use their card if they are EXPECTING funds in the account in the next few days, whether the account is empty at the time or has sufficient money in it.

The whole Cheque Guarantee system is pointless if it is as you say 'Fraud' to use the card like this. I can't think of anywhere that accepts Cheque Guarantee cards but doesn't accept Debit cards.

The only realistic reason to use a Cheque card is so that you can budget and force a payment to come off your account later rather than immediately, for whatever reason.

Like I said - just because you get away with it most of the time doesn't make it right.