Bank error in my favour???

mel8o8o

Advice needed please.
14 months ago I bought a used car and paid by cheque.
The vendor is known to me, a business associate.
He banked the cheque promptly and was credited by his bank.
Now 14 months down the line, I had a phone call from his P.A. saying that the cheque has been lost in the clearing process and my bank have not released funds to credit his bank. The money has never left my account.
His bank are now asking me, via the guy's P.A. to issue another cheque.
I have had no contact from my own bank at all.
How do I stand in law? I paid in good faith for the car. The guy was paid.
The bank screwed up. Must I legally rewrite another cheque?

lisyloo

If there has been a mistake then you owe the money.
However it's quite reasonable for you to ask for proof that he has not received the money, so I'd want to see some paperwork from his bank or from your bank.

But essentially yes, you owe the money.

cifpower

You say the guy was "paid" but you also say his PA said no funds have credited his bank so in effect he has not been paid. Therefore you have not paid for the car and should write another cheque for it.

mel8o8o

His account has been credited but the bank has not been paid by my bank because the paper cheque is lost.
Is 14 months not a little too long for the loss to come to light?

dazza.mk

mel8o8o wrote: »

I paid in good faith for the car. The guy was paid.
The bank screwed up. Must I legally rewrite another cheque?

How did you pay if the money hasn't been taken from your account, his bank may have paid him due to the cheque clearing process, but you never had.

jonesMUFCforever

Come off it!!! If your account has not been debited with the amount it is still owing.

chattychappy

Collect £200!

lisyloo

Is 14 months not a little too long for the loss to come to light?

They have 6 years to pursue you.
So whilst I agree it does seem long, it's also well within the limit.

Seems to me though that you don't owe the receiver.
It's your bank that owes their bank.
So you could decide to be bl**dy minded about it.
Although ultimately I think the money is owed, so I'm not sure of the value of doing this.

Do you have free legal advice on your home insurance?
I'd give them a call.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

chattychappy wrote: »

Collect £200!

That one popped into my head too .
Trust someone to actually post it though LOL.

lisyloo

Just to add.
I don't think it's bl**dy minded to ensure you pay the right party.
I would make certain you pay the correct party so that there can be no further challenge and you don't end up paying twice.
So I'd definitely advise that you get legal advice especially if you have it available for free on youe home insurance policy.

property.advert

So what actually happened ? He banks the cheque, and then presumably his account must have been debited as well as credited.

Whatever happens, it does not take 14 months either for the other party to find out that the money is missing from his account or for the bank to ask that it has lost the cheque.

You could cancel the old cheque and reissue another one. I think it very strange why two people didn't sort this out well before 14 months as it would flag up every time you checked your account !