Is there a 6 year rule for re issueing an old cheque???

HBRO

Have been sent from pillar to post and back again to get an answer so come to the aid of this site in the hope of help.

My mum passed away in April and whilst sorting through the paperwork (I am an executor of her will) I found an old cheque from 1994. I contacted the issuer who said 'sorry but there is a 6 year rule for cheques issued. The money will have gone back into the funds. I asked where does it state, could you provide proof. They then passed me onto FSA stating it was not their rule but the FSA and I should contact them.

Did this and they said no 6 year rule and passed me onto the HMRC (the wrong one). Then spoke to HMRC who said nothing to do with them and should go back to issuer. AAAAAAaaarrrrrgh.

The cheque amount is not much, but it belongs to my Mum. I just need clarification regarding an old cheque being re issued. Can anyone please help.

Extant

There's various different laws and requirements that six years could arise from - notably the HMRC's own record keeping requirements.

Although I understand that this is your mother's money and you wish to claim it, you will be facing an up-hill struggle considering the check is now 15 years old. They are unlikely to have kept their records for that long to even be able to verify it's a real cheque, and it's too late to take legal action.

HBRO

Thanks for the reply extant.

Do not understand what you mean by 'verify its a real cheque'. I have the T2 tax voucher that it is still attached to with all details on it.

I understand the gist of your reply, and yes I am thinking, that for the amount would it be worth my time pursuing this. However, this money still belongs to Mum (her estate) and its not right that someone else should get the benefit of this money when it rightfully belongs to her.

I have a decision to make but would still appreciate other comments.

Thanks

angelapops

Are you sure that your Mother didn't get a duplicate cheque issued to her at any time and cashed it? Who was the payer?

charlieboycat

Yes, there is a "six year" rule (although I can't give you the legislative reference - its probably some several hundred year old Bills of Exchange Act). See here for example (last sentence under "Is it true that cheques are only valid for 6 months"):

http://www.ukpayments.org.uk/resources_publications/faqs/cheques/

After the 6 years it would be at the discretion of the issuer as to whether or not they wanted to iussue a replacement cheque.

Biggles

Whilst a cheque may technically be valid for 6 years, that isn't the issue here.

It's quite wrong for the issuer to infer that there is a 'rule' that prevents them reissuing the cheque. As CBC says, it's entirely up to them whether they do or not.

The Statute of Limitations, however, means that your mother wouldn't be able to make any legal claim on that money after six years. But what's happening here is that the issuer is choosing to refuse to reissue, and they shouldn't use the Statute as an excuse.

You should insist that they admit that they are choosing not to reissue. Any decent organisation would pay up.

EarthBoy

But they might have reissued it already. Anything could have happened e.g.

a) your mother might have reported that she had lost the cheque and the issuer could have sent her a replacement.

b) she might have simply forgottern to cash the cheque and the issuer could have noticed it wasn't cashed and credited the money back to her account

c) the issuer might never have noticed it wasn't cashed and the money just went into a black hole in their accounts.

Any of these is equally possible, but after 15 years there is no way of saying what happened to the funds. It's highly unlikely that any business would keep records for as long as that, so you will probably just have to forget about it.

Biggles

What normally happens is

d) it is recorded as an unpaid cheque and, after six months, the company writes back the sum into their books. They would certainly have noticed, or their books wouldn't have balanced.

But most businesses would be able to check their records going back 15 years. Though not necessarily quickly or cheerfully! The test of a good system would be whether they can be sure they didn't reissue it.

It would be more acceptable if they said that they might have reissued it rather than to fall back on a 'rule' which they made up.

HBRO

Thanks Biggles for your most helpful replies. Armed with the information, I shall now investigate a little further rather than being fobbed off. Its a matter of principle here. Mum was never financially savvy and left it to me after Dad passed away (roundabout the same time as the cheque). The organisation, a rather large one and been going many years, is an investment company. I know almost definitely that the cheque was never re issued and will have gone back into their funds for distribution to others maybe. I will certainly use the information you kindly gave here and pursue it further.
Many thanks.

megpt

I was interested to read this thread. I used to volunteer for my local Citizens Advice Bureau. In January of last year, I left to get a paid job with another charity. I had two months' expenses outstanding and received a cheque shortly afterwards, which I lost.

On finding the cheque, I returned it to CAB asking them to reissue (as it was by then 14 months old). Just got a letter acknowledging its receipt and informing me that it is not their practice to reissue cheques.

Wish I'd tried to bank it now. That's almost £85 that might have been sitting in my bank account rather than theirs. We're on a low income, so it would have come in handy.:mad:

agsnu

megpt wrote: »

On finding the cheque, I returned it to CAB asking them to reissue (as it was by then 14 months old). Just got a letter acknowledging its receipt and informing me that it is not their practice to reissue cheques.

Ask them to politely reconsider otherwise you will enforce the debt through the small claims court. ;p