A&L Unfair Charges in T&Cs

Newkid

Just been stung by some unfair T&Cs from A&L.
The story
I paid in an A&L cheque on Monday am £1300 ( refund of ppi from A&L ) basically an A&L cheque into an A&L account .
DDs due out on Thurs same week , plenty in to cover them, so withdrew some cash for Christmas shopping.
Just had statement & been charged for going over overdraft limit because the A&L cheque had not cleared.
Checked A&L T&cs & they state that a cheque takes 5 days to clear on a premier account - how ridiculous.
I studied Banking in the early 80s when cheques took 3 days to clear , less if they were drawn against the same bank , & the advent of computerisation was going to reduce that time even further !!!
When some of the SMART people get on this site saying that you should keep within your limits this is an example of how things can get started & then get out of hand.
Is 5 days unreasonable ?
Am i naive in assuming that 3 days should have been sufficient to clear ?
I intend to try & reclaim these charges back.

Newkid

natweststaffmember

5 days is the correct clearing cycle in terms of when you can use the cash. 3 days is the basic clearing cycle ie pay cheque into account and debit drawers account. I would say you were naive in this instance.

Premier_2

Newkid wrote: »

Just been stung by some unfair T&Cs from A&L.
The story ...

And what a story!

All you now need to do is prove the allegation made. i.e. that the T&Cs are unfair and you'll be the king of the forum

Newkid wrote: »

...I studied Banking in the early 80s when cheques took 3 days to clear , less if they were drawn against the same bank ...

Perhaps you should have studied harder
Even today it takes 4 working days to effectively clear (6 to clear with no chance of a claimback)
http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/246/-/page/113/

natweststaffmember

Premier wrote: »

Perhaps you should have studied harder
Even today it takes 4 working days to effectively clear (6 to clear with no chance of a claimback)
http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/246/-/page/113/

6 working days is cleared for fate, ie they cannot claim back the funds unless they can prove you were specifically in on the fraud, so to speak. 4 working days would be 5 normal days ie Monday is Transaction day Wednesday is Transaction plus 2 and Friday is Transaction day plus 4(just so that the OP is definitively clear).
I'll keep my own comments to the factual information you have stated.

Newkid

natweststaffmember wrote: »

6 working days is cleared for fate, ie they cannot claim back the funds unless they can prove you were specifically in on the fraud, so to speak. 4 working days would be 5 normal days ie Monday is Transaction day Wednesday is Transaction plus 2 and Friday is Transaction day plus 4(just so that the OP is definitively clear).
I'll keep my own comments to the factual information you have stated.

Thanks for keeping your posting to what you consider to be factual, I do understand T+ , these are Industry maximums. I see from the link you refer to that the Central Clearing Cycle is still 3 days , however the 246 procedure was introduced for clarity in 2007 to provide maximum times.
The area in which I refer is quoted below ;
" Some large retailers,by special arrangement,may pay cheques directly in to their bank’s
clearing centre rather than in to their branch at the end of the day,effectively by-passing
part of the clearing cycle.Alternatively, if both the customer and the retailer hold
accounts at the same bank branch the cheque would not have to pass through the
central cheque clearing. "
I believe this should apply to A&L in my example & the cheque should not have to pass through central clearing taking a day off the process.

Newkid

Newkid

Premier wrote: »

And what a story!

All you now need to do is prove the allegation made. i.e. that the T&Cs are unfair and you'll be the king of the forum

Perhaps you should have studied harder
Even today it takes 4 working days to effectively clear (6 to clear with no chance of a claimback)
http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/246/-/page/113/

Sarcasm & Irony in the same posting - but would you know the difference ?
Its nice to see one of you kids from the big playground coming over, the other posters have told me all about you.

We can all study harder but as you are aware from your link ( you have read it havent you ? ) these rulings were not introduced until 2007 and are stated Maximums. The clearing cycle remains 3 days, 6 "for fate " . The bank is drawing on itself.

Irony ............ thats not replying

Newkid

natweststaffmember

Newkid wrote: »

Thanks for keeping your posting to what you consider to be factual, I do understand T+ , these are Industry maximums. I see from the link you refer to that the Central Clearing Cycle is still 3 days , however the 246 procedure was introduced for clarity in 2007 to provide maximum times.
The area in which I refer is quoted below ;
" Some large retailers,by special arrangement,may pay cheques directly in to their bank’s
clearing centre rather than in to their branch at the end of the day,effectively by-passing
part of the clearing cycle.Alternatively, if both the customer and the retailer hold
accounts at the same bank branch the cheque would not have to pass through the
central cheque clearing. "
I believe this should apply to A&L in my example & the cheque should not have to pass through central clearing taking a day off the process.

Newkid

I need to clarify the exception to the rule albeit it is not entirely out of the criteria. For example, with many banks if the cheque is drawn on the branch it is paid into then it will clear effectively overnight, however, it is still subject to the 6 working days for fate clearance. IF the A&L cheque is paid into the branch where the account is held then I would agree with your premise. Otherwise, I am not sure I would agree with you.

Premier_2

Newkid wrote: »

... the other posters have told me all about you....

You mean people are sending you PMs all about me?
I feel so honoured that these anonymous users who don't know me (nor probably you) care to take the time to write about me in PMs to you.
Almost brings a tear to my eye... I did say 'almost'

Rest assured, anything I have to say is posted on the forum
Not one to admire those who like making secret whispers about others.

oscar52

I sympathise suomewhat with the OP - cheques really shouldnt take that long to clear in todays system.

I remember when I was in Uni, I had my grant cheque (a paltry amount - £150 if I remember correctly - but then I went the same year they scrapped them so was lucky) drawn on Natwest - I paid this into my Natwest account and it cleared in 36 hours.

Newkid

natweststaffmember wrote: »

IF the A&L cheque is paid into the branch where the account is held then I would agree with your premise.

NWS
Thanks,

Newkid

orc_2

Hi Newkid, sorry about trouble you've had.
If you get offered a cheque in future by any financial institution ask them to transfer the money directly to your account using BACs.

You don't have to accept a cheque from them, ask for payment on your terms.

These institutions like to pay out using cheques as it keeps the money in their system a bit longer, plus interest etc.