Cheque gone astray!

langmad

Hi Guys,
I have a problem and hope that some kind soul can offer suggestions. On Friday 12th March my wife went into our local branch of NW to pay in a cheque, made out to me, into our joint account. My wife told me that because the bank was busy she was called over to the enquiries desk to pay in the cheque. Initially the woman told her that she was having trouble with their system because the account was not coming up as a joint account. However she told my wife not to worry because it would still go through. She then gave her a receipt. I waited the obligatory 5 working days and the cheque had still not cleared into the account. I visited the branch on Saturday 21st March. The woman on enquires told me that she remembered a cheque for that amount (£3k) sitting on a desk in the back office, and went off to find. She said that because they could not link the cheque to an account they had returned the cheque to HSBC. I have been a loyal customer with them for 40 years (not that branch) and I asked her why they did not search my name on their internal system or, even more obvious, look in the local telephone directory (I am the only entry with my surname). She had no answer. Being pressed further what had happened she said that the cheque had come detached from the account details on the way to the clearing centre. If that was true why did she tell me that it had been sitting around n a back office! She concluded by telling us that the manager would contact us by phone on Monday morning. However she basically stated that the problem was now ours !!!!!!!!!!!! and we will have to contact the initial company who raised the cheque, not easy because we received the cheque via a 3rd party (our solicitor). She said that we have to get them to cancel the original cheque and raise a new one.
Any suggestions on our rights and what we should do next would be gratefully received.

PS. Sorry post is so long winded!

Thanks
langmad:D

opinions4u

langmad wrote: »

I have been a loyal customer with them for 40 years (not that branch) and I asked her why they did not search my name on their internal system or, even more obvious, look in the local telephone directory (I am the only entry with my surname). She had no answer.

To be honest, the risk of finding somebody with a similar name is exceptionally high. I wouldn't want my bank contacting somebody else to discuss an issue with my account.

Being pressed further what had happened she said that the cheque had come detached from the account details on the way to the clearing centre. If that was true why did she tell me that it had been sitting around n a back office!

Don't know. May be there was confusion all round though. Branch staff are human.

She concluded by telling us that the manager would contact us by phone on Monday morning. However she basically stated that the problem was now ours !!!!!!!!!!!! and we will have to contact the initial company who raised the cheque, not easy because we received the cheque via a 3rd party (our solicitor).

This would be the easiest way to resolve things. It surely isn't that difficult to contact your own solicitor?

Any suggestions on our rights and what we should do next would be gratefully received.

I would actually ask your solicitor to stop the cheque and CHAPS the funds in to your account. This will avoid clearing cycles etc and ensure you get the funds as quickly as possible. Your solicitor will probably pass on their banking costs for sending a CHAPS - £25ish.

I would also tell Nationwide that you intend to do this and ask for (demand nicely) an appropriate level of compensation.

- time dealing with the issue on Saturday (£10)
- time dealing with the issue on Monday (£5)
- banking costs of the solicitor (£25)
- interest lost on not having the funds available (£5)
- a suitable goodwill payment to retain your custom (£50)

The figures in brackets are a guide, there may be specific costs such as car parking, different CHAPS fees etc that aren't included.

Get them to offer an amount first ... it may be more than the numbers I've applied to it.

If they refuse (which I don't think they will) ask for a letter of deadlock and take it to the Ombudsman. That would be more expensive for them so there's an incentive for them to settle with you now.

I hope that helps.

dzug1

opinions4u wrote: »

To be honest, the risk of finding somebody with a similar name is exceptionally high. I wouldn't want my bank contacting somebody else to discuss an issue with my account.

.

And these days I get the impression that most people aren't in the directory anyway