Natwest loses cheque

jeb01

My daughter spent months getting a rent deposit refund of £250 - paid it into Natwest and they lost it. Apparently this happens all the time and if you don't keep the receipt they don't even look for it! It now seems that it is my daughter's responsibility to request another cheque, pay a cancellation/reissue fee and then claim back later. Meanwhile her overdraft has been £250 bigger than it should have been since 30th July. Does anyone know if this is right, or should the bank do some of the chasing around?

dunstonh

Apparently this happens all the time

I wouldnt go as far as that. It happens but its not usual.

if you don't keep the receipt they don't even look for it!

With branches taking in tens of thousands of cheques, its difficult to trace without knowing having the crossing stamp on it to know which cashier it went through.

It now seems that it is my daughter's responsibility to request another cheque, pay a cancellation/reissue fee and then claim back later.

The bank cant request it. Your daughter can. So, that part is logical. Some of the banks dont charge for cancelling a lost cheque. So, there may not be a charge.

Does anyone know if this is right, or should the bank do some of the chasing around?

The bank T&C usually have a paragraph to cover themselves for things outside of their control.

However, when you consider the transaction, its strange that the credit entry and the debit entry have gone missing. They both go off in different directions. So, whilst the cheque may go missing in the clearing cycle, the credit entry wouldn't. The credit entry would show the transaction reference and from there they could do a trace on the cheque.

If it was old style waste processing then its possible for both bits to go missing but if its counter processing (i.e. the cashier's till does the waste processing rather than a machine room) then it would be unlikely.

ERICS_MUM

jeb01 wrote: »

My daughter spent months getting a rent deposit refund of £250 - paid it into Natwest and they lost it. Apparently this happens all the time and if you don't keep the receipt they don't even look for it! It now seems that it is my daughter's responsibility to request another cheque, pay a cancellation/reissue fee and then claim back later. Meanwhile her overdraft has been £250 bigger than it should have been since 30th July. Does anyone know if this is right, or should the bank do some of the chasing around?

Have you given a copy of the paying-in stub to the branch of Nat West where your daughter paid in the cheque - if they have stamped the stub with the date and branch name to confirm receipt then it is their responsibility to trace the item through the clearing. If an error has been made they should reinstate your daughter's account so she doesn't suffer any overdraft charges due to their error.

If your daughter hasn't kept the paying-in stub I think she will have to start the search herself. Check with whoever gave her the cheque to see if their account has been debited. If so their bank should be able to give them the clearing ref no which will enable NatWest to trace the credit side (it might be lurking on a central "unapplied items" account ).

In fairness to NatWest there will always be a small number of lost or wrongly credited cheques, due to the sheer volumes processed evey day. The error rate is a minute "fraction" of a percent.