Bank Draft Help! Selling Car!

h755bpx

hi All!

I only have a savings account with Natwest and a Solo card attached to it. I am selling a car and have been given a bankers draft for £6,000 payable from National Irish Bank. The balance isn't showing on my account yet, not even as account balance. How long should it take to clear? I have not released any goods yet, am a bit wary.

thecotswolds

I work for Lloyds TSB and we have seen many national irish bank cheques which are fraudulent. Do not release the car, get NatWest to contact the bank and check it is OK - I have a bad feeling about this one, due to Irish sort code it will take more days than normal before the cheque is received back unpaid. In the meanwhile, the purchaser will try to hassle you to release the car - DO NOT.

Was this sold over the internet? Is the purchaser overseas, was the value of the cheque greater than the sale price of the car?

h755bpx

Thanks for your response. does that mean then because of the Irish sort code that it will appear as cleared funds after normal cheque clearing but if I use any cash they can strip my account of it? Any more info would be appreciated. The draft is not an overpayment.

thecotswolds

Yes, the drafts have a Belfast address on and a Northern Ireland sort code, because the unpaid is posted back from N.I. it always arrives back after the banks normal N.I. clearance has expired - you withdraw the funds and you end up £6000 O/D. I am fairly certain this is fraudulent. It would suggest you tell the seller you specially presented the cheque and it has bounced - I bet they don't argue about it.

oldwiring

thecotswolds wrote:

Yes, the drafts have a Belfast address on and a Northern Ireland sort code, because the unpaid is posted back from N.I. it always arrives back after the banks normal N.I. clearance has expired - you withdraw the funds and you end up £6000 O/D. I am fairly certain this is fraudulent. It would suggest you tell the seller you specially presented the cheque and it has bounced - I bet they don't argue about it.

Would that not be as dishonest until postive proof is received that the draft is unpaid?

jonesMUFCforever

I would agree not to release the car until you have been told that it has cleared.
This is not the same as being available for use as in 2 or 3 days time you could find the cheque debited back to your account.
Was your buyer Irish sounding - did they come from Ireland??

h755bpx

NEWS: I have checked with online banking and the balance is now "showing" on the account, but not "available" funds. I am a little worried about the fact that it is a Northern Ireland bank and the postal times, as this potentially means that because of the post delays the bank will show funds as available after normal clearing time ends, as the cheque won't have been returned? What shall I do? Not touch the money? more advice please, a very worried seller!

Mikeyorks

h755bpx wrote:

How long should it take to clear? I have not released any goods yet, am a bit wary.

The same as any other cheque you Bank. The fact that it's a draft doesn't affect the clearance time - but it does guarantee the funds will be there. Provided, of course, it's a genuine draft.

Very sensible to keep the car meantime. I'd ring NatWest online help desk tomorrow and see if they're prepared to give you an early alert of any problems - perhaps quoting some of post #2?