Life span of a cheque

Beverley

I booked my son onto his school trip and paid each installment of £100 when it was due. However the school took an incredible length of time to cash each cheque and only after I contacted them was each cheque cashed.

I'm a single parent and keep a fairly tight budget so it's tough to keep seeing this money in my account but being unable to use it. After the third instalment had not been cashed after three months I contacted the school to explain my predicament (again!) and received a profuse apology and the assurance that it had just been banked that day. I withdrew some cash and used it only to find that actually, it hadn't been banked at all. It still hasn't and the cheque is now over 6 months old.

The holiday has already been and gone. And I resent the fact that despite my pleading, they still haven't cashed it.

I think it is now out of date but I wonder whether I should cancel the cheque anyway to be on the safe side. If the school then realise their error, I can pay them the £100 in my own time but I feel as though I have this weight around me all the time not knowing when or if they will cash it.

And frankly, considering that I have bent over backwards and pleaded on several occasions to get it sorted, they still haven't done so, I resent this.

I presume the school have lost it. However, if it turns up from down the back of some filing cabinet, can it still be cashed? Are they within their rights to cash it? I think it's a real cheek that they told me it had been cashed when it never was and I have been patient enough.

What is my legal position?

mountainofdebt

I don't think you can cash a cheque that's more than 6 months old.

Whilst I can understand your frustration, you may want to consider the moral aspect of not giving a replacement should they ask for one.

Tropez

Cheques remain legally valid for six years. It is, however, common practice by the majority of banks not to accept a cheque that is more than six months old (some won't even accept cheques older than 3 months) but it should not be assumed that a six month old cheque will automatically be refused.

Beverley

mountainofdebt wrote: »

I don't think you can cash a cheque that's more than 6 months old.

Whilst I can understand your frustration, you may want to consider the moral aspect of not giving a replacement should they ask for one.

I think that I've made far more effort than I should have had to to pay it already but if they ask, I will pay it. That is not an issue - although I may not pay it immediately (e.g. if it falls towards the end of the month, they'll have to wait until i am paid.)

However, I see no reason to continue begging and pleading with them to cash my cheque. I think I'm fully entitled to claim the moral high ground on that score.

mountainofdebt

I'll repeat I have full sympathy for you and your situation as I worked in a bank and it was a nightmare having to make sure that there was enough money in the account especially if cheques weren't cashed straight away.

Having said that though I don't think there's much you can do apart from marching into the school secretary's office and frog marching her to the bank with your cheque. Just reserve the money mentally and when it clears, the problem will go away.

Alternatively pay the bank goodness knows how much to cancel the cheque and then have the hassle of reserving the money anyway and having to write a new one when they come chasing.

There_Goes_Trouble

I would write to the school and tell them that since they have had the cheque for 'x' months without cashing it, I am assuming that they no longer require the money for the school trip and if it is not cashed within 28 days I will cancel it as a security measure.

That gives them plenty of time to come back to you about it, or find and cash the cheque, or to chase it up with their bank if indeed they did present the cheque and it's a banking error.

I would deliver the letter by hand and get the receptionist to give you a receipt for it too.

This is the main reason I don't use cheques any more unless I have to. I wrote one the other day and it was the first one I'd used for over 2 years!

bugged

I would cancel the cheque and forget about it. Pay the bank the tenner or whatever they will charge you to do this. Clearly, the school doesn't need the money.

If they ever ask you, you can make an arrangement to pay them if and when it suits you.

pigpen

I'd cancel it.. most banks don't charge for it.. I have 3 and none charge. If they do.. knock it off the outstanding balance to the school and tell them why!

This is exactly why I always pay cash for everything.

make_me_wise

I think the lifespan of a cheque is 6 months. Id be tempted to cancel the cheques so the school cant bank them at an inconvenient time and risk sending you overdrawn.

Im sat in the office at the school where I work and we are all having a laugh about this thread. The amount of time we waste chasing parents for payments you would not believe!!!! As soon as they pay up the cheques etc are banked.

newcook

I too would cancel the cheque - the school have had ample opportunity to get this paid in and have failed to do so.

actually thinking about it, I would pop into your bank and explain to them and see what they say - they may offer to cancel it free of charge

Debbie_A_3

Hi Beverley,

As a parent I get really annoyed when schools do this! I like to keep my chequebook balanced and when a cheque does not get cashed for months on end, it upsets my accounting.

However, from the other side (I am also a teacher), I know exactly why it happens. The trip gets organised and cheques flow in. The teacher in charge collect the cheques. They really should pass them straight on to the finance clerk but then they might forget who has paid and who hasn't. So they keep them until they all come in. Meanwhile the trip is paid for from some other budget as a temporary measure. Eventually the cheques are passed on, but now there is no urgency for the finance clerk to pay the cheques into the account because the trip is paid for. So she sits on them until she has to go to the bank for another reason.

Sorry, I am not trying to make excuses, but this is the way that (my) school works. There must be a better way than cheques, though. Indeed, one of my children's schools is starting to use Parent Pay to collect money for trips, etc. It seems to work well. Perhaps you could suggest this as a helpful parent.

Debbie