Can I bank a cheque made out to my Middle & Surname rather than First name?

coffee_king

Hi there
I have been given a cheque written out to my middle and surname for some stupid reason. I dont want to have to ask the person to write the cheque out again to me as it took quiet a lot of work to get them to write it out in the first place. (I am assured it will NOT bounce)

My bank account has my full name on my account (Lets for instance say its John Alan Smith), the cheque has been written out to Alan Smith.

Is this going to be bankable/clearable?
Anyone had any experience with this before?

Thanks

McKneff

Maybe not the done thing but could you sqeeze your first initial into the front of it at all.

liam8282

Depends on your bank and who processes the cheque. In theory they shouldn't process it, it should be made it to your correct name.

For example my sons middle name is liam, so if a cheque came and he tried to bank it as it has his middle name, this should be rejected.

In the past I have had cheques with the wrong initial and I have merely amended them and they have been processed fine, on the other hand I had a cheque with my name misspelled and it was rejected and I had to get another cheque made out with the correct spelling.

chipmunk

It probably depends on the bank but my husband banked a such a cheque the other week (Lloyds TSB). He has always been known by his middle name but his account is in his full name. They accepted the cheque without question and it has cleared.

ChiefGrasscutter

Lloyds recently rejected a cheque made out to me with my middle initial being rather illegible - I agree it was rather difficult to see what it was..
I had to get cheque re-written

Of ocurse had they left out the middle initial in the first place it would have been fine!

coffee_king

Hmm,
So if the cheque had just been made out to
"Smith"
or
"Mr Smith"
it would go into the bank OK?

thenudeone

If it's a low value cheque then use the automated or postal deposit points as they are unlikely to go to the trouble of manually rejecting it even if it's spotted.

There is nothing illegal about banking a cheque even if it is made out to someone completely different, as long as they have signed the back of the cheque; but since the paying bank has no way of checking whether the recipient's signature it is open to fraud and some banks may reject them, especially for larger amounts.

CORRECTION: Above post may be incorrect - see later posts. BUT for low value cheques banks aren't really that bothered (in my experience).

ChiefGrasscutter

thenudeone wrote: »

There is nothing illegal about banking a cheque even if it is made out to someone completely different, as long as they have signed the back of the cheque; but since the paying bank has no way of checking whether the recipient's signature it is open to fraud and some banks may reject them, especially for larger amounts.

Not anymore.
you used to be able to do this.
Pretty well all cheques have the words "A/C payee" written on them
They can only be paid into the named persons bank account.

throughtherain

I am known by everybody personally by my middle name, yet of course all my bank accounts have my full name attached to them. I have been receiving cheques for the last 30 years made out to "Middle name Surname" and have never had a problem paying cheques into my account.

JimmyTheWig

Unless it's a large amount I don't think anyone would check.
As long as you are sure that it was intended to be banked by you then I don't believe there would be a problem in trying.

aeb_2

Until the day he died my father forgot I was married and made a birthday and Christmas cheque out in my maiden name. I lived in a small town and the bank knew me and accepted it every time. Now that branch has closed I doubt I could present it at a bank in the city.

If I were the OP I would try