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

thenudeone

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

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.

Yes - it's so long since I wrote a cheque that I had forgotten that banks ususally pre-print that term nowadays. It wasn't the case when I got my first cheque book in the 1980s (although they were always crossed).

In that case - how can companies offer to turn your pay or other cheques into cash?

liam8282

thenudeone wrote: »

In that case - how can companies offer to turn your pay or other cheques into cash?

Not sure, but I presume that the cheque cashing company will in effect be the treated as a bank.

You give them your details, confirm your identity etc. In effect open an account with them, deposit your cheque and they pay you the cash minus the fee.

The cheque cashing company then process the cheque just as a bank would.

I am not sure how it works, but that seems logical to me?!

smartiedriver_2

According to the Cheques Act 1986 cheques must be paid into an account bearing the name of the payee. In this case, Alan Smith.

In practice, if it is a small cheque, the bank staff are likely to accept it.

Cheques are not checked under £10k in the automated system so once accepted over the counter you are unlikely to have any issues.

coffee_king

smartiedriver wrote: »

According to the Cheques Act 1986 cheques must be paid into an account bearing the name of the payee. In this case, Alan Smith.

In practice, if it is a small cheque, the bank staff are likely to accept it.

Cheques are not checked under £10k in the automated system so once accepted over the counter you are unlikely to have any issues.

Hi
What do you class as a SMALL cheque? This is for £1000.
Thanks

thenudeone

I suggest a £1000 cheque is big enough for bank staff to check things more carefully.

jonesMUFCforever

If the bank has your full name then having a cheque made out to your middle name should present no problem at all.

Greenfly_3

Obviously you guys do not have an account with Santander. My wife is known by her 2nd Christian name. Her account is in her first and second Christian names. They would not process a cheque with just her second name. Trying to open an account in her second name is not easy either as she is on the Electoral Roll with her first and second names.

zerog

Greenfly wrote: »

Obviously you guys do not have an account with Santander. My wife is known by her 2nd Christian name. Her account is in her first and second Christian names. They would not process a cheque with just her second name. Trying to open an account in her second name is not easy either as she is on the Electoral Roll with her first and second names.

Well, I have done this with Santander several times with no problems, once where stupid British Gas just sent me a compo cheque with Mr Surname. HSBC even accepted a cheque with my former name (I removed some superfluous extra middle names which my parents thought was a good idea to include on every official document ever, and brought my change of name docs but the cashier didn't want to see it.)

missile

It would be nice if OP came back to give us an update

Dirk_Gently_2

From my experience I think some of you are over-estimating the banks' diligence in looking at such things. I'd be amazed if anyone notices.