Question about name on cheque

Uncertain

IanManc wrote: »

If the cheque is crossed - which cheques issued by all UK clearing banks nowadays are - it can only be paid into an account in the name of a beneficiary exactly as it appears on the cheque.

The relevant legislation is Section 1 of the Bills of Exchange Act 1882.

So the bank staff were not being awkward or ignorant - they were complying with the law.

http://www.paymentscouncil.org.uk/payment_advice/key_payment_questions/

Many thanks, that is a useful link.

Presumably, in real life "exactly" gets stretched a bit?

What would (should) happen when initials that are omitted or Christian names are shortened. For example, should it be possible to pay a cheque made out to Fred Bloggs into an account in the name of Frederick Bloggs? Or what about names where the spelling changes when abbreviated e.g. Mike for Michael?

hermanmunster_3

Personally I would never dream of referring to the dear Mrs Bloggs as anything other than Mrs F Bloggs - in her day no doubt, being Mrs G Bloggs meant you were divorced.

I use my maiden name for work and accounts are in this name but occasionally a relative sticking to good form sends me a cheque in my married name. Bank have copy of marriage cert and have never had any problem crediting the cheque to my account

IanManc

Uncertain wrote: »

Many thanks, that is a useful link.

Presumably, in real life "exactly" gets stretched a bit?

What would (should) happen when initials that are omitted or Christian names are shortened. For example, should it be possible to pay a cheque made out to Fred Bloggs into an account in the name of Frederick Bloggs? Or what about names where the spelling changes when abbreviated e.g. Mike for Michael?

Yes, it does get stretched a bit.

I've sometimes paid building society cheques that I've withdrawn from my own account, which have had my middle initial missing despite my having asked for both initials to be shown on the cheque, into my bank account. I've done it on occasion without any attention being drawn to it, but a couple of times I've been asked to confirm that it is mine, which I've done by showing the passbook of the account it came from, and that shows both my initials in the account name.

I think the real problem that Mrs Bloggs encountered is that the initial shown was completely different from the one on her bank account, and so there was a clear possibility that the cheque could have been the property of someone else, for example a sister in law or a daughter in law, with the same surname.

It's understandable in that situation for the bank not to accept it. :sad:

hermante

Who issues cheques with Mr or Mrs anyway? I've never received one. I get about 5 a year and I always try to specify what name they should be issued in.

I was born with 4 middle names which was a bit annoying, and my parents used different names for different things and in different orders. When I was 20 I decided to make up a "government name" and use that for all official stuff. After changing records with HSBC, I suddenly got a cheque in one of my middle names, but the counter staff accepted it without even looking at my name change declaration (first time I had been to that branch), so I wonder if they could see it from their screen?
However, none of my "former" names seem to show up on credit reports.

Uncertain

hermante wrote: »

Who issues cheques with Mr or Mrs anyway? I've never received one.

Well Mrs "Bloggs" did, hence this debate!

She is getting on for ninety and I suspect the person who issued the cheque is a similar age!

Apparently she has been getting a cheque from this organisation every year and has never had a problem in the past. However, we can't be certain now how they were written in past years.

If it were my own I would try the suggestion of putting it in a deposit drop box as I suspect it would go through. However, like many elderly people, she wouldn't be happy without a cashier's stamp on the counterfoil of her book.

Thanks to everybody who has replied. I can, genuinely, see both side of this!