Cheque that is 5 years old...

wishuponastar

Hi everyone....

Looking for a bit of advice...

A payment came off my account which i didnt recognise and it has a cheque.....

So i looked back my cheque book and my current cheque book didn't have that cheque in it and must be a previous one.

I went into the bank and asked them to check it out and they said it was a cheque that was cashed that had been written 5 Years ago....

The bank assistant apologised and said it shouldn't have been cashed as it was too old so he said he would reverse the transaction and recredit my account....

A week passed and no credit....

I went back in and got the same guy who said he would look into it and then said it has been passed onto the complaints team so he couldn't tell me anything but thought that maybe by the next few days payment might appear back and guaranteed i would get it back.

A month later and its not any further forward....

I have been into bank 3 times in person and the last time i was told i would receive a phone call which i haven't. When ever i phone i get told that someone else is dealing with and its like a yo yo. I was just told it was being investigated which i already know.

Any advice as to what to do??

TIA

withabix

Cheques are legally valid for 6 years, however it is unusual for banks to clear them older than 6-12 months without referring to the originator.

Legally, they are within their rights to pay them when presented though.

Not much you can do about this.

bengal-stripe

wishuponastar wrote: »

The bank assistant apologised and said it shouldn't have been cashed as it was too old so he said he would reverse the transaction and recredit my account....

Even if the bank was to reverse the transaction and refund the payment........you still owe the debt and the person/company will come after you. They might have forgotten it for five years, but now they know that you still owe them the money for that particular transaction.

If they have to chase you, using a solicitor or the courts, it will cost you even more, and possibly, blow your credit rating to smithereens.

wishuponastar

bengal-stripe wrote: »

Even if the bank was to reverse the transaction and refund the payment........you still owe the debt and the person/company will come after you. They might have forgotten it for five years, but now they know that you still owe them the money for that particular transaction.

If they have to chase you, using a solicitor or the courts, it will cost you even more, and possibly, blow your credit rating to smithereens.

I dunno about anyone else but if someone says they have lost a cheque or never received in the mail then if it hasn't been cashed i dont have issues about paying my debts of course. If its a company or mailing then i would usually write another or if its personal and depending on circumstances i would either pay cash or write another if the 6 months period has expired (as i thought they expired after 6 months).

When i went into the bank initially as i didn't recognise the figure it was the bank that said it would have to be recredited and i could write another that was in date so i thought that was their policy.

But i guess that paying cash i wouldn't have any proof of this tho so if the person couldn't remember receiving the cash then i would still have to rewrite another or in future cancel any unpaid cheques before paying cash.

jonesMUFCforever

How much are we talking about here?