Nationwide - Lost my $1000NZD deposited chq!!!

kiwichick

Hi All,

I'm after some advice please. My mother very kindly sent me a chq in the amount of $1000NZD, she had been saving for years and it was a one off gift. She sent a cheque as even though its a different currency I am only charged £6 to pay it in instead of £40+ with a direct transfer.

I deposited the cheque on the 28th of Nov and was told it would take up to 4 weeks to clear ( I have since been told by staff today that it ought to have taken just 5 days!). I took a photo of the cheque as backup and received (and still have) a handwritten counter receipt.

As its now been 6 weeks with no sign of the cheque having cleared I've been chasing it up via secure message and finally going into brach today. After half an hour of waiting around I've been told they have lost it. No apology initially, I was told simply to ask my mother for another one!

After my complaining and asking how this could have happened within a supposedly secure interbranch mail system I did get an apology. This was followed with a request again for a followup cheque or to have my mum do a wire transfer. I said yes that was fine as long as Nationwide stumped up the tranfer fee and payed the fee that my mum will be charged for her lost cheque. Apparently that cant be authorised and they are still trying to find out whats happened.

My queiry is, where do I stand in terms of making a complaint? Am I able to ask that they pay the tranfer fee? Am I able to claim a few pence in lost interest?

Any advice?

Thanks,
Allison.

grumbler

If they don't find the cheque, you mum has to cancel it and this might cost her too.
In this case you definitely have strong grounds for claiming all costs related to the cancellation and sending a new one.

Hominu

You'll be surprised what can be authorised once you lodge a formal complaint, which I would encourage you to do.

kiwichick

Thanks for the replies guys, will definitely lodge a formal complaint. Now to figure out how to do that and how to word the thing - never done anything like this before!!

jonesMUFCforever

There is no secure interbranch mail system just air mail.
As far as I know Nationwide do not have any branches in New Zealand.
You can instruct Nationwide to send any new cheque received by courier - but you will have to bear the cost - DHL will charge about £27 for this!

The terms and conditions which Nationwide should have given you when you credited the money into your account would/should have pointed out that losses outside of their control is outside of their liability.
It would appear to be that case here.

By all means complain but if you want the money you need to ask mum whether the original cheque has been cashed - if not ask her to place a stop on it and issue a new one to you.

Can I ask where you get the figure of £40 for accepting a foreign transfer into your account?

IMO you would get a better rate and your mum an electronic trail should there be any problems by sending an electronic transfer.

Biggles

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

The terms and conditions which Nationwide should have given you when you credited the money into your account would/should have pointed out that losses outside of their control is outside of their liability.
It would appear to be that case here.

As it was paid over their counter and they gave a receipt for it, it must surely have been under their control.

grumbler

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Can I ask where you get the figure of £40 for accepting a foreign transfer into your account?

The OP said for "a direct transfer", not for accepting, and it was a very realistic figure for an international transfer if intermediary banks are involved.

jonesMUFCforever

Biggles wrote: »

As it was paid over their counter and they gave a receipt for it, it must surely have been under their control.

Not when it is sent to the New Zealand bank for payment.

dalesrider

Biggles wrote: »

As it was paid over their counter and they gave a receipt for it, it must surely have been under their control.

Cheques are sent back to the origonal banks clearing center.
So the chq has to go back to NZ.

Hence the longer clearing time on overseas cheques.

So the origonal time frame was correct. I think the 5 day one is because someone did not realise it was a non Uk cheque...
Even that is wrong as a UK chq can still be reclaimed back upto 8 days after being presented if fraudlent.

opinions4u

Foreign cheques are a pain in the backside, take ages to get through the system, screw you on exchange rates and tend to have fees applied by the drawing bank or their agent that aren't disclosed up front (because it's not Nationwide's responsibility to know them).

Nationwide's web site explains this (and where 5 days comes from).

Paying the higher fee for an electronic transfer is nearly always cheaper and always faster.

As for your complaint, keep it concise and to the point:

- I did this
- I was told this
- This didn't happen
- This wasn't explained
- Please put it right
- This has cost me £xx which I would appreciate you reimbursing.

The link above also includes this paragraph:

Collection takes place where you or we require confirmation that the cheque has been paid. It often involves larger amounts and can take up to 8 weeks, sometimes longer, before we are able to credit your account with the proceeds.

So the processing of the cheque may still be going on. That said, even with Christmas post delays I think we're well beyond reasonable timescales now. New Zealand isn't deepest Africa where things really do go at their own speed.

kiwichick

Thanks Guys,

Just to clarify, Mum sent me the chq from NZ. I banked it with Nationwide, they told me there would be a £6 charge to deposit it. This fee can be higher as with very high value cheques (which mine was not according to them) it can need to be sent back to NZ bank for verification). This was not needed in my case. My cheque has not had to leave the country, it was simply forwarded to Nationwides processing unit (so I was told yessterday). They have not got any record of having received it, the only record anywhere that it even existed in the UK is my photo and hand written receipt. I dont see how them loosing my cheque within their interbranch secure mail system (terminology used by counter staff yesterday) is outside their control as it is their system.

The £40 fee is standard for a direct money transfer from her account in NZ to mine here in UK as there are fees both ends. This has been confirmed to me by Nationwide.

I'm still waiting to hear from them about accepting fees for a direct transfer.

Al.