A&L cheque policy - help ??

kmsgirly

Hi all

My boyfriend applied for a provisional licence which he received on the 5th June. He sent a cheque for £45 but at the time he received the licence it had not been presented. We duly kept the account with enough money (its our little savings account) for the cheque to clear.

At 1030 am on 14th June I personally checked the account and there was approx £90 cleared funds. My boyfriend checked the account later that afternoon to the same balance and then withdrew £60, knowing that £120 was being paid in electronically the next day. When we got home and looked on the online banking, the £45 DVLA cheque was now showing to have been drawn out, but not the £60 cash- this tallied with the cleared balance. It wasn't until the next day that the account to appeared to have been overdrawn, although by the next day £120 had gone in and we were in the black once again.

My question is, why did the cheque not come out of my account until mid afternoon on the 14th rather than overnight ? I RELIGIOUSLY check my account before taking any money out and the irony is that for 5 weeks the account had ALWAYS had sufficient funds to cover the cheque we had written- quite literally the HOUR my boyfriend withdrew the money, the cheque was posted. Makes me wonder !!!

We are awaiting a letter from an accounts manager as to whether we will have the charge refunded, but its damn harsh considering the account was overdrawn for less than half a day !! Is it policy for banks to post cheques slap bang in the middle of the day ?

Any advice appreciated.

Katherine :-)

masonic

Actually, even if the money for the cheque was taken overnight, you still would have been charged. A&L's terms and conditions state that you have to have sufficient funds in your account by the end of the day to cover any payments taken that night. If you have a payment due to go out on the 15th, then the money needs to be there by the end of the afternoon on the 14th. A&L might refund the charge if it is a first offence.