Stopping a building society cheque

chris301up

I am a driving instructor and generally pay most things by cash or cheque.

At the end of January my instructor licence was due to expire so my wife kindly organised a building society cheque for £300 to cover the cost of renewal.

This was drawn from our local branch of West Bromwich Building Society and posted on 28th January to Driving Standards Agency at a PO address given on the renewal form.

The licence hasn't been delivered so I queried this. After many phone calls I have been informed by the DSA that they have not received this and subsequently I am now unable to give driving tuition.

Both myself and my wife have been in contact with the Building Society concerned and they advise for the cheque to be stopped they will I require a letter from the DSA stating that if it arrives in future they will not process it.

I have spoken to the DSA and they now refuse to provide this information in a letter so now I am £300 short in the pocket, I do not have my instructor licence and of course, have no idea where the original cheque has gone.

Any advice would really be appreciated?

PaulW922

The difficulty is that the building society cheque is otherwise a guaranteed form of payment (that is why people like them) and so it is quite reasonable for the Society to seek confirmation that it has not been received. The DSA of course cannot give that assurance requested as it probably WILL be processed if they get it - big organisations just can't check every single item to make sure it hasn't been reported lost before they bank them.

Can you get a letter from the DSA to say that they have not received our application and payment and try sending that to the Building Society?

Failing that, when the cheque is six months old it will be out of date anyway - I think you need not worry about losing that money forever - just about getting it back quickly.

Doubtless some people will suggest you go to the Ombudsman but I think you should have another try at getting something out of the DSA again first - the Building Society is not being unreasonable in requesting some kind of assurance - it i just the nature of it that matters. After all, if the cheque is later presented, it won't be honoured!

chris301up

The DSA will not give any confirmation in writing one way or the other.

I cannot wait six months for the cheque to be out of date. I cannot afford another £300 so need the money returned immediately so that I can sort out my instructors licence.

Failing that I simply cannot work! BIG PROBLEM

Archi_Bald

Ask your bank for an overdraft, or a loan? Borrow the money from a relative?

chris301up

That sounds good but I borrowed the last £300 from a relative.

I am unable to get loans or overdrafts at present due to the current economic climate and lack of ongoing work.

jonesMUFCforever

PaulW922 wrote: »

The difficulty is that the building society cheque is otherwise a guaranteed form of payment (that is why people like them) and so it is quite reasonable for the Society to seek confirmation that it has not been received. The DSA of course cannot give that assurance requested as it probably WILL be processed if they get it - big organisations just can't check every single item to make sure it hasn't been reported lost before they bank them.

Can you get a letter from the DSA to say that they have not received our application and payment and try sending that to the Building Society?

Failing that, when the cheque is six months old it will be out of date anyway - I think you need not worry about losing that money forever - just about getting it back quickly.

Doubtless some people will suggest you go to the Ombudsman but I think you should have another try at getting something out of the DSA again first - the Building Society is not being unreasonable in requesting some kind of assurance - it i just the nature of it that matters. After all, if the cheque is later presented, it won't be honoured!

The building society cheque is not a guaranteed form of payment - it is merely a cheque which IMO could be stopped if West Brom have a mind to.
Surely from time to time cheques go missing and surely they must have a system in place to do this.

grumbler

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

The building society cheque is not a guaranteed form of payment - it is merely a cheque which IMO could be stopped

Absolutely.
In the past cheques could be guaranteed by a cheque guarantee card, but such cards were abolished in 2011.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/banking/2011/12/no-cheque-guarantee-cards-return

jonesMUFCforever

grumbler wrote: »

Absolutely.
In the past cheques could be guaranteed by a cheque guarantee card, but such cards were abolished in 2011.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/banking/2011/12/no-cheque-guarantee-cards-return

From Chris's post I read it as it was a head office cheque drawn on the B/S rather than a personal cheque drawn on his wife's account.
Drafts as they were known then never had cheque card protection.

Mikeyorks

chris301up wrote: »

Both myself and my wife have been in contact with the Building Society concerned and they advise for the cheque to be stopped they will I require a letter from the DSA stating that if it arrives in future they will not process it.

This is total rubbish. The cheque is from their own account and they can put a stop on it just as they can a customer account cheque. They're just being tedious.

The extract below from the Financial Ombudsman. I would go back to see the Building society manager and draw his attention to it (for 'draft' read 'building society cheque') and the fact the Ombudsman can impose suitable penalties - including for loss of earnings - if a bit of sense isn't seen and you have to go that route :

A building society counter cheque is written by the building society on its own local branch account - and is made payable to whoever the customer wants. A building society counter cheque can normally be stopped if it is lost or stolen.

We also sometimes see complaints from consumers who have asked their banks for drafts and have subsequently lost them. The consumer asks for a refund of the money they paid for the draft, but the bank refuses (or wants to impose burdensome conditions on the refund).

When we consider a complaint like this, we will look at the terms and conditions covering the issue of the draft. We will also take account of the circumstances in which the draft was lost, to assess the likelihood of a valid claim being made on the bank by a third party in relation to the draft.

The circumstances surrounding complaints of this type tend to be very individual. We take these individual facts and circumstances into account when deciding what is fair.

grumbler

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

From Chris's post I read it as it was a head office cheque drawn on the B/S rather than a personal cheque drawn on his wife's account.
Drafts as they were known then never had cheque card protection.

I missed this. If it really was a banker's draft (or similar) it indeed cannot be stopped:

A banker's draft can look, on casual inspection, like a cheque. And it is processed through the banking system in a similar way to a cheques. But it is not legally a cheque.
A banker's draft is written by the bank itself, on its own head-office account - and is made payable to whoever the customer wants. Unlike a cheque, a genuine banker's draft cannot be stopped - even if it is lost or stolen.

>> cheques and drafts
However,

A building society counter cheque is written by the building society on its own local branch account - and is made payable to whoever the customer wants. A building society counter cheque can normally be stopped if it is lost or stolen.

ETA: LOL - I missed the above post either.

jonesMUFCforever

Drafts in the proper sense have not been available for some years now - they all tend to be a cheque drawn on the bank - ie crossed and payable to somebody. They are in no way guaranteed to be paid until they have gone through the clearing cycle.