Cheques 'out of date'?

planteria

i had understood that cheques became 'out of date' / 'invalid' 6 months after the date of the cheque. but i have now been told by Barclays that this is not the case, and they have successfully processed a cheque that was 8 months old.
we really need to establish the facts re. this, and appreciate any help.

callum9999

Cheques don't expire. Some places may not accept them after x months, but that's up to them and isn't a rule.

slopemaster

I always thought it was a year and a day

cr1mson

Cheques never expire but common banking practice not to accept cheques older than 6 months. However that is at the discretion of the bank.

Cheques prove a debt for 6 years as per the statute of limitations.

YorkshireBoy

planteria wrote: »

we really need to establish the facts re. this, and appreciate any help.

See your account T&Cs...

We can pay a cheque no matter how long it is since you wrote it (it is not true that cheques automatically expire after six months).This means that, if you are asked to write a replacement cheque for some reason, you should ask us to stop the first cheque so that you don’t pay twice.




http://www.barclays.co.uk/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheadername1=Content-Type&blobheadername2=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=application%2Fpdf&blobheadervalue2=attachment%3B+filename%3D9910542WWWW_0614.pdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1260093188668&ssbinary=true (page 14)

stclair

Is it true that a cheque is only valid for six months?

No. A cheque is valid for as long as the debt between the two parties (i.e. issuer and payee) exists. In other words, cheques don’t have an expiration date. However, it’s common banking practice to reject a cheque that’s more than six months old to protect the payer in case the payment has already been made another way. This is at the discretion of individual banks. Where there is a dispute, a cheque remains legally valid in order to prove a debt for a period of six years, which is the Statute of Limitations.

http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/facts_and_figures/key_customer_faqs/

planteria

thank you all:grouphug:

planteria

someone has suggested to me that the above situation might be different due to the cheques being from a business....but it shouldn't make any difference, should it?

stclair

I think the best way forward would to just go to the bank and attempt to pay it into your account.

A cheque is a cheque regardless of where it comes from.

planteria

yes, i know that Barclays will accept cheques which are over 6 months old. but my reason for asking is deeper than that.

stclair

planteria wrote: »

yes, i know that Barclays will accept cheques which are over 6 months old. but my reason for asking is deeper than that.

If you could advise the circumstances in more detail maybe other posters may be able to assist you.

If the cheque is over 6 months old it could be the cheque has been cancelled maybe.