We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

The MSE Forum Team would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas. However, we know this time of year can be difficult for some. If you're struggling during the festive period, here's a list of organisations that might be able to help
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Has MSE helped you to save or reclaim money this year? Share your 2025 MoneySaving success stories!

Stolen Cheque - advice needed?

My daughter had her purse stolen yesterday, one of the contents was a cheque made out to her from myself for the value of £40.
I called at my HSBC bank today to see if I could cancel this cheque, unfortunately HSBC have a charge of £12 to cancel cheques, even stolen cheques (unlike other banks). HSBC inform me that it is very unlikely that someone else could cash the cheque. Is this true? or should I pay the cancellation fee?
«1

Comments

  • knack92
    knack92 Posts: 465 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    jazzy wrote: »
    My daughter had her purse stolen yesterday, one of the contents was a cheque made out to her from myself for the value of £40.
    I called at my HSBC bank today to see if I could cancel this cheque, unfortunately HSBC have a charge of £12 to cancel cheques, even stolen cheques (unlike other banks). HSBC inform me that it is very unlikely that someone else could cash the cheque. Is this true? or should I pay the cancellation fee?

    Go back to your branch and tell them that their price list says stopping a cheque due to theft is free. Or call them.

    http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/PA_esf-ca-app-content/content/pws/content/personal/pdfs/general-price-list.pdf
  • citykid5
    citykid5 Posts: 821 Forumite
    knack92 wrote: »
    Go back to your branch and tell them that their price list says stopping a cheque due to theft is free. Or call them.

    http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/PA_esf-ca-app-content/content/pws/content/personal/pdfs/general-price-list.pdf

    Great advice knack. This is why I love mse :money:
  • jjlandlord
    jjlandlord Posts: 5,099 Forumite
    edited 5 November 2014 at 7:11PM
    knack92 wrote: »
    Go back to your branch and tell them that their price list says stopping a cheque due to theft is free. Or call them.

    What is free is stopping "Stopped Cheques resulting from theft or loss of blank cheques" (Which I guess is what applies to most banks).

    This is not OP's case. He did not lose, and wasn't stolen, blank cheques.

    He made a double-crossed, payee account, cheque to someone (which means that in principle the cheque can only deposited on the recipient's account), and now he wants to stop it.
    That's £12, unless the bank somehow decides to be nice and make a commercial gesture.
  • antrobus
    antrobus Posts: 17,386 Forumite
    knack92 wrote: »
    Go back to your branch and tell them that their price list says stopping a cheque due to theft is free. Or call them.

    http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/PA_esf-ca-app-content/content/pws/content/personal/pdfs/general-price-list.pdf

    Err, actually it says that "Stopped cheques resulting from loss or theft of blank cheques" are free. The OP's cheque was not blank, therefore the £12 charge applies. Or £10 if you cancel it online.

    Of course, the devil in me would point out that HSBC would have no real way of knowing that any cheque wasn't blank when you lost it. But the OP has gone and given the game away now, so that won't work. :)
    jazzy wrote: »
    ..... HSBC inform me that it is very unlikely that someone else could cash the cheque. Is this true? ....

    More or less. Someone would have to open a bank account in the name of Miss A P Jazzy (or whatever) in order to get value for the cheque. Not that easy these days, with all this money laundering stuff about, unless you actually happen to be Miss A P Jazzy. Of course there probably is at least one, and possibly dozens of other Miss A P Jazzys about somewhere in the country who could bank the cheque, but the chances are that none of them are known to your particular thief.

    Edit: Yes someone else has spotted it as well.:)
  • jjlandlord
    jjlandlord Posts: 5,099 Forumite
    antrobus wrote: »
    Of course, the devil in me would point out that HSBC would have no real way of knowing that any cheque wasn't blank when you lost it.

    If the cheque was filled and signed by the account owner it obviously wasn't blank when stolen... ;)
  • knack92
    knack92 Posts: 465 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    jjlandlord wrote: »
    What is free is stopping "Stopped Cheques resulting from theft or loss of blank cheques" (Which I guess is what applies to most banks).

    This is not OP's case. He did not lose, and wasn't stolen, blank cheques
    antrobus wrote: »
    Err, actually it says that "Stopped cheques resulting from loss or theft of blank cheques" are free. The OP's cheque was not blank, therefore the £12 charge applies. Or £10 if you cancel it online.

    Whoops; thanks.

    I inadvertently read it as "Stopped Cheques resulting from theft" - free or "loss of blank cheques" - free.
  • xylophone
    xylophone Posts: 45,850 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I inadvertently read it as "Stopped Cheques resulting from theft" - free or "loss of blank cheques" - free.

    The wording is ambiguous.

    It should say "blank cheques which are lost or stolen" ?
  • jjlandlord
    jjlandlord Posts: 5,099 Forumite
    xylophone wrote: »
    The wording is ambiguous.

    It should say "blank cheques which are lost or stolen" ?

    It's not ambiguous...
    Let's move on, shall we?
  • xylophone
    xylophone Posts: 45,850 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Let's move on, shall we?

    I am sure that nobody would deny you your right to move on...:)
  • DevCoder
    DevCoder Posts: 3,362 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Well the lack of a comma means it isn't ambiguous...
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.9K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 246K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 602.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.8K Life & Family
  • 259.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.