Cheque paid into wrong bank account

bazster

My partner took a cheque payable to me (for £112) and paid it into her own Nationwide account instead of our Nationwide joint account (she used the machine in the branch to pay it in).

Obviously it should not be possible for a cheque payable to me to go into her bank account. I'm not bothered if the money finishes up in her account (after all, as she always says what's mine is hers and what's hers is hers), but if the Nationwide spot the mistake, I'm not on the best of terms with the issuer of the cheque and I really don't want to have to ask for another.

If anyone here works for a bank, do you know how likely it is that the error will be picked up (we're not married, completely different surnames)? And if it is picked up, what will happen to the cheque? Will they return it to her, thereby enabling it to be paid in again into the correct account, or will they return it to the issuing bank? Or could we head off the problem by both of us going into a branch, with proof of ID, and explaining the error?

grumbler

I don't work for a bank, but I am pretty sure that it's extremely unlikely after the cheque is cleared.

bazster

grumbler wrote: »

I don't work for a bank, but I am pretty sure that it's extremely unlikely after the cheque is cleared.

I'm sure you are right, but it hasn't cleared: she only did it today. The question (paraphrased) is, how likely is it to clear and what happens if it doesn't?

JuicyJesus

bazster wrote: »

I'm sure you are right, but it hasn't cleared: she only did it today. The question (paraphrased) is, how likely is it to clear and what happens if it doesn't?

If spotted, it's likely that the cheque will just be posted back to your partner.

That said, it probably won't be at this point.

bazster

Thanks, reassuring!

bazster

Well more than a week later it's still showing as a credit in her account so I guess they've overlooked it.

Convenient for me but not terribly reassuring on a wider scale, negates the whole point of crossed cheques.