How to tell if a postal order has been cashed?

immoral_angeluk

Any idea if there is anyway that someone can tell if a postal order has been cashed?

frivolous_fay

The post office might be able to help if you have the stubs. Were they crossed?

immoral_angeluk

I can't remember if we had them crossed or not.. does it make a difference?

frivolous_fay

If they're crossed it means they can only be paid into a bank account in the name of the person on the PO - like a cheque - or over the post office counter for certain bank accounts.

An uncrossed postal order is as good as cash to whichever person has it in their pocket.

Rain_is_Insane

They can tell you if a postal order has been cashed but you have to write off for the details. Not sure how much info they will tell you as when i needed to do it the goods arrived a day later so i didn't need to bother. If you ring the royal mail helpline on the web page they will give you the address to write off to. The problem i find with a lot of post offices though is that they don't ask for ID. My friend frequently cashes her sisters tax credits giro for her if she can't get to the post office and has never been asked for ID yet !

baby-xiaxia

I have yet to ever be asked for ID when cashing postal orders and personally NEVER use them as payment. If they get lost in the post to be honest anyone could cash them but the onus is on RM to request ID but then again the legal onus is on the person attempting to commit fraud....

frivolous_fay

Normal postal orders are not crossed, ie. they can be cashed by anyone, ie. no ID required.

If people worry about them going missing in the post, the logical answer is to cross them.

Hard to pay a postal order in someone else's name into your own bank account.