old cheque - still cash in?

mr_rush

not sure where to put this so i picked this branch.

I've got a cheque from a company I worked for as a student more then 5 years ago. Just found it when I was cleaning out my room.

can I still cash it in?
Its for over £100 so a reasonable about of money.
The company is still solvent and working.

thanks for your help

LittleVoice

Ask them to re-issue the cheque. Their bank reconciliations will have shown that the cheque has not been presented.

Ems!

pretty sure cheques become invalid after 6 months. If it's not 6 months, I'd be pretty sure a cheque from 5 years ago wouldn't clear, you could always try writing to the company though and asking if they will replace? nothing ventured....

Thomas_Crown

Ems! wrote: »

pretty sure cheques become invalid after 6 months.......

Ems, I am sure that you are correct in saying that cheques are only valid for 6 months from the date they are issued.

noh

According to APACS cheques are legally valid for six years but it is common banking practice to reject them if over six months old.
http://www.apacs.org.uk/resources_publications/faqs/cheques_10.html

Nigel

inmypocketnottheirs

noh wrote: »

According to APACS cheques are legally valid for six years but it is common banking practice to reject them if over six months old.
http://www.apacs.org.uk/resources_publications/faqs/cheques_10.html

Nigel

Basically the only check made about the date of the cheque is by the cashier when you are paying in. Therefore if he/she does not notice, and the company has not changed banks, or account, and there are funds available the cheque will clear.

However, I would advise contacting the company and getting a fresh cheque issued.

HTH

M_Thomson

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

Basically the only check made about the date of the cheque is by the cashier when you are paying in. Therefore if he/she does not notice, and the company has not changed banks, or account, and there are funds available the cheque will clear.

However, I would advise contacting the company and getting a fresh cheque issued.

HTH

If the cashier does not notice, it will bounce during clearing and be reversed out of the account.

inmypocketnottheirs

M_Thomson wrote: »

If the cashier does not notice, it will bounce during clearing and be reversed out of the account.

Not true.

The only physical check made is by the cashier in the branch that the cheque is paid in at.

Why? Because the cheque does not leave that branch. The days of pieces of paper being moved from bank to bank disappeared eons ago. The actual exchange of data is done electronically, hence once the cashier has put the cheque into the system, if there are funds available, the account is still open it will get paid in.

lil_lisa

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

Not true.

The only physical check made is by the cashier in the branch that the cheque is paid in at.

Why? Because the cheque does not leave that branch. The days of pieces of paper being moved from bank to bank disappeared eons ago. The actual exchange of data is done electronically, hence once the cashier has put the cheque into the system, if there are funds available, the account is still open it will get paid in.

Actually the cheques do leave the branch. Most banks will have a large storage area (usually a warehouse) where things like cheques are kept for 6 years before being destroyed.

If mr_rush were to try pay in the cheque there would be three possible outcomes:

a) The cashier would notice the date and refuse to cash the cheque.

b) The cashier doesn't notice and the cheque goes through smoothly.

c) The cashier doesn't notice and is later refused in clearing. If this is the case then the cheque will be returned to mr_rush with something along the lines of "refer to issuer" which you can then be taken back to the employer as proof that the old one has not been cashed and they should produce a new one.



I've just found this online:

"Is it true that cheques are only valid for six months?
It is common banking practice to reject cheques that are over six months old to protect the payer, on the basis that payment may already have been made by some other means or the cheque may have been lost or stolen . However, this is at the discretion of individual banks. It should not be assumed that cheques in excess of six months old would automatically be rejected – the only certain way to cancel a cheque is to request that a stop be placed on it (although cheques backed by a Cheque Guarantee Card cannot be stopped). It is recommended that, if possible, customers
in possession of cheques that are over six months old obtain a replacement. A cheque remains legally valid for six years."

http://www.apacs.org.uk/resources_publications/documents/Cheques-and-Cheque-Clearing-the-Facts-Jul-05.pdf

regularsaver1

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

Not true.

The only physical check made is by the cashier in the branch that the cheque is paid in at.

Why? Because the cheque does not leave that branch. The days of pieces of paper being moved from bank to bank disappeared eons ago. The actual exchange of data is done electronically, hence once the cashier has put the cheque into the system, if there are funds available, the account is still open it will get paid in.

The cheques leave my bank branches. they are collected that night by courier. if they are then scanned and its found that a cheque is out of date then it will be rejected

joshtfs

Yeah, they leave the branch. We got one returned at work which was stamped by our bank (natwest) and the issuing bank (lloyds tsb)