Cheque out of date

ballisticbrian

Cheque out of date:


I had a compensation cheque from Royal Mail for an item damaged in transit which is just over a year old, but my bank told me cheques are only valid for 6 months. Has anyone had this situation and does Royal Mail re-issue cheques under this circumstance?

ERICS_MUM

Just to clarify - did you receive the cheque over a year ago and have forgotten to pay if in, or have you received it now but it's dated more than 6 months ago ?

Anyway there's nothing to stop companies issuing you with a new cheque and you definitely should ask them. (Unless RM have a specific policy not to). They will probably want the old one back even though it wouldn't be accepted by a bank. They can check from their records that the cheque hasn't been cleared, in which case they've still got the money and can go ahead and send you a new cheque.

POPPYOSCAR

Have you tried to put it though your bank?

Most cheques are not looked at in the actual clearing system itself.

ballisticbrian

Hi Poppy yes, my bank is miles away so I went there while on a trip to deliver something. They told me at the counter they couldn't take it.


Eric's mum, no the cheque became old as there are no branches of that bank near me. I did at one point take it to the post office and there they wouldn't take it for some other reason unrelated to this. It's just so much hassle.

TonyMMM

You could have posted it to the bank, with a paying in slip.

You could try a different branch, or just pay it in through an ATM, in which case there is a good chance the date issue may not be noticed (but if it is the cheque will be returned to you).

Alternatively - you will have to ask Royal Mail to issue a new cheque.

steveE2

The 6 month rule is at the discretion of the bank

After phoning around six different banks, who gave six different answers, we too found it difficult to get an authoritative reply.

To begin with, HSBC pointed out that only coins and notes of the Realm are in fact legal tender.

But cheques are legally valid for up to six years - even though most banks usually consider them as "stale" after six months.

This puts the onus of validity at the discretion of the bank; hence the confusion.©BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/working_lunch/3866745.stm

Is it true that cheques are only valid for 6 months

No. A cheque is valid for as long as the debt between the two parties (i.e. the person writing the cheque and the person they give it to) exists. In other words, cheques don’t have an expiry date. However, it is common banking practice to reject cheques that are over six months old to protect the person who has written the cheque, in case the payment has been made another way or the cheque has been lost or stolen. This six-month timeframe is at the discretion of individual banks. It should not be assumed that cheques older than six months would automatically be rejected as the only definite way to cancel a cheque is for the person who wrote it to request that a stop be placed on it. If you have a cheque that you want to pay in that is more than six months old, your best course of action is to not pay it in and instead obtain a replacement from the person who gave it to you. Where there is a dispute, a cheque remains legally valid in order to provide proof of the existence of a debt for a period of six years, which is the Statute of Limitations.

http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/information-hub/faqs/cheques-and-cheque-clearing

I would contact Royal Mail and ask if they could reissue the cheque

theonlywayisup

If you have an account with RM, ask them to credit you the amount and give the cheque details.