Abbey have let me access money from a cheque that was returned am I liable for charge

colettejm

I was given a cheque to put into my account it was due to clear on thursday. On thursday morning at 6am it showed that the money was cleared, so I paid several bills etc, in the afternoon I took out £ 40 it was still showing the money was there and later on I tried to make a purchase in a shop but it was declined. I went to the cashpoint to see that my balance and was now in -£. I have access to telephone and online banking so I went online and it said the cheque had been returned to drawer. Am I liable for charges even though it showed the monay had cleared and they gave me acces to it. I know when I have had a cheque that was returned the person could not take money from it because the money is not there to pay it.

PBA

It didn't show the cheque as cleared, it was showing as available. A cheque will always become available on the 4th working day (ie paid in Monday, available Thursday). Normally if a cheque bounces it would have already been returned by this point. However sometimes a cheque will be returned late, meaning it bounces after the cheque has been made available. It's unfortunate, but yes you are liable for the charge (though it should really be the person who bounced the cheque to you that pays it).

jonesMUFCforever

I agree - the balance showing online is available balance not cleared and there is always the risk that it could be returned especially these days with the postal strikes.

colettejm

Thanks for that but can someone explain why I had access to money that was not cleared or available. And why they let me pay bills and take money out.

dunstonh

colettejm wrote: »

Thanks for that but can someone explain why I had access to money that was not cleared or available. And why they let me pay bills and take money out.

Because they cannot hold on to your money forever. They have to let you access it some time. The 3-4 days you have to wait will catch most returns but as cheques can be returned 6 months later, do you really want them to wait 6 months to let you have your money?