Complaint advice? Bank accepted cheques with different payee name

C_A_Penny

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]I am executor of my late father’s estate and my question is about a possible complaint against a bank.

I have discovered that two large cheques made out to my father were paid into his second wife’s savings account which is in her name only. The cheques were a year apart but within the last five years and the total value is £30,000. [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial][FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial][FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]I now have copies of the cheques from the issuing bank - m[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial][FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial][FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]y father’s name “John Smith” was written in legible handwriting.

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial][FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial][FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]I contacted the receiving bank and they categorically denied that these cheques would have been accepted unless the payee name was on the account. [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

The circumstances are somewhat complicated so [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]I may or may not take further action but I am investigating my options.[/FONT]

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]I am wondering what the outcome might be if I raised a complaint against the bank on the basis that firstly, the cheques should not have been accepted and secondly, that a considerable amount of money has been lost to my father’s estate.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Can anyone help please?
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[Deleted User]

It depends how these “complex circumstances” come into play and how they affect a possible outcome

C_A_Penny

I have been assured that the savings account has always been in Wife2's sole name. She has confirmed to her solicitor that my father's name was never on the account.


Hence my query over bank error in accepting the cheques.

C_A_Penny

I thought it might be an "It depends..." situation!

xylophone

I contacted the receiving bank and they categorically denied that these cheques would have been accepted unless the payee name was on the account.

I now have copies of the cheques from the issuing bank - my father’s name “John Smith” was written in legible handwriting.

I have been assured that the savings account has always been in Wife2's sole name. She has confirmed to her solicitor that my father's name was never on the account.

Then on the face of it , there is a case to answer...but

Why did she pay cheques drawn in your father's favour into her account?

Why did your father not query the transaction?

Does she agree that this money is actually due to your father's estate?

C_A_Penny

I was hoping to manage with the barest information but the following might help with the "It depends..." situation.


[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]As executor, I have had reason to investigate and raise questions, bearing in mind what might be expected of ordinary matrimonial arrangements.

His wife can’t explain/remember why the cheques weren’t paid into my father’s one and only account but did tell me “they” used “her” savings account; this account is in her name only and it had never been a joint account. To complicate matters, my father’s wife’s name was added to my father’s current account for convenience, thereby making it a joint account. She also had her own current account.

My father was paralysed by a stroke when he was about 80 but lived for another eight years, during which time his wife (also in her eighties) administered their financial affairs. It is difficult to say what his level of understanding was with regard to finances but it would probably be correct to say that had his wife died first, he would have assumed that he would have had access to any savings – and certainly would have needed the money as he required a high level of care. However, my father and his wife each had children from a previous marriage so their wills passed their money/property to their respective families. Thus, had his wife died first, any money in the savings account would have been passed to her family as per her will.

The cheques relate to a family inheritance so I was able to obtain copies from the issuing bank. My father’s name “John Smith” was written in full in legible handwriting. I have his bank statements so I have identified previous cheques from this inheritance and subsequent cheques issued in his wife’s name – written and signed by her, perhaps unwisely, given that my father was still capable of writing notes and signing cheques, birthday cards etc. It is quite possible that all the money in the savings account came from this source alone and should total approx £50,000.

My relationship/communication with my father’s second wife is fragile and there are other issues - “It’s complicated!”. Hence, I may or may not take further action but I am investigating what my options might be.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]My solicitor commented that at least some of the money could have been considered as being 'held in trust' (no formal trust was drawn up). As things stand, whether any money is due to my father's estate is up for discussion.
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colsten

You'd best continue to discuss the matter with your solicitor, as they - so I assume - have a better understanding than this forum of the circumstances and the facts.

Sea_Shell

Is it possible these days to "sign" the back of a cheque to assign it to someone else?? Do you have a copy of the BACK of the cheque?
Are all cheques now automatically A/C payee only??

sheramber

What is the date of the cheques?

http://www.bankaccountadvice.co.uk/can-friend-pay-his-cheque-into-account.html
Up until 1992, there was no reason why a person could not hand over a cheque, made payable to themselves, to someone else for them to pay into their own bank account. You simply had to write the name of the person on the back of the cheque and that was it – job done.

However, as you can see from the quote above, the law has since been changed and now all cheques have to be crossed. You will notice cheques now have crossing lines across them and the account payee printed across the front of the cheque. This move was done as a way to decrease instances of fraud.

C_A_Penny

The cheques are dated March 2016 and March 2017 and they were banked soon after receipt. The cheques are both crossed "A/C PAYEE".


The cheques have not been altered in any way and nothing has been added to the back apart from the standard bank information as they have passed through clearing.

18cc

I think it is well known that when you pay a cheque in the payee name is often not checked they have been stories about people making cheques payable to Mickey Mouse and the bank accepting them that would not be true if you paid in over the counter of course but if you paid in at a machine you might want to Google it as I'm sure there are stories out there about the bank just not checking pay name it would be impractical because of the large number of checks you would probably have a claim against the bank for not doing so