Complaint advice? Bank accepted cheques with different payee name

xylophone

Had the bank insisted the cheque was paid into his or a joint account it would simply have been transferred into her savings account as the next step.

This is immaterial to the issue.

The question is quite simply does the OP have proof that a cheque drawn in the sole name of his father was paid into a sole account in the name of another party?

If he does, he makes a formal complaint and awaits the outcome.

zerog

sazaccount wrote: »

Just a thought... I don't know how executorship works but do you have access to your dads credit report? These should show any accounts he has and any "linked" people which wife2 should appear on as a connection for the joint account.

Not savings accounts.

Terry_Towelling

zerog wrote: »

Not savings accounts.

Maybe so, but it's not the savings account that is an issue here; it's the belief that there is (or was) another current account somewhere in joint names that is being concealed.

C_A_Penny

Gearing up for a meeting with the solicitor. Meanwhile, I have just been told that due to an oversight by the company secretary, another cheque was issued in March and sent to Wife2's address. The payee was 'The estate of (John Smith)" and yet the cheque was banked successfully! Wife2 was in hospital at the time so the deposit was made by her daughter. They were both fully aware that anything relating to my father's estate should have been passed to me but I was not informed.

Terry_Towelling

Keep going. Sounds like you are about to expose something Wife2 and daughter would rather you didn't. Do you think the threat of law-enforcement involvement might chivvy them along? It does sound like a deliberate attempt to defraud - even if it isn't, the threat might be enough.

C_A_Penny

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Update. It still stinks! Solicitor's advice taken and letters sent. NB Estate funds very limited so legal services need to be restricted and used wisely.

Letter to the (bank name)’s complaints team[/FONT]

1. [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]I asked how two large cheques could have been paid into an account without the payee’s name on it. [/FONT]
2. [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]I quoted The Cheques Act 1992 and Section 81 of the Bills of Exchange Act 1882 which give statutory power to the ‘A/C Payee Only’ or ‘A/C Payee’ crossing. [/FONT]
3. [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]I asked how the third cheque could have been deposited despite the payee being “The Estate of (John Smith)” and the account holder not even being an executor. [/FONT]
4. [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]I mentioned that the directors of (the family company) had expressed concern that the dividend payments had not reached the intended recipient and that the company awaited explanation from me.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Response from (bank name)[/FONT]

• [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]“As I understand it, you’re unhappy that we’ve paid cheques into an account other than the payee name on the cheque and are keen to understand the reason for this.” [/FONT]
• [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Confirmed that the late (John Smith) didn’t hold any accounts with (bank name). [/FONT]
• [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]As the cheques were paid into other accounts held with (bank name), they are unable to provide further information without the consent of the account holder or a court order requiring (bank name) to disclose information. [/FONT]
• [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]“I fully appreciate your feelings regarding your concerns, and I’d like to thank you for bringing these to our attention. However, based on the evidence available to me, I can’t agree that we’ve given a poor service.”[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]The same questions were put to Wife2’s solicitor with the note that previous answers were not satisfactory.
Eventually, we received this response:

Dividend cheques, payee “([FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]John Smith[/FONT])”
1.There are no other bank accounts in ([FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]John Smith[/FONT])’s name, other than the (one) account which you are aware of.
2.The cheques dated March 2016 and March 2017 pre-date ([FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]John Smith[/FONT])’s death. These were paid into a (bank name) savings account in (Wife2)’s sole name at the agreement of ([FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]John Smith[/FONT])’. ([FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]John Smith[/FONT])’ knew that this account did not bear his name and did not seek to maintain sole entitlement to those funds. It was agreed between our client and the late ([FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]John Smith[/FONT])’ that such substantial payments would be placed into (Wife2)’s interest bearing savings account as all monies were shared jointly between them.

Dividend cheque, payee “The Estate of (John Smith)”
3.The recent cheque dated March 2019 had been similarly paid into our client’s (bank name) account as had become customary during (John Smith)’s lifetime. Our client will make arrangements to transfer £xxx into the appointed Estate account.

---

The good news is that the 2019 dividend cheque amount has been paid into the estate's account.

The bad news is, I believe we have been fobbed off yet again and still have no explanation as to how these cheques were accepted.

I am surprised at the solicitor’s answer and can’t believe they would think we should find the response acceptable.[/FONT]

1. [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]The solicitor knows that as executors we are legally bound to gather information about the estate and we can’t simply ignore what we’ve found. [/FONT]
2. [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]As daughters, it seems that 'someone' simply doesn’t want to answer the question and deems it none of our business. [/FONT]
3. [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]We still believe that depositing the cheques was an illegal transaction – we have been given no evidence to prove otherwise. [/FONT]
4. [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]All monies were NOT shared jointly. My father's bank account had Wife2's name added for convenience as all bills were paid from this account. Wife2's current and savings accounts were both in her name only.[/FONT]
5. [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Interesting use of the word ‘customary’ after just two (possibly three) transactions. [/FONT]
6. [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]If there was some mechanism in place to allow these cheques to be accepted legally, why not disclose it to us? [/FONT]
7. [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Or indeed, if some sort of agreement was in place, perhaps it might also have said that my father wasn’t giving up the right to the funds just because they were paid into Wife2’s account? Just a thought.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]IanManc – you questioned whether Wife2/daughter really did visit the solicitor prior to passing on the solicitor’s advice that the bank was “within their rights” to do something which is patently unlawful. I believe this meeting did take place and furthermore, the daughter’s email was copied to the solicitor.

Still seeking the truth, we are not giving up on this![/FONT]

Terry_Towelling

If you uncover the truth, and it points to a criminal act, what would you then do?

If you suspect someone is guilty of a criminal act, I think you should now involve the police. They should have the power to uncover what has gone on - as long as you have enough evidence to warrant the sort of action they'd need to take. Could be worth asking them anyway.