Paying in a large paper cheque.

System

robatwork wrote: »

And I'd always go for CHAPS.

There have been several threads in this very forum where a cheque turned out to be fraudulent and the money clawed back *months* after it was paid in.

I admit it is unlikely this would happen with a solicitor's cheque, but solicitors have been involved with fraud in the past and also gone out of business, so CHAPS has to be safer. You're talking about £25 for tens of thousands of pounds so an insignificant percentage; I would suggest the MSE way is to be as sure as you can be the money is yours in this case.

Cheques are fine from a reputable source.

They can't claim back a cheque *months* after it's be paid unless you are knowing party to the fraud.

Voyager2002

colsten wrote: »

How come this wasn't processed electronically through a Solicitor?

Many (all?) banks limit the size of electronic payments, so large sums are still paid by cheque.

born_again

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Many (all?) banks limit the size of electronic payments, so large sums are still paid by cheque.

Really?
Sounds more to me like Solicitor's are trying to cut corners and put risk on customer. They get paid enough to deal with probate etc.

Once fully authorised, all CHAPS payments will be credited to your beneficiary's account within 3 hours, subject to standard bank checks by us and the beneficiary's bank. Is there a limit to the amount of funds I can send by CHAPS? There is no limit on the amount of funds that can be sent by a CHAPS payment.

Every bank and building society in the UK is now able to send and receive Faster Payments, with over 400 connecting indirectly to the service through a sponsor bank.
If your bank or building society is not listed as a direct participant, you should contact them directly to check your limit.

http://www.fasterpayments.org.uk/directly-connected-participants

20SmthngSver

I paid a cheque into my account for £88,000.00 at TSB. She asked me where it was coming from and what it was for. No ID requirement for deposit, as it's your account....

TSB policy is to attach notes to the deposit if it is over £10,000.00.

You'd be required for ID if you wanted to withdraw a cheque or cash or transfer for over each banks limits.

A lot of personal cheques can be for a lot of money, i.e. for tax payments etc, but Businesses often deal in high value cheques. We are never asked for ID and the ATM always just accepts it. They know that Businesses can deal in high volumes of money.

Thrugelmir

surrender_in_pity wrote: »

Proceeds from a House sale

Did you opt for this payment method?

20SmthngSver

colsten wrote: »

Scan machines usually only accept limited amounts. As do mobile app deposit. Not sure why.

Mobile app limits appear to be £500, in-branch deposit machines £2,000. Anything over you have to use the counter. I suppose you could also post the check with a paying-in slip but whatever the deposit method, you won't escape AML checks, whether you notice them or not.

We regularly pay in cheques on ATMs for more than £2,000.00, often multiple cheques worth more than this at the same time, and Santander has never declined it. They know Businesses and also Personal customers deal in high volumes. Business customers at Santander can't actually use the counter unless the ATM isn't working or it doesn't recognise a letter or number on the ATM scanner, which seldom happens.

20SmthngSver

born_again wrote: »

Really?
Sounds more to me like Solicitor's are trying to cut corners and put risk on customer. They get paid enough to deal with probate etc.


http://www.fasterpayments.org.uk/directly-connected-participants

Some banks do have very low branch, telephone and online daily transfer limits. That's why people still use cheques for higher purchases and payments because it doesn't cost the consumer anything and it can be for any amount. Otherwise it could take days and days to make Faster Payments up to their daily limits or pay a CHAPS fee which a lot of people don't want to pay.

System

For an ad-hoc payment, there is probably less admin for all involved.

It also creates a simple paper trail and shifts the ID / fraud risk to the bank.

born_again wrote: »

Really?
Sounds more to me like Solicitor's are trying to cut corners and put risk on customer. They get paid enough to deal with probate etc.
]

Ben8282

I would suggest that it may help to take with you any correspondence received from the solicitor along with the cheque.

jaybeetoo

CHAPS every time! It is transferred quickly and you can access the money as soon as it hits your account.

With a cheque there is the problem of finding a bank branch that hasn't been closed down, going to a branch when it's open and then waiting up to 6 days to be sure the money is accessible.