Cheque

jonnyuno999

Hi.
I understand that the bank will not cash a cheque after a certain length of time has expired  but I have a cheque that was posted to me in 2005 when I closed my account & the cheque was the amount left in the account. I must have overlooked it at the time but I have recently found it. Having recently been made redundant it would be useful now. Do you think the bank will honour it ? 
Thanks for any help or advice, Rob.

davidmcn

Yes, I expect they will.
Though if you forgot about the original cheque, are you sure you haven't also forgotten about having subsequently received the funds by another method e.g. a duplicate cheque?

Sandtree

jonnyuno999 said:

Do you think the bank will honour it ? 

As in the original issuer of the cheque honouring it or your bank allowing you to deposit it in the first instance?

Normally banks reserve the right to decline cheques that are over 6 months old and if you do convince your bank to "give it a go" then you certainly should also cheque there are no fees if the cheque bounces before doing so.

Alternatively speak to the issuer, if they have kept the records that long then it shouldnt be a major issue for them to reissue it but good practice often means destroying records after 7 years (6 years law of limitations + 1 year contingency) and so they may not be able to see if it was cashed or not.

davidmcn

Sandtree said:

jonnyuno999 said:

Do you think the bank will honour it ? 

As in the original issuer of the cheque honouring it or your bank allowing you to deposit it in the first instance?

My interpretation of the OP is that it's the bank who is the drawer of the cheque - in which case they ought to be able to trace the funds, in the same way that there (in theory) shouldn't be any time limit on you digging up long-forgotten bank accounts.

jonnyuno999

Thank you all, the cheque is actually from the bank, so funds shouldn't be an issue.

unholyangel

davidmcn said:

Sandtree said:

jonnyuno999 said:

Do you think the bank will honour it ? 

As in the original issuer of the cheque honouring it or your bank allowing you to deposit it in the first instance?

My interpretation of the OP is that it's the bank who is the drawer of the cheque - in which case they ought to be able to trace the funds, in the same way that there (in theory) shouldn't be any time limit on you digging up long-forgotten bank accounts.

They may be able to trace the funds. But the bigger hurdle is their willingness to trace them. Particularly after a 15-16 year period. 

born_again

What happens when your account is declared dormant? If your account has been dormant for 15 years or more, then banks and building societies can transfer the unclaimed money in that account to an independent body called Reclaim Fund through the Dormant Account Scheme to donate to good causes.

Given that is the Op's situation. All they can do is contact the bank that issued the cheque.  

jonnyuno999

Thank you all, I will give it a go.

unholyangel

born_again said:

What happens when your account is declared dormant? If your account has been dormant for 15 years or more, then banks and building societies can transfer the unclaimed money in that account to an independent body called Reclaim Fund through the Dormant Account Scheme to donate to good causes.

Given that is the Op's situation. All they can do is contact the bank that issued the cheque.  

OP said the account was closed though, not dormant/inactive. 

davidmcn

unholyangel said:

born_again said:

What happens when your account is declared dormant? If your account has been dormant for 15 years or more, then banks and building societies can transfer the unclaimed money in that account to an independent body called Reclaim Fund through the Dormant Account Scheme to donate to good causes.

Given that is the Op's situation. All they can do is contact the bank that issued the cheque.  

OP said the account was closed though, not dormant/inactive. 

Not sure there's any great distinction between the money still being in an open account, and it still being in a suspense account while they're waiting for the cheque to be banked.

unholyangel

davidmcn said:

unholyangel said:

born_again said:

What happens when your account is declared dormant? If your account has been dormant for 15 years or more, then banks and building societies can transfer the unclaimed money in that account to an independent body called Reclaim Fund through the Dormant Account Scheme to donate to good causes.

Given that is the Op's situation. All they can do is contact the bank that issued the cheque.  

OP said the account was closed though, not dormant/inactive. 

Not sure there's any great distinction between the money still being in an open account, and it still being in a suspense account while they're waiting for the cheque to be banked.

The difference, I believe, is that only funds from dormant/inactive accounts are paid into the scheme born_again was referencing. 

It's when the account is still open and just hasn't been used for 15 years. It's also a voluntary scheme which not all banks subscribe to.