Safest way to take payment for private sale of a boat

boingy

Olinda99 said:

don't you find it a bit strange that in this day and age there is no truly safe way to take payment for something you are selling?

Yes, I absolutely do!

SiliconChip

For the education of those who don't understand how Faster Payments work I include a link to the pay.uk page that explains it, taking special note of this part:

"Due to their real-time nature, once sent Faster Payments cannot be cancelled. However, banks and building societies in the UK that offer Faster Payments follow industry-wide procedures known as the Credit Payment Recovery process, setting out the help they must offer when a mistake has been made in sending a payment."

https://www.wearepay.uk/what-we-do/payment-systems/faster-payment-system/how-faster-payments-work/ 

As I've already stated, once made a Faster Payment cannot be reversed. Should there be a dispute about the validity of the payment that can be raised with the banks involved, and if upheld may result in the receiving bank making a searate payment back to the originating bank, but as @born_again has explained if there is good evidence that the payment was valid then the party making the complaint risks serious consequences to themselves.

kaMelo

SiliconChip said:

For the education of those who don't understand how Faster Payments work I include a link to the pay.uk page that explains it, taking special note of this part:

"Due to their real-time nature, once sent Faster Payments cannot be cancelled. However, banks and building societies in the UK that offer Faster Payments follow industry-wide procedures known as the Credit Payment Recovery process, setting out the help they must offer when a mistake has been made in sending a payment."

https://www.wearepay.uk/what-we-do/payment-systems/faster-payment-system/how-faster-payments-work/ 

As I've already stated, once made a Faster Payment cannot be reversed. Should there be a dispute about the validity of the payment that can be raised with the banks involved, and if upheld may result in the receiving bank making a searate payment back to the originating bank, but as @born_again has explained if there is good evidence that the payment was valid then the party making the complaint risks serious consequences to themselves.

And what if the account the payment came from has been compromised?
Ultimately the OP would probably be able to keep the money but it could be a very long and painful process.

There is no way on God's green earth I'd ever accept a bank transfer from someone I didn't know in payment for selling something,  Been there done that and never again.  For me a cash or cheque only. 

lr1277

I recently sold a car, for cash. The buyer suggested taking a picture of his driving licence, which I did. He also agreed to having a picture taken of himself.
Whilst I have no experience selling anything that has a similar value to your boat, these 2 pictures gave me extra comfort in the sale process for my car sale.
Perhaps if you take the picture of the driving licence, ensure it is for the person buying the boat and the signature matches the signature on the boat sale receipt, this might convince your bank if they either query a cash deposit or accuse you of participating in a fraud? These might be helpful additional verification documents?

I mention this because I worried a CHAPS payment could be recalled. I checked Google and recall is a possible action by the buyer.

born_again

kaMelo said:.  For me a cash or cheque only. 

Having worked dealing with fraudulent cheques...
Even worse.

I

subjecttocontract

Well cash/money isn't 100%......there's always a chance of counterfeit.......or are we all getting a bit to paranoid ?

Olinda99

happens more often than you realise !

scammer has access to Fred's bank account.

scammer also scams Julie to move their money to a 'safe' account ie Fred's

Fred unknowingly now has Julie's money

Scammer now pays you by faster payment for your boat from Fred's account and collects the boat

Julie complains to her bank. Fred and your account are frozen and under investigation and the boat money removed from your account

subjecttocontract

I was thinking of buying a boat......don't think I'll bother now !

boingy

subjecttocontract said:

I was thinking of buying a boat......don't think I'll bother now !

Buying a boat, you say? Step this way, sir or madam. I think I can help you out.
Before I let you view the boat you do need to go though a simple AML procedure. It's nothing onerous. Just a short 50 page questionnaire, plus about an hour on the phone being asked banal questions and then it's just a case of supplying a witnessed copy of your driving licence and passport, plus the usual DNA samples and fingerprints...  

kaMelo

born_again said:

kaMelo said:.  For me a cash or cheque only. 

Having worked dealing with fraudulent cheques...
Even worse.

I

Obviously the cheque needs to clear before letting go of whatever is being sold.

Despite what it may look like I firmly believe the overwhelming majority of people are decent, honest and wouldn't dream of trying to pull a fast one but, to quote George W Bush, "Fool me once shame on you. Fool me... You can't get fooled again"