Abbey cheque

MarcoM

Hi all,

I just got a cheque from abbey payable to a third party drawn on my passbook savings account. They run the book through their system and it already shows the debit for the cheque amount. I haven't even sent the cheque to its recipient yet. What happens if it is lost before it is presented for cashing or if for whatever reason the cheque is not cashed by the beneficiary?

Mikeyorks

Isn't it a fraction late to ask the implications .... once you've got the counter cheque?

Lose it before it gets to the beneficiary ..... your loss.
Lose it from the beneficiary ..... their loss. Not cashed .... Abbey gain.

The cheque can be stopped if you can reasonably prove the loss - but not as easy to stop as your own cheque.

stuartm100

There should be a statement on the banker's draft saying something like drafts payable to third parties will not be stopped by the issuing bank.

Unless you can prove you've lost it or it was stolen ( how) then i'm afraid there's not much you can do

MarcoM

I still have the cheque.
Can I return it to Abbey and have the money refunded?

I was going to send it through the post to a travel agent.

I thought this was like any cheque. Until one cashes it it is not debited from your account.

Voyager2002

MarcoM wrote: »

I still have the cheque.
Can I return it to Abbey and have the money refunded?

I was going to send it through the post to a travel agent.

I thought this was like any cheque. Until one cashes it it is not debited from your account.

Why is this such a problem for you?

I have used this kind of cheque a few times for major purchases. The advantage is that it is as good as cash for the seller: they know that the cheque cannot bounce. The disadvantage is that losing the cheque is almost as bad as losing cash, so you must treat it with care, only sending it by registered post, and so forth.

Anyway, I am sure that the funds could be returned to your account, but you would lose any service charge you may have paid and would still need to find a way to pay the travel agent.

MarcoM

Voyager,

Would you trust Royal Mail with 3000 pounds of your cash even by special delivery?

Will try to pay money back in account tomorrow.

Mikeyorks

As HMRC receive millions of pounds in bankers drafts / counter cheques around the SA due date ..... why would you think you've created a unique problem?

It's made payable, is it not, to the travel agent? So would need to fall into fraudsters hands to stand much risk of misappropriation. And the likelihood of that is remote. And made more remote - by registering it.

dunstonh

You have asked for a counter cheque and that is what you have got. The cheque is actually drawn on the branch and the money is paid into their account to cover that cheque.

If you are concerned about loss of interest then you ought to consider having a more modern account which is linked to a current account.

M_Thomson

Mikeyorks wrote: »

Lose it before it gets to the beneficiary ..... your loss.
Lose it from the beneficiary ..... their loss. Not cashed .... Abbey gain.

I don't think it works quite like that. I bank with Halifax and if you lose a bankers draft there, and it is made payable to a third party, you need to get a letter from them to confirm that the draft is lost, then Halifax will issue a new one. I don't think you can just lose the money just like that, how about if a Draft gets lost in the post or something like that?

M_Thomson

Voyager2002 wrote: »

I have used this kind of cheque a few times for major purchases. The advantage is that it is as good as cash for the seller:know that the cheque cannot bounce.

This isn't 100% true. A Bankers Draft can still bounce, it is just less likely too then a normal cheque as the funds were in the account at the time it was drawn. If the draft has been cancelled because of theft or it if gets lost then it can be cancelled by the bank, and will bounce.

voyager2002 wrote: »

The disadvantage is that losing the cheque is almost as bad as losing cash, so you must treat it with care, only sending it by registered post, and so forth.

Agree with you in one respect, you should treat all cheques or bankers drafts with care, but as I said above if it gets lost or stolen it doesn't mean you have lost the money for good. If it was as bad as losing cash, then there would be hundreds of millions of pounds lost to who opt to use bankers drafts.

LittleVoice

MarcoM wrote: »

Voyager,

Would you trust Royal Mail with 3000 pounds of your cash even by special delivery?

Will try to pay money back in account tomorrow.

You would still lose interest on the amount between the date of the cheque and when you returned it. It doesn't get written back to the date of the cheque.