Business Paid the CCJ by cheque. How long until I'm certain it's cleared

A_Geordie

MyRealNameToo said

I have to say I dont recall ever having a cheque bounce, not saying it didnt happen but just never to me. Since depositing cheques by photo was a thing probably only had circa 4 and both funds were there the next day. It's not like the days where paper cheques were moved around the country and it took 2 weeks to clear. 

Has hqppened to me before with a couple of small businesses, particularly where the debtor closed the account before the cheque could be processed or there's a mismatch of the signature (not sure if this is still a thing that is checked). 

Not sure of any law that stipulates payment by cheque or PO only? Certainly contracts may, though bankers drafts are probably more commonly added than postal orders. 

Me either, but since I am not able to confirm with 100% confidence given the vast legislation we have, I wanted to cover my own backside in case someone told me there was. 

Meandmydoggy said:

There was no choice about the cheque - it was, to our surprise, posted by hand through mum's letterbox. 

Just wanted to highlight this point for future reference and anyone reading this thread, which is that just because you were presented with a cheque as a method of payment, doesn't mean you tare legally obliged to accept it. As the claimant, you can decide what method of payment to accept and not what the defendant is offering. So you could have still rejected the cheque and required the company to pay your mum using an alternative payment method. 

Anyway, hopefully the payment will go through without an issue. 

MyRealNameToo

A_Geordie said:

MyRealNameToo said

I have to say I dont recall ever having a cheque bounce, not saying it didnt happen but just never to me. Since depositing cheques by photo was a thing probably only had circa 4 and both funds were there the next day. It's not like the days where paper cheques were moved around the country and it took 2 weeks to clear. 

Has hqppened to me before with a couple of small businesses, particularly where the debtor closed the account before the cheque could be processed or there's a mismatch of the signature (not sure if this is still a thing that is checked). 

Given cheques clear the next working day if deposited in branch or by app then realistically they'd have to have closed the account before writing the cheque or you've sat on the cheque for a long time. Writing a cheque on an account you have already closed is a potential issue but if the reciever has sat on it for weeks/months then the blame is potentially shared.

A_Geordie said:

Not sure of any law that stipulates payment by cheque or PO only? Certainly contracts may, though bankers drafts are probably more commonly added than postal orders. 

Me either, but since I am not able to confirm with 100% confidence given the vast legislation we have, I wanted to cover my own backside in case someone told me there was. 

Meandmydoggy said:

There was no choice about the cheque - it was, to our surprise, posted by hand through mum's letterbox. 

Just wanted to highlight this point for future reference and anyone reading this thread, which is that just because you were presented with a cheque as a method of payment, doesn't mean you tare legally obliged to accept it. As the claimant, you can decide what method of payment to accept and not what the defendant is offering. So you could have still rejected the cheque and required the company to pay your mum using an alternative payment method. 

Anyway, hopefully the payment will go through without an issue. 

Fair enough with this forum. 


Whilst you are free to refuse a payment method when we are talking about debt enforcement (not trying to buy something for cash in a shop that doesnt take cash)  a defendant can highlight to a judge that payment was attempted but refused by the claimant. As long as the contract doesnt explicitly exclude payment by cheque this would put the claimant in a weak position (again different if payment was by CC when the person clearly doesnt have means to take CC payments). Have certainly seen cases where the claimants demand for interest was refused because they deprived themselves of the funds by not wanting to accept a reasonable payment method. I've heard of cases of judges also awarding costs against the claimant as the litigation was unnecessary given they were already in possession of a cheque for full settlement and it was just their bloody mindedness of not wanting a cheque that had brought it to court. 

born_again

While they are usually cleared by the next working day. They can still be returned unpaid by the other parties bank after that.

A_Geordie

MyRealNameToo said:

Given cheques clear the next working day if deposited in branch or by app then realistically they'd have to have closed the account before writing the cheque or you've sat on the cheque for a long time. Writing a cheque on an account you have already closed is a potential issue but if the reciever has sat on it for weeks/months then the blame is potentially shared.

I wasn't planning on cycling through each of the scenarios because the facts are going to be different to each dispute and I was merely giving examples of potentially issues I have encountered in the past. When businesses bury their heads in the sand or attempt to avoid liability, some of these issues concerning cheque depoists can happen. 

Whilst you are free to refuse a payment method when we are talking about debt enforcement (not trying to buy something for cash in a shop that doesnt take cash)  a defendant can highlight to a judge that payment was attempted but refused by the claimant. As long as the contract doesnt explicitly exclude payment by cheque this would put the claimant in a weak position (again different if payment was by CC when the person clearly doesnt have means to take CC payments).

I'm not going to dispute your experiences around refusal of a certain payment method but there is a long established principle that absent any express or implied agreement, a creditor is not obliged to accept a particular mode of payment.

If a judge is refusing to award interest or award costs because a creditor has rejected the debtor's payment method to discharge that debt then I can only presume that the facts warranted the judge taking that position based on the conduct or behaviour of the creditor or, perhaps the judge made an error of law and which the point could have been taken on appeal if the interest was worth the effort. So I wouldn't necessarily agree that this would put the claimant in a weak position since this principle has been accepted at all levels (House of Lords, Court of Appeal and High Court) with court cases going as far back as the 1800s and still remain good law to this day. Unless the judge has been presented with the appropriate authorities, quite often (especially in the county courts) they will make their own determination, rightly or wrongly which can lead to consequences not aligned with common law.

onomatopoeia99

sheramber said:

A_Geordie said:

MyRealNameToo said:

A_Geordie said:
Personally, I don't accept cheques as a method of payment since bank transfers are immediate and common practice these days.

Whereas others are happy to take cheques but hate the idea of giving others their account details to do a transfer. 

It depends how much its for personally, sub £1,000 so can be paid in by app then a cheque is fine to me. More than £1k its a faff as have to go somewhere to deposit it. 

Sure, and each to their own though I am not sure I would understand why the inidvidual would not provide account details to do a transfer if the individual is already doing something similar such as paying for TV/internet/mobile services. 

Paying by cheque shifts the onus onto the claimant to deposit it and quite often I find those cheques have bounced or there are other reasons that leads to further delays and issues in receiving payment from the defendant (lost or damaged cheque for example). Some businesses try to push their luck and only until you explicitly state you are enforcing the CCJ do they decide to pay up.  

But if someone prefers to receive a cheque and do the extra work over a bank transfer then that's absolutely fine. However, given the way society banks and pays for goods and services, I consider cheques as a method of payment to be outdated (unless the law expressly states it must be paid by cheque or postal order). 

There have been several posts from people who do not want to give their bank details.

Guess those people have never written their own cheques then!

eskbanker

onomatopoeia99 said:

sheramber said:

There have been several posts from people who do not want to give their bank details.

Guess those people have never written their own cheques then!

The population of those who've never written a cheque, or even owned a chequebook, will continue to grow significantly - I've written plenty in my lifetime but haven't done so for many years and don't think I have any chequebooks anymore....

MyRealNameToo

eskbanker said:
I've written plenty in my lifetime but haven't done so for many years and don't think I have any chequebooks anymore....

You're better at spring cleaning than me then! Came across one the other day, probably haven't had the account it was associated with for 20 years though. 

screech_78

eskbanker said:

onomatopoeia99 said:

sheramber said:

There have been several posts from people who do not want to give their bank details.

Guess those people have never written their own cheques then!

The population of those who've never written a cheque, or even owned a chequebook, will continue to grow significantly - I've written plenty in my lifetime but haven't done so for many years and don't think I have any chequebooks anymore....

I’m 40 and have never written a cheque or owned a cheque book. 

MyRealNameToo

screech_78 said:

eskbanker said:

onomatopoeia99 said:

sheramber said:

There have been several posts from people who do not want to give their bank details.

Guess those people have never written their own cheques then!

The population of those who've never written a cheque, or even owned a chequebook, will continue to grow significantly - I've written plenty in my lifetime but haven't done so for many years and don't think I have any chequebooks anymore....

I’m 40 and have never written a cheque or owned a cheque book. 

Surprised, I'm not that much older and whilst I probably only wrote a couple of cheques in my life they were a common thing sent on opening a new account in 90s and 00s. Even before being a teenager you'd get a cheque book but no guarantee card so no business would accept one but could be used for sending money to family etc. 

screech_78

MyRealNameToo said:

screech_78 said:

eskbanker said:

onomatopoeia99 said:

sheramber said:

There have been several posts from people who do not want to give their bank details.

Guess those people have never written their own cheques then!

The population of those who've never written a cheque, or even owned a chequebook, will continue to grow significantly - I've written plenty in my lifetime but haven't done so for many years and don't think I have any chequebooks anymore....

I’m 40 and have never written a cheque or owned a cheque book. 

Surprised, I'm not that much older and whilst I probably only wrote a couple of cheques in my life they were a common thing sent on opening a new account in 90s and 00s. Even before being a teenager you'd get a cheque book but no guarantee card so no business would accept one but could be used for sending money to family etc. 

Honestly can’t remember ever having one, although that might be my memory! I’m sure my first debit card was a Maestro, possibly a switch card before that so there may have been a cheque book somewhere but not something I’ve ever really been familiar with.