How long can you wait before cashing a cheque?

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oojeyboojey
oojeyboojey Posts: 189 Forumite
in Budgeting & bank accounts
My husband and I have yet to set up our joint account (A&L) nearly 11 months on from the wedding, and consequently we haven't been able to do anything about the cheques we got to "mr and mrs" as wedding presents. I know we're the only ones to blame, and I feel very annoyed at myself for procrastinating for so long.

What I'd like to know is: is there a specific time limit after which you cannot cash cheques? I've read various statistics online, and none of them seem to be definitive, although the 6 months limit seems to be the most commonly quoted.

Have we left it too late?
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  • aliasojo
    aliasojo Posts: 23,053 Forumite
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    3 months I was told.

    If the cheques were from people close to you, they could just rewrite? Although it might upset their budget a bit. :confused:



    Edit: As you say, 6 months seems to be the norm, I wonder if the young bank teller I dealt with was mistaken.
    Herman - MP for all! :)
  • oojeyboojey
    oojeyboojey Posts: 189 Forumite
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    aliasojo wrote: »
    3 months I was told.

    If the cheques were from people close to you, they could just rewrite? Although it might upset their budget a bit. :confused:



    Edit: As you say, 6 months seems to be the norm, I wonder if the young bank teller I dealt with was mistaken.

    We could ask them to re-write, but they're mostly my dad's friends (if we'd been close they'd know I was planning on keeping my old bank account in my maiden name to simplify my money situation!) - it would be a bit embarassing though!
  • Lokolo
    Lokolo Posts: 20,861 Forumite
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    Also the thing you must thinnk about is, its been 11 months. Will they like it if some money randomly came out the account without expecting? Especially if their accounts are low etc.

    I would contact them to make sure its ok, after all, it is a wedding present!
  • whu
    whu Posts: 23,461 Forumite
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    you have 6 months in which to cash a cheque
    Keep the Faith:cool:
  • Mikeyorks
    Mikeyorks Posts: 10,369 Forumite
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    There's no specific limit ..... but the working assumption (if the cashier spots the date) is 6 months :-

    http://www.apacs.org.uk/resources_publications/faqs/cheques_10.html
    If you want to test the depth of the water .........don't use both feet !
  • oojeyboojey
    oojeyboojey Posts: 189 Forumite
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    Hey - thanks for that last link, it's good to know that the cheques will be valid for 6 years, legally. I'm sure that the folks who wrote the cheques will be able to afford them (the biggest cheque was for £60), so that shouldn't be a problem.
  • CLAPTON
    CLAPTON Posts: 41,865 Forumite
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    I think I would be pretty annoyed if someone waited 11 months to bank my cheque... partly because it seems very discourteous as it was a gift and partly I'ld have to go back over my cheque books to find out what the cheque was for.
  • Turtle
    Turtle Posts: 999 Forumite
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    Although it's perfectly true that cheques are valid for 6 years it's possible that the cashier might try and not accept them as over 6 months old. If this happens you can insist they do. It's also possible that when the cheques go through clearing the paying bank might contact their customer as a courtesy to see if they want the cheque to be paid due to the timescale. i'm not sure how likely this is though due to the small amounts, I guess they might still come up in a 'random check.'
  • got-it-spend-it
    got-it-spend-it Posts: 5,016 Forumite
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    I doubt the cashier would pick up on the date if they're for small amounts but I do think it is a bit discourteous to keep them that long then cash them. Up to you of course- my MIL keeps cheques for a couple of months if I ever give her any (to pay for things she's bought on my behalf) and it drives me nuts as I suddenly wonder where the money's gone and end up trawling through cheque stubs.
    :DYummy mummy, runner, baker and procrastinator :p
  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 72,204 Ambassador
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    I found an cheque from october 2007 amongst my dad's papers and neither the Halifax or Barclays would accept it into his account this week. It was an official cheque so the council have said if I return it they will reissue it so that dad can pay it in.

    On both occasions though I tried to pay it in over the counter, I'm not sure what would have happened if I had just used the drop box..but I didn't want to take the chance of the cheque being refused and having to come back to me by post.
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