Cheque received in error - can I keep it?
Comments
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I'm pretty sure it's genuine - as I say it's a big company, the header on the counterfoil etc looks genuine and I've worked with them in the past.
Thanks everyone for your help anyway - will leave it in the bank and see what happens I guess. Still don't entirely understand how they can claim it back (I'm sure if I sent someone a cheque and then claimed it was an accident, my bank wouldn't be terribly helpful!) but I'll see what they do.0 -
Thinking about it - there's no way they'd get it back twice anyway. I put it in an ISA with no overdraft facility and no other money in it. I can't even write a cheque on that account - bank drafts only - so I won't even wind up with a bounced cheque fee if they tried to claim it back and I sent it back separately.0
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So you cashed a cheque you knew you were not entitled to?
IMO that's theft.0 -
it was sent to the poster with his name on and his address he didnt steal it so how is that theft?
dee mum of 3 "before you buy ...think,how many hours have i worked to pay for this?,do i need it? or can i get it r&r in tesco!! hee heee:A0 -
dee_mum_of_3 wrote: »
it was sent to the poster with his name on and his address he didnt steal it so how is that theft?
If the cheque was sent in error, then the OP has no right to the money.
By cashing it the OP has claimed it as theirs, when it isn't.0 -
If the cheque was sent in error, then the OP has no right to the money.
By cashing it the OP has claimed it as theirs, when it isn't.
We haven't established that it was sent in error. The OP has reason to believe it may be a legitimate payment.
Even if it is an error and the OP spends the money, a court won't punish him/her for making a mistake which arose from the company's mistake. Not when he/she had good reason to think it was a legitimate payment.
They may make him/her pay the money back, but it will be at monthly payments that won't cause him/her undue hardship.0 -
geordie_joe wrote: »We haven't established that it was sent in error. The OP has reason to believe it may be a legitimate payment.
Even if it is an error and the OP spends the money, a court won't punish him/her for making a mistake which arose from the company's mistake. Not when he/she had good reason to think it was a legitimate payment.
They may make him/her pay the money back, but it will be at monthly payments that won't cause him/her undue hardship.
In the first post the OP states 'I think this is in error'. So instead of contacting them to ask what it is, and if they are entitled to it, they put it in the bank.
If this was an administrative !!!! up there may be someone that is legitimately owed the money, and will now have to wait while it is sorted out.
If Tesco make a mistake on your home delivery and sent you a laptop, would you keep it?
The OP could of contacted the sender, asked them what this was for, and then if they were entitled to it cashed it. If they were not entitled to it they could of charged them a few quid for returning it.
Now the OP does not know if it is the senders, or theirs. They can't spend it for six years, and now can't contact them to see if it is legitimate because they have cashed it.
One simple phone call could of sorted it out at the start.0 -
In the first post the OP states 'I think this is in error'. So instead of contacting them to ask what it is, and if they are entitled to it, they put it in the bank.
In post 5 they state
"I did an article for them years ago, at first I thought maybe they'd just reused the article and paid again for it"
It is quite common for people to think one thing is correct, then to have doubts/second thoughts later.If this was an administrative !!!! up there may be someone that is legitimately owed the money, and will now have to wait while it is sorted out.
There's that word "IF" again. You keep saying "if it is an error" but treating the OP as if it has been proved it was an error. In my mind the OP will remain innocent until proven guilty, beyond all reasonable doubt.If Tesco make a mistake on your home delivery and sent you a laptop, would you keep it?
Well if I ordered a tin of beans from them and they sent a laptop I would assume it was a mistake. But if they said "Send us a written article and if we publish it we will give you a laptop". And if they sent a second laptop some time later I may assume that they had used the article again.The OP could of contacted the sender, asked them what this was for, and then if they were entitled to it cashed it. If they were not entitled to it they could of charged them a few quid for returning it.
Or they could have assumed the money was payment for reusing the article and banked it. Then later had doubts/second thoughts and sought advice.Now the OP does not know if it is the senders, or theirs. They can't spend it for six years, and now can't contact them to see if it is legitimate because they have cashed it.
The money is in their bank, they can spend it tonight if they want. All they need is a reason to believe it was a legitimate payment, which they have.One simple phone call could of sorted it out at the start.
I agree, but the OP believed it was a legitimate payment and banked the cheque, it was only some time later they had doubts/second thoughts. We can all be wise in hindsight.0 -
Big companies make mistakes all the time. Normally I would return the money on the basis that it isn't yours. However, if as you say, the company caused you problems to a similar degree in the past, then perhaps you are just getting a lucky break to balance it out. Time will tell if you are entitled to it or not - if not, then you will have to pay it back. My guess is that if the error is going to come to light, it will be during their annual auditing. So if nothing happens for at least 12 months, then after that they'll probably not find the error after that. The thing is of course, what really matters is not the money, but do you feel comfortable with your decision?0
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Thinking about it - there's no way they'd get it back twice anyway. I put it in an ISA with no overdraft facility and no other money in it. I can't even write a cheque on that account - bank drafts only - so I won't even wind up with a bounced cheque fee if they tried to claim it back and I sent it back separately.
They can't get the cheque back, but they can say to you "you owe us several hundred quid that we paid you in error. Cough up."0
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