Car sale, does a cheque really take 10 days to clear ?
Discussion
Sold a car privately last Saturday. Buyer seemed genuine, asked to pay by company cheque and pick up this Saturday. Again, nothing to raise alarm and car wasn't high risk or high value (about £3K). Paid cheque in to bank Monday morning, rang bank today to confirm it's cleared "yes you can draw on funds" OK - but is it cleared ? Explained it was a car sale with buyer planning to pick up car on Saturday. Reply was "we would urge caution, the cheque could be returned and money removed from your account for 10 days after presentation". Not the most helpful answer so rang back again and this time told "try and delay buyer for another week". I asked if something looked wrong or was of concern and they said absolutely not, although the money was available after 3 days there advice is that I should "ask the buyer to wait for 10 days".
If I was the buyer I would not want a seller to tell me that ! Especially as Saturday is the 1st so a perfect day to tax a car.
Buyer was older so perhaps not aware of or had BACS set up which in hindsight would have been much better - but, we are where we are !
What would you guys do ? Let the car go Saturday - or follow bank advice and basically mess the buyer about ! ?
If I was the buyer I would not want a seller to tell me that ! Especially as Saturday is the 1st so a perfect day to tax a car.
Buyer was older so perhaps not aware of or had BACS set up which in hindsight would have been much better - but, we are where we are !
What would you guys do ? Let the car go Saturday - or follow bank advice and basically mess the buyer about ! ?
Short Grain said:
Butter Face said:
No way I'd be letting a car go anywhere without cleared funds.
They should have sent you the money via bank transfer.
Anyone can do a bank transfer, why a company cheque? And £3K for a company car?They should have sent you the money via bank transfer.
A bit more info ! I took a photo of the cheque. A quick Google search of the company name and posted accounts and all look healthy, the names and addresses all match what the bloke said. Also it's the same bank - well almost. Buyers business account is HSBC and I paid it on to HSBC/First Direct. That makes me think if there was an issue it would have flagged sooner ?
imdeman87 said:
If the cheque has cleared (i.e. the balance is available to use in your account according to online/mobile banking) then I don't see a problem. Surely?
That's what I thought until a few days ago. It seems there are two dates, and between those dates the bank can pull the money back out of your account. It feels as if it takes long then ever for a cheque to actually clear and rather than fix that what the banks actually do is lend you the money !DippedHeadlights said:
A bit more info ! I took a photo of the cheque. A quick Google search of the company name and posted accounts and all look healthy, the names and addresses all match what the bloke said. Also it's the same bank - well almost. Buyers business account is HSBC and I paid it on to HSBC/First Direct. That makes me think if there was an issue it would have flagged sooner ?
As you've got a copy of the cheque, ask your bank (HSBC/FD) if they are able to access the buyer's HSBC account and confirm whether the cheque has been debited to their account. Might not give you 100% guarantee that it won't be returned unpaid, but you might feel a bit more comfortable about releasing the car. I had a reverse situation whereby I had paid someone by cheque and they denied having received it, but the funds had cleared from my account. The payee also banked with the same bank as me, but different branch. My bank was able to access the beneficiary's account and they confirmed that the cheque had been paid in.
Butter Face said:
No way I'd be letting a car go anywhere without cleared funds.
They should have sent you the money via bank transfer.
This. I was scammed out of a car in my Youth by someone using a personal cheque that "cleared" then bounced after I had released the car.They should have sent you the money via bank transfer.
Bank said tough, so did the police (civil matter apparently).
98elise said:
Butter Face said:
No way I'd be letting a car go anywhere without cleared funds.
They should have sent you the money via bank transfer.
This. I was scammed out of a car in my Youth by someone using a personal cheque that "cleared" then bounced after I had released the car.They should have sent you the money via bank transfer.
Bank said tough, so did the police (civil matter apparently).
He was paid with a stolen bank draft, which should be more secure. Value was about £12k.
He paid it in, the bank honoured it and then nearly a week later confirmed it was stolen and withdrew all the funds, leaving him overdrawn.
It took a long time for the insurance company to even agree that technically the car had been stolen, and he hadn't been negligent in handing over the keys.
It scared the s
t out of anyone in that circle of owners clubs for a while.DippedHeadlights said:
imdeman87 said:
If the cheque has cleared (i.e. the balance is available to use in your account according to online/mobile banking) then I don't see a problem. Surely?
That's what I thought until a few days ago. It seems there are two dates, and between those dates the bank can pull the money back out of your account. It feels as if it takes long then ever for a cheque to actually clear and rather than fix that what the banks actually do is lend you the money !Most people would make a free electronic payment for under £20k these days, which clears pretty much instantly. Possibly not available on a business account though?
Raygun said:
Why this day and age does it take 10 days to clear a cheque?
Banks and insurance companies seem to revert back 30 years when you need them to make use of modern technology.
The hard cap at six working days IS a relatively recent innovation, with the "2-4-6" timescale in 2007... Before that, it could bounce at almost any time. No, it's definitely in your account after six working days. You can withdraw it after four, and you earn interest (remember that?) after two.Banks and insurance companies seem to revert back 30 years when you need them to make use of modern technology.
https://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/information-hub/...
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