Paying in a cancelled cheque

[Sheetmaself]

Hi all just looking for some advice. I have found a cheque that I received about 3 months ago for a reasonable sum of money but i have no idea of it has been cancelled or not.

I have checked online using Goole and it seems to suggest if I cash it and it turns out to be cancelled my bank will likely want to close my account or at the very least charge me a fee.

Is there any way of knowing if the cheque has been cancelled without speaking to the company that issued it which i really don’t want to do.

The cheque was issued for reason A and then for reason B i had to sign a NDA which they then claimed also encompassed reason A.

Sorry i cant be more specific just wanted to illustrate I’m not trying to be devious just to get what has already been offered.

Oh and the delay in cashing the cheque is due to a mailing error on their behalf.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Dunno about the Google thing. I'd just pay it in.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Three months isn't a long time really is it? You can't be held to blame if the people at the other end do something.

....unless you are being dodgy of course

[Vasco]

If it's all legal just pay it in.

[anonymous-user]

Cheque will normally run through the banking system just fine up to six months from their date, so it would be a bit odd for the issuer to cancel the cheque within that period. Just pay it in.

[Sheetmaself]

I am more thinking that the company may of cancelled it.

I don’t think I described the situation well the first time.

Basically a company owes me some money for A and quite a bit more money for B, all agreed with them. They sent me the cheque for A but it got delivered to the wrong address.

I contacted them and stated hadn’t received the cheque so they did me a bank transfer.

Someone got in touch with me via Facebook this week to tell me they had my cheque and now i have it and i also have the bank transfer.

I have not yet and they have stated that they will not give me the money agreed for B and A + A does still not come to B.

If they had any sense they will of cancelled the cheque but I don’t want to ask them and i am due more than the money that paying it in will get me.

I hope that makes more sense.

[CharlesElliott]

From a banking perspective only two things can happen.

The money gets credited to your account.

The cheque is returned to you unpaid with a fee (normally ~£20).

That's it.

[Sheetmaself]

Brills thanks for this so basically a £20 punt.

Think I’ll take the chance just didn’t want my bank getting the hump with me as everything through the one bank.

[jonsp]

Sheetmaself said:

If they had any sense they will of cancelled the cheque

You would think. Or rely on the assumption that as it seems you're no longer entitled to the money represented by the cheque you'd tear it up.

If they have cancelled it the bank will just a fee as mentioned above. No harm done.

But what if they haven't cancelled it? The (presumably not insignificant) sum of money leaves their account. By and by their CFO notices this - wouldn't they be after you to get the money back?

[Sheetmaself]

I do take your point but to be clear they agreed that they should give me a lot more than they will do even if i get the money twice. They then changed their mind and decided not to pay me the money owed.

I am not trying to get more than i am owed, just trying to get a portion of what they agreed to.

[rigga]

Do you have written confirmation of the money they owe you?

[jonsp]

Sheetmaself said:

They then changed their mind and decided not to pay me the money owed.

But they can't change their mind after reaching agreement with you. If you are owed this money per agreement reached and they have cancelled the cheque you would obviously sue for the amount of the cheque. A judge is going to love hearing how they reached agreement with you, sent you a cheque in settlement then "changed their mind" and cancelled the cheque.

What would happen if you phoned up the company told them what had happened in terms of the cheque getting lost and said you're going to pay it in now?

[Simpo Two]

Oh just pay it in!

It might help reconcile their books!

If they ask for it back, you can return it.

[Sheetmaself]

I have two issues with the company. Issue A has been sorted by this cheque.

Issue B was sorted by offering me either a significantly larger payment as the issue is more important or that they would sort the issue. I accepted the payment option but during my deliberation they changed their mind and sent another offer of only fixing the issue with no option of the money and are therefore stating i did not accept the offer whilst it was valid, which is correct as in i accepted the money after they retracted that offer.

It has been 13 weeks however since then and they are still arguing as to whether or not they can fix the issue!

[AndyAudi]

Sheetmaself said:

Basically a company owes me some money for A and quite a bit more money for B, all agreed with them.

They sent me the cheque for A but it got delivered to the wrong address.
I contacted them and stated hadn’t received the cheque so they did me a bank transfer.
Someone got in touch with me via Facebook this week to tell me they had my cheque and now i have it and i also have the bank transfer.

Banking the cheque may cost you £20 if it’s been cancelled,
but my thoughts go to.

You’ve done A to their satisfaction & been paid for it.

For some reason they have not paid you for B,
if that’s a valid reason they’ll claim the money back off you for banking A a second time. If it’s not being withheld for a valid reason, why are you not pursuing it?

(I could see it as being dishonest in banking a cheque you said you hadn’t received & know you’ve since been made good for by bank transfer)

ETA, just seen your latest post that crossed. In my opinion don’t bank. I’d look to fire you immediately & start proceedings.

Edited by AndyAudi on Thursday 25th November 09:54

[jonsp]

Sheetmaself said:

i did not accept the offer whilst it was valid

OK so they made you an offer with a defined end date. You did not accept the offer by this date - AKA you rejected the offer.

It sounds like you are not entitled to this money. So your punt is they won't notice the money leaving their account. If they do and kick off apologise for your oversight and give it back.

Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission

[Gareth79]

If the bank transfer was for the same amount as the cheque and intended to replace the cheque being lost, then I'd think paying in the cheque could risk a fraud prosecution. A former colleague was once owed a lot of money by a previous employer and paid in a cheque which had been lost and then found again, the total amount was still less than they were owed. The employer called the police and they accepted a caution (although I appreciate that doesn't mean it would have been successful in court)

[anonymous-user]

Sheetmaself said:

I have two issues with the company. Issue A has been sorted by this cheque.

Issue B was sorted by offering me either a significantly larger payment as the issue is more important or that they would sort the issue. I accepted the payment option but during my deliberation they changed their mind and sent another offer of only fixing the issue with no option of the money and are therefore stating i did not accept the offer whilst it was valid, which is correct as in i accepted the money after they retracted that offer.

It has been 13 weeks however since then and they are still arguing as to whether or not they can fix the issue!

On this version of events, and they keep changing so maybe there will be another one soon, you shouldn’t pay in the cheque.

The company accepts that it owes you £x for issue A. It has tendered a cheque for £x, which was reported lost, and then paid £x by a bank transfer. Issue A is now closed.

The company disputes that it owes you anything for issue B. You say it agreed to pay you £y for issue B. The company disagrees.

There is no agreed debt towards which you can appropriate the rediscovered cheque.

Furthermore it is overwhelmingly likely that, if the company’s accounts dept is remotely competent, the cheque was stopped when the bank transfer was made.

[Sheetmaself]

AndyAudi said:

Banking the cheque may cost you £20 if it’s been cancelled,
but my thoughts go to.

You’ve done A to their satisfaction & been paid for it.

For some reason they have not paid you for B,
if that’s a valid reason they’ll claim the money back off you for banking A a second time. If it’s not being withheld for a valid reason, why are you not pursuing it?

(I could see it as being dishonest in banking a cheque you said you hadn’t received & know you’ve since been made good for by bank transfer)

ETA, just seen your latest post that crossed. In my opinion don’t bank. I’d look to fire you immediately & start proceedings.

Edited by AndyAudi on Thursday 25th November 09:54

I don’t work for this company, i bought something from this company which has since had two separate issues. One resolved as agreed, one still awaiting for them to put right after months of waiting.

[Sheetmaself]

jonsp said:

Sheetmaself said:

i did not accept the offer whilst it was valid

OK so they made you an offer with a defined end date. You did not accept the offer by this date - AKA you rejected the offer.

It sounds like you are not entitled to this money. So your punt is they won't notice the money leaving their account. If they do and kick off apologise for your oversight and give it back.

Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission

The offer did not have a defined acceptance date. I was considering what i wanted to happen as I initially wanted them to fix the issue but was concerned about their time frame. It took me from Friday to Tuesday to deliberate what i wanted but on Monday evening they sent me the new offer which was accept that we put it right with no cash alternative.

The cash alternative is equivalent to the quote i have received from a third party to fix the issue as i am not interested in the money just getting the issue fixed.

To head of the next question, i would put the extra money from the cheque towards fixing the issue with use of the third party which would leave me thousands out of pocket just as I don’t want the stress of this but do need the issue sorting.