rubber check

[justmetoo]

I have paid a check into my account, it cleared.....now weeks later the bank is saying it didnt clear and they want the money back.....can they do that, the person whos check it is has disappeared...

[Buenchico]

The most likely reason is probably that the cheque was stolen. If the signature on it looked reasonably authentic, it would have cleared. However, when the person whose account was debited reported his loss to the bank, the bank would expect to get his money back from you.

As far as the law (and the banks) are concerned, it's your responsibility to ensure that you don't accept dud cheques. (i.e. you're required to ensure that the person writing the cheque is the owner of the account and that he has enough money to pay you). The bank's attitude is (understandably) that they can't be expected to recompense you if you've been defrauded by someone (which is what has happened).

The bank has every right to demand the money from you. All you can do is to report the matter to the police.

Chris

[justmetoo]

Many thanks for that information, I do appriciate it

[Ethel]

The laws have changed - the November referred to in this article is last November:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7112829.st m

And:

Six days after paying the cheque in, the customer can be certain the cheque will not be bounced. This is called Cleared for Fate.

http://www.howbankswork.com/15-3.html

However, that is UK law. Are you in the UK - you have using the US spelling of cheque?

[justmetoo]

Im in Spain but the check was paid into a uk account

[Ethel]

UK bank, UK banking laws apply.

You will need to find out why they are bouncing it. Under the current laws, once a cheque has been cleared for 6 days, it can't be bounced.

It certainly was the case that cheques could bounce months after clearing, but not any more.

[justmetoo]

Thank you Ethel.....that is helpful

[kempie]

For clarity, 2-4-6 applies only to sterling cheques drawn on UK banks and paid into a sterling account in a bank based in the UK.

On that basis customers are protected if a cheque is found to be fraudulent after the end of the 6th working day provided they are not a knowing party to the fraud.

http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/faqs/-/page/1 14/

[Boasting Bob]

Does anyone remember a recent post from another U.K. account holder living in Spain. He got a mysterious large cheque which turned out to be someone wanting him to bank it and keep a percentage but passing the bulk of the money back to someone in U.K. That poster said he destroyed the cheque when given advice.

Coincidence?

[justmetoo]

That was me Boasting Bob, that scam check was destroyed, this check was in payment for storage I do, it was paid into my account in Croydon, 5 weeks ago, only for my bank to tell me it didnt clear, Im trying to find out the reason why, but doing things from this end is proving difficult......