claiming bank charges - can I be prosecuted?

[pagey]

I have about �4000 in charges to reclaim but am concerned about a spell when I was in deep and going to cheque cashing shops to cash cheques for which I ultimately didnt have the money in the short run. I have been informed it is illegal to write a cheque for money you dont have - could this backfire? I am happy to pay interest and up to �12 each( a reasonable charge) and will be claiming the balance.
If the bank didnt want to pay and returned the cheque then so be it - but they do pay it as they want the charge.

any advice? - specifically to poorly managed accounts!!!

[Ethel]

They honour the cheque because you have provided the cheque guarantee card number - so the bank has absolutely no choice.

Without you providing that number the cheque would have bounced, and you would have been charged in any case.

It's up to you to decide if you want to claim.

[dzug]

You won't get prosecuted.
It would have been the shops who changed cheques for you who would have been able to prosecute you had they bounced.