# Uncleared Cheque



## Poppy11 (12 Jan 2011)

My Bank paid out on three uncleared cheques that i lodged into my account, I did not ask them to do this so i assumed that the cheques were fine untill a few weeks later when i got a letter from them to say i am now 5,000 overdrawn, i cannot possibly pay this amount and they are taken legal proceedings against me, i have tried to contact the person who gave me the bad cheques but cant get in contact with him - do i have to pay this amount myself or does the bank have some responsibiliy  for this ????


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## mf1 (12 Jan 2011)

Most banks don't let you draw down on uncleared cheques - unless of course there were sufficient funds already there to use as drawings. So you admit that you did draw down the funds - which now turn out to be unavailable.

The bad cheques are the responsibility of the person who gave them to you but you are responsible for the cash deficit in your account.

mf


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## Poppy11 (12 Jan 2011)

There were no funds at all in my account when i drew down the money  -so i assumed the cheque was cleared -  i have explained this to the bank and asked them to look for the money from the person who gave me the cheque or for them to take at least some respnsibility for giving me money that didnt exist, i dont see why i am left with the whole debt.


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## donee (12 Jan 2011)

Poppy11 said:


> There were no funds at all in my account when i drew down the money -so i assumed the cheque was cleared - i have explained this to the bank and asked them to look for the money from the person who gave me the cheque or for them to take at least some respnsibility for giving me money that didnt exist, i dont see why i am left with the whole debt.


 welcome to the business world of 2011..............


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## Brendan Burgess (12 Jan 2011)

Forget the fact that you lodged dud cheques.

if you had been allowed by your bank to be overdrawn by €5,000 you would owe the bank €5,000. You can't blame the bank for letting you have money.

if you have doubts about a cheque, you should send it for special clearance. 

The bank has no responsibility here at all.


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## Poppy11 (13 Jan 2011)

the point is i didn't have an overdraft and obviously i didnt know the cheques were going to bounce, if you got handed a fake 50 euro note from a shop why should you be the one to suffer if it was the shop that gave it to you surly the shop or the person that gave it to them should be respon*sible*


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## ElsieElliott (13 Jan 2011)

I had a cheque from a client based in France come back bounced after 4 months, my bank had released the funds into my account but took them back as soon as the cheque came back so I can see how this can happen.  However, if your bank & the clients bank are both in Ireland surely there is a time limit.   I think you just need to go into your bank & talk to your client manager. It's very bad luck but maybe you need to stop accepting cheques. I have with one particular Irish client, they have now got to lodge the money in directly themselves.


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## Ruam (13 Jan 2011)

mf1 said:


> Most banks don't let you draw down on uncleared cheques - unless of course there were sufficient funds already there to use as drawings. So you admit that you did draw down the funds - which now turn out to be unavailable.
> 
> mf



As soon as I lodge a cheque into my account I can withdraw the funds before it clears.  I am with BOI


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## Gulliver (13 Jan 2011)

Banks have an option within their systems to let you draw against uncleared cheques - it is allowed only to preferred customers.

One issue here is that if the cheque was drawn on an Irish bank, then it is reasonable to assume after 5 business days that the cheque had been fully cleared - and regardless of your status with the bank, you would have been considered as the owner of cleared funds after that time.  In this case, it seems that Poppy11 was informed of the problem "a few weeks later".  This is outside the normal clearing cycle and you are entitled to a reasonable explanation as to why this did not happen.

Poppy, Can you confirm that the delay between lodgment and noticifation of the problem was significantly more than 5 business days? and that the cheque was Irish?

If you had earlier notification of the problem, would it have helped you to mitigate the loss?

If the answer to both is yes, then you should make a complaint to your bank, and if no satisfaction, then go further to the Financial Ombudsman, on the basis of undue delay in clearing.


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