# How Long Does It Take For A Sterling Cheque To Clear?



## Alwyn (25 Jul 2011)

I lodged a sterling cheque into my business account two weeks ago and it still hasn't cleared.  Is this the average timeframe?

The customer insisted they paid by cheque instead of bank transfer, so I am quite anxious.


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## dewdrop (25 Jul 2011)

In my distant times in a bank a foreign cheque was usually sent for collection to the bank concerned which means it would not be lodged to your account until your bank received the proceeds.


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## Woodie (26 Jul 2011)

Sterling cheques to Euro account and the opposite Euro cheques to Sterling account can take anything up to 4 to 6 weeks to clear.  Usually the banks say 30 days.   I understand that the process is there is no real process, they bank negotiates the cheque and must wait to see it it clears satisfactorily i.e give it enough time to ensure it is not returned unpaid.   Sometime when business are doing a lot of transactions they can credit sooner but they will always say they have the right to wait at least 30 days.
I know this can be a major concern especially if you have supplied goods, theerfore assuming all goes well this time, maybe the person who gave the cheque is genuine, but typically you are better with a BACS direct transfer, draft, or letter of credit.   Personally I only accept sterling cheques if I know the business or person very well including their financial position.


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## The Unit (3 Nov 2011)

Just wondering would this be the same for cheques from HMRC?

I contacted them a few weeks back to see if I was due any refund from the last year or two I worked up there, received a cheque yesterday for £801. Lodged it in my bank today and was told it would take 4-5 weeks for it to clear. While I appreciate that cheques from businesses and private individual persons may take longer, I cant see why it would take a cheque from the UK Tax Office this long to clear!


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## Mpsox (3 Nov 2011)

The Unit said:


> Just wondering would this be the same for cheques from HMRC?
> 
> I contacted them a few weeks back to see if I was due any refund from the last year or two I worked up there, received a cheque yesterday for £801. Lodged it in my bank today and was told it would take 4-5 weeks for it to clear. While I appreciate that cheques from businesses and private individual persons may take longer, I cant see why it would take a cheque from the UK Tax Office this long to clear!


 
It's a very manual process, your bank will have to mail the cheque off in the post to the Bank of England, they then have to check and process it, ensure there is no stop and come back to your bank as well as pay the funds over to your bank. Much of the delay is caused by postal delays etc


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## Woodie (3 Nov 2011)

Mpsox said:


> It's a very manual process, your bank will have to mail the cheque off in the post to the Bank of England, they then have to check and process it, ensure there is no stop and come back to your bank as well as pay the funds over to your bank. Much of the delay is caused by postal delays etc


 
True that it is a manual process.  I was also told from the UK side taht there is actually no clearance facility in place, so they really never are officially informed and a problem only raises it head at their side if there is a problem.   Hence they wait until the likelyhood of a problem passes, usually 30 days or so.  Add to this the fact that it is cheaper and easier to BACS transfer you can also understand why they wanty to be shot of cheques.


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## mayfair (4 Nov 2011)

I received a check from UK revenue which I lodged in my BOI account. Cleared straight away!
I had previous lodged UK revenue check in Credit Union, this took 4 workin days to clear


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## hippy1975 (5 Nov 2011)

Mayfair, it's more likely that your bank allowed the credit to your account immediately, the cheque wouldn't have actually cleared at that stage and technically could still have come back unpaid, this can happen at any time really, as previous poster said 'the process is there is no process' - it's dependent on timings and efficiencies of other banks in the chain so a case of how long is a piece of string...
Sorry OP - that isn't much help to you!  If I were you I would ask your bank if they can credit the funds pending clearance, that's what happens when you lodge an Irish cheque (depending on your acc, for most accs) the monies are credited straight away even tho the cheque has not cleared at that point, it's done in good faith if you like.


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## hippy1975 (5 Nov 2011)

Mayfair, it's more likely that your bank allowed the credit to your account immediately, the cheque wouldn't have actually cleared at that stage and technically could still have come back unpaid, this can happen at any time really, as previous poster said 'the process is there is no process' - it's dependent on timings and efficiencies of other banks in the chain so a case of how long is a piece of string...
Sorry OP - that isn't much help to you!  If I were you I would ask your bank if they can credit the funds pending clearance, that's what happens when you lodge an Irish cheque (depending on your acc, for most accs) the monies are credited straight away even tho the cheque has not cleared at that point, it's done in good faith if you like.


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## rubyred (5 Nov 2011)

Hi it's usually sent to sterling back to get clearance this should take no longer than 2weeks then once returned lodged to your acc and cleared within 3days usually the norm.


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## roker (7 Nov 2011)

I wrote myself a cheque from my UK bank to my Irish bank, it took only a week to pay out of my UK bank but then it took another 3 weeks to clear in to my Irish bank. The amount was show in my Irish account straight away but I could not use it.


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## flyfisher (14 Nov 2011)

The problem usually lies with the UK banks. At least some of them have the attitude that they can take anything up to 6 weeks before they have to decide if they are going to honour a cheque. This has been the case even where it has been sent on a special presentation or collection basis. On one occasion when questioned about this by a guy who had sent me a cheque, they were quite rude, but then the same geniuses told him that he simply had to score out the £ sign and substitute the Euro sign for the cheque to be accepted here in Ireland !


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