Canceling Cheque -Credit union

I've taken out a loan for a sizable amount of money from the credit union, They gave me the amount i needed to use in cheque form. But has found out that the item i bought isn't road worthy (it was a camper). I cancelled the Cheque today which was a effort in itself, then they turn around saying they need the cheque back! and if i don't i could end up paying a fine! I don't know if i'm going to get that cheque back! as it was given to the third party!

1) have i any legal rights being infringed upon?
2) is there anything i can reference back to them if i can't get the cheque back?

Its is really worrying me! Please help!
Thanks
Not such a happy camper!

Normally I would expect a small charge for the trouble in having to stop a cheque so maybe this is what their referring to.

Having stopped a cheque I wouldn't like to be trying to retrieve it...seems very unreasonable.

Did you get the cheque payable to the person that was selling the road camper? I would have thought that the only way to stop that cheque was, if it was lost or stolen. It is not really the credit union's business that you never checked out the camper van to see if it was roadworthy or not before parting with the cheque.
You cannot cancel the cheque only the credit union can, so you may find that the cheque has not been cancelled yet.

If the cheque was issued by the CU, they should be able to put a 'Stop' on it with their bank. And, AFAIK, they can do it without giving ANY reason...
Once the 'Stop' is in place, if the cheque is presented at that branch or presented through the clearing system, the CU's bank will just return the cheque to whoever presented it in whatever bank marked "Payment Stopped". At that stage it is just a usless piece of paper.

The CU's bank may charge the CU for putting the 'Stop' on, usually just +/- €10...
I presume that the bank charge to the CU is the 'fine' the CU is referring to...
It would be nice if they could have the original cheque back but it is completely un-necessary once their bank has the 'Stop' in place.

The 'contact' between you and the camper seller is another matter...

Maybe ring the CU and confirm what the 'fine' will be!
HTH

was this definitely a cheque and not a draft?? Who did CU make it payable to?

Crugers said:

If the cheque was issued by the CU, they should be able to put a 'Stop' on it with their bank. And, AFAIK, they can do it without giving ANY reason...

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Not so sure about this. It is not a personal cheque. It is a cheque from a credit union to a third party. The payee becomes the holder in due course. The contract is between the drawer of the cheque and the payee.
If the camper caravan was sold legitimely, the payee might have a case against the credit union not the account holder.

Credit Unions issue cheques in the form their customer requests. That frequently involves making another party, such as a business, the payee. Most traders are happy to accept cheques drawn by CUs as being about as good as a bank draft.

I would quibble a little with BOXtheFOX about the law applicable to cheques (it's not contract law) but the core message is correct: a holder in due course can bring an action simply on the basis of a dishonoured cheque. The courts would have no interest in problems with camper vans.

I cancelled the Cheque today which was a effort in itself, then they turn around saying they need the cheque back!

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I doubt that they cancelled the cheque. The payee accepted the cheque in good faith and I doubt if the Credit Union has any legal right to cancel the cheque. If you lied saying that you had lost the cheque, they might have cancelled it. But if the payee comes looking for their money, then the Credit Union will have to honour the cheque.

It's like the OP paying cash for the camper van. If he is unhappy with the van, he has to try to return it to the vendor and get his money back. It's not the job of the Credit Union to decide if a camper van is roadworthy.

The credit union might be using the cooling of period as an excuse to cancel the cheque and that is why they are seeking the original cheque back. this way it will look like the member returned the loan. A bit dodgy !! I would argue however that once the cheque passes from the Cu to its members then any transaction that follows is between the member and the seller of the camper. I cant see how the Cu could be brought into this unless they knew and made the cheque payable to the seller of the camper.