To ask if I can use Scottish £5 note in England?

[fuckingidiotseverywhere]

Sorry, posting for traffic! I've googled but I'm not getting a consistent answer. DD received some cash in cards for Christmas from family, one of which was a Scottish £5 note (we are in England). Partner thinks nowhere will accept this? Would be nice to have an answer in advance before we let DD "pay herself" for some things she wants in a shop (she's 3 so it's novelty for her to hand the money over herself and she's very excited to do so). Obviously we will just replace it for her with an English one if not, but wanted to check in advance. Thank you.

My mother used to go on coach trips to England and would go round all the banks at home asking for English notes to take with her
I asked her why she didn't just wait until she got there and take the money out of an ATM. "Oh I never thought of that" 🤣

The father who was banging on about "taking our oil" is the typically embarrassing ABE type of Scottish person whom a lot of us cringe at.

Self service checkouts accept Scottish notes.

I'd take the view that if you're not sure, the staff won't be either so I wouldn't do it

I remember some Facebook posts about places that don't accept cash and if you offer to pay in legal tender and they don't accept, then the "debt" becomes cleared.

Full Fact has a view on this

Debt isn’t ‘cleared’ if an offer of payment in cash is refused – Full Fact

Same reason we have English notes in Scotland. 🤣

Isn't this why the phrase "legal tender" was coined?

Shops should take them but may refuse to depending if they know what they are or are at all worried. A bank will definitely let you deposit it.

Ah yes I hadn't even considered self service! Thank you, all this thread has been very useful and informative ☺️

No

We’re in Scotland, PIL in NE. The shop MIL worked in had a policy of refusing all Scottish banknotes. We’d often go in when visiting but had to ensure we had BofE notes. Used to drive my DH mad.

You'll be fine OP. I'm in Northumberland but go to Scotland a lot and often have Scottish notes. I've never had a problem using them here.

@Shade17 fancy that, Kevin Bridges lied to me

My local pub outside London refuses scottish noted, if that's any help to you as apparently they are often fakes. They do accept NI ones (felatuve lives there) but I suspect thats only because the landlord is from Belfast so he swaps them out and spends them there.

No

In the UK, legal tender refers to the settlement of debts, and a shop can refuse any form of payment.

The self scan note cassettes which are for change are filled at Loomis. One day a customer got £5 in her change in form of a Scottish fiver- it’s the one with fishes.

OMG! Didn’t she go fucking on and on? She would have more sense to be quiet “Erm, excuse me, could you please change my note’

They can refuse to take 20p worth of coppers

Yeah, LOL at the idea of Bank of England branches on high streets up and down the country. Also LOL at the idea of rocking up at Threadneedle Street and asking them to change a fiver for you 😀

I was standing behind someone at the corner shop today and they refused to take her Scottish notes. Told her to go and swap it at the bank.

I was in England in October and used Scottish money no problem. I've never had any issues in London or the North.

Here in Scotland we would never refuse an English note, in fact we deal with so many different notes, Bank Of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank, Bank of Ireland, Northern Bank, Allied Irish Bank and The Bank of England.

This

You can put them in the self service tills at Asda. Much more likely supermarkets will accept than smaller shops.

Just change them at the bank fgs. Why do you want the bother?!