“Please make cheques payable to”

[asatelliteisnttoofarright]

I went for a private healthcare appointment recently and just got the invoice in the post.

It says that the preferred payment method is a cheque! I’m in my 20s and have never written a cheque before. AIBU to think they need to update their payment terms?

I give talks and I love it when I'm paid by cheque! They are so much easier to bank, as a transfer means I have to set them up as a payee on the system and it has to be done in a particular way to ensure the money doesn't just vanish into the big council pot. A cheque or cash (or card over the phone) is one step, a bank transfer is at least three.

I haven't used my own cheque book in years, and am not even sure I know where it is.

Yes, really. There's fecal matter on it.

https://www.londonmet.ac.uk/news/articles/cash-contains-potentially-life-threatening-bacteria-new-tests-find/

It wont be a person, it will be automated, usually you enter card details etc on keypad and its actually not dissimilar to an app.

Weird would be coins; nothing weird about cheques or telephones.

If you need to write a cheque, you need to do it properly otherwise it could get returned to you to do again.

A significant proportion of people under a certain age will never have written a cheque, have probably never seen one and also won't know how they work (eg when the money will be taken from their account), or what to do if they receive one.

They may never have to write one, but it could happen. I've probably only received one or two cheques in the last 10 years, likely due to closing a building society savings account and I've probably written a similar amount. We do have a cheque book for the joint account but it's probably about 20 years old with likely most of the cheques remaining. I also have a second account that I change every so often for the introductory bonus, and I don't think any of those accounts I've opened have ever offered a cheque book.

Cheques go out of date 6 months after issue so don’t leave it too long.

If I receive a cheque, I post it to my bank and include a note with all my important details on; name, address, account details etc. It’s annoying having to buy a stamp but sometimes it’s the easiest option.

When I do talks I don't mind being paid by cheque as it's a small enough amount to be able to bank through the app. It's big cheques that you can't (or certainly, two years ago coudn't) pay through the app. If it's over a certain amount you have to take the cheque to the bank.

A pp said about posting it to the bank but I thought you had to supply a paying in slip with a cheque sent to the bank. Would they accept it if you just wrote down the account number and sent it with the cheque? Paying in slips used to be in the back of the cheque book that nobody has any more...

Well, that hasn't been my experience. With my bank you have to go into a branch to request it. I had to use it buying my house and it was a pain.

This will be five CHAPS instructions, so I can't see it being easy at all.

To all businesses: if you make me cross, for whatever reason, I WILL pay you by cheque!

They do accept it with just a signed letter, yes.

I can't see why they wouldn't.

Sad but true... where has all the human contact gone.

I have had to ring two insurers this year to pay by card as my card has changed and they couldn't do it automatically. No option to pay by BACS. It's a pain when you work full time.

Yes……I have two…….doesn’t mean that I actually use them though.

The hospital could easily list BACS as a payment option; it is a bit dated not to - and I am old (ish) and work in private healthcare! I would suggest it to them, OP but I would bet money that a lot of other people have before now. Sounds like someone there is stubborn and stuck in their ways.

OP, all your can do re. payment today is call and if someone answers, great. If not, just leave a message.

I don't think they should stop accepting cheques (good for the oldies) but it does makes it a lot easier if patients can pay by BACS.

That's interesting. I've never heard of a shop that doesn't accept cash Certainly none in my town as far as I know

I completely agree about cheques, the DVLA seem to have cheques as their main payment method. I have recently had to renew my driving licence as well as change my name, this required me to fill in a paper form and pay by cheque or postal order. The same when Ds had to get a replacement V5. None of our close friends or family have cheque books, I have never had one for this bank account which I’ve had for at least 20 years. I did used to pay for my shopping with a folded cheque in the 90s if I needed to go before pay day.

This is bonkers. It’s very obvious how you fill out a cheque on the off chance you have to.

that’s like saying it’s a life skill to know in advance how to fill out every official form you might need in your life, because you won’t be able to work it out at the time

Only if your full time work is the same hours as their office opening.

I prefer online payments as I don't hear well on the phone and it's a palaver.

I don't know if I've actually got a chequebook anymore. Maybe in the depths of a cupboard but probably more than 20 years since I wrote one

I did receive one though. Think was a car tax refund from dvla. Paid in via hsnc app

I don't even have a cheque book, or paying in book any more.
I do miss them
Great for roaches.

15 years ago I got a very large cheque after an insurance claim in US dollars and the bank just said it would cost me ££ in double conversion fees and they really didn’t want to deal with it - the company would not send it via BACS and in the end I had a dear friend who worked in banking in the US open an account for me there and deposited it and sent me the money electronically. I could not have done it without that connection and I just couldn’t believe that in the 21st century that’s how they dealt with it. Until quite recently people still paid bills by checque in the USA and it’s still fairly common. It’s been years since I wrote one here.

Queen Mary university London note that cash carries as many germs as a toilet.

HMRC are the same - asked for all my bank details, then sent me a cheque!!

I don't get paid for the talks, my workplace does (we are a small dept in a large organisation) so the cheques go through with the standard banking. I just collect the fee and pay it in, which is straightforward with cheque/cash but really fiddly and time consuming for a transfer.

End of the month food shop, write a cheque knowing you have 3 days grace. The good old days.

Probably more. Toilets get cleaned, money doesn't.

Also, money is handled much more than toilet surfaces.