To think that people who write cheques and then complain when they go overdrawn are a bit stupid?

[Ripeberry]

First day back at the pre-school and someone is already demanding that the pre-school pay their bank charges (over £100) because we paid in the cheque 'late'.
Well excuse me, but cheques are valid for 6 months and most intelligent people know that they have written a cheque and allow for it in their bank account.
As i'm on the committee and help out regularly i'm in the firing line and she is quite a scary person and she thinks that because i collected the cheques its my fault.
I collect the cheques to give to our Treasurer and i don't pay them in.
But the fact is, YOU WROTE THE CHEQUE, SO ALLOW FOR IT!
I know i'm going to have a bit argument with this woman as she thinks she is always right about everything!
Wish me luck!

It's not the Treasurer's fault she has gone overdrawn. She's gone overdrawn because she has spent money she doesn't have.

I think you and the Treasurer are bearing the brunt of her being angry with herself for not managing her money better.

And maybe if she had paid when she was meant to this wouldn't have happened. Perhaps the Treasurer was organised and planned to pay all the cheques in prior to the Christmas rush because that's when she had time to do it.

That was most unfair of me to say pass the buck, the poor old Treasurer sounds like she's had a bad enough time recently without having to deal with stroppy people like that.

It really does depress me how bad as a nation we seem to be at managing our money. I am on a mission with the DCs to make sure they understand the basic principles of budgeting and running a bank account by the time they leave home.

The responsibility lies with the woman who wrote the cheque. It makes sense to keep a running total of your expenses if there is possibility that your account will go overdrawn.

In this case I'd refer her to the treasurer but pre warn the treasurer to expect an irate phone call or confrontation with the woman.

I used to be treasurer of DDs pre school and it was a thankless task. I did always pay the cheques in straight away but it was next door to the bank

Oh no!..are they only valid for 6 mths?? i thought it was a year [panic]

YANBU. If it is crucial that the money is taken from your account on/by a specific date, you do NOT pay by cheque, IMO. Especially over Christmas with so many bank holidays which will delay clearing. And you certainly don't pay it late! She is at fault, no doubt.

I think I've only written about 5 cheques in as many years. I absolutely despise them.

I think the rude woman should employ a Nanny or pay a C/M, or volunteer to be on the preschool committee before she gobs off. If I write a cheque, then I make sure that I've budgeted for it. Not rocket science surely, and even Lloyds doesn't charge £100 for a cheque taking you over your o/d limit.

Agree with retiredgoth. Ask her to pay by bank transfer, if she cannot cope with late payment of cheques.

Is the cheque for a large amount? I always keep my current account in credit by at least a few hundred to take into account late payment of cheques. But I would expect the cheques to be for smallish amounts.

Big cheques (for thousands of pounds eg school term fees) I do keep an eye on my account for. But then again, I prefer to pay by direct debit most times.

The £100 bank charges were probably for other cheques/direct debits that couldn't be paid.....my bank charges £30 per item that couldn't go through....

however totally her own fault, she needs to keep an eye on her account more.

YANBU. She is panicking because she hasn't been managing her money effectively and is passing the blame to you so she doesn't have to deal with the fact that she is at fault. Once I have written a cheque, I account for it in my own accounting system and that's it - the money's spent. Couldn't care less when the recipient cashes it - it's not my money any more!

Message from the real world blueshoes, countless families don't have the luxury of having a spare few hundred quid in the bank, pretty much every penny is accounted for!

sorry but I think YABU

Ok so she is being aggressive and rude and not handling the situation well - but I would be LIVID if I paid pre school fees and they sat on the cheque.

I run a tight budget - I have to - and whilst its her bad management to not know that the cheque hadn't cleared - I can understand why she would be angry with the treasurer. (although I don't see how its your fault - she should have saved her anger for the person responsible)

I agree with some of the other posters here - s/he should have got someone else to pay them in if s/he couldn't do it themselves.

WE all run a tight budget but the fact is that if you have written a cheque then you have to leave those funds in the account.
I write my incomings and outgoings in a book every month, I wrote a cheque to dd's school in November, it didnt go out so I transferred it to the next month, and then finally into January (its now gone out almost 3 months later).

Why would she spend that money that she'd written a cheque for? I have vitually no money left at the end of the month, but if Ive paid for something then that money is there for that and not for me to spend

You are right. If the money wasn't in her account she would have gone overdrawn anyway presumably.

But.... I do hate it when people hang on to cheques for ages. My CM used to do this. She'd end up with 3 or 4 weekly cheques and pay them in all at once. Not a problem if I sat down with my spreadsheet and budgetted, but a pita if I was just trying to keep a running total in my head and forgot one. I didn't really understand why she did it. She only lived 5 mins from the bank but there we are. Annoying not life-threatening.

If I wrote a cheque and it hadn't come out of the account within a few weeks, I would ask why. I would also leave sufficient funds in the account for when it was presented.

The op is not bu in any way whatsoever.
The cheque writer has no financial sense or manners.

Phew! At least she was much calmer this afternoon and she did admit that she assumed that the money had been taken and spent what was left in the account.
For some reason the letters from the bank went to her mum's address (old account) so that's how the charges built up! £6 a day or so.
I really wish our Treasurer could offer direct transfer! Something for the Chairman to think about.
I think the lady is very stressed as she is self-employed and lots of other businesses are not paying on time, so its turning into a vicious circle.

YANBU

I did this myself; I wrote a cheque to school, they didn't pay it in for ages and then it bounced. My bank charged me, but the school's bank also charged them. I paid the school the money again, I paid my bank charges, and I paid the school for their bank charges, and I apologised to the school, because it was very embarrassing for the secretary, who have to raise the issue with me.

After all, it was MY FAULT!

Also, her choice to pay by cheque presumably. If she can't manage a bank account (like I clearly can't), it is better to pay in cash.

I'm a pre school Treasurer and I have to say that it is not the easiest of jobs - I only volunteered because they had been looking for a new Treasurer for over a year and someone had to do it. I am about to suggest that parents can pay in by direct transfer because with three children (2 at school and one baby at home - haven't even got a child at the pre-school!) and two other part time jobs at home and the nearest bank 5 miles away I can't always pay the cheques in every week. Guaranteed that as soon as you pay some in, another pops up the next day. We try to make it easier for people by offering the option of paying a termly invoice in three parts - this makes me loads more work though, and three times as many cheques.

I guess this is why no one wanted the "job" in the first place...