My mother 79 yrs wrote a cheque for £989.. to whom and for what ??

[crispyseaweed]

Can anyone come up with any rational, sensible suggestions as to what she has spent this on?
My father who is 83 yrs (sharp as a knife mentally), says he is worried she has paid this amount on a cheque but hasnt a clue why , what or where it was written.
He has gone through her bank statements with her and she cannot remember at all what she has paid this huge amount for.
Just some thoughts:
Did someone come to the door and try to get her to buy something?
Did she pay a bill with a cheque?

She is getting very very forgetful, and we (family) know she is developing Dementia.
She is losing her sense of logic, gets confused, and repeats the same old thing all the time.
At other times she sounds 'all there' , rational and with it.
But she manages initially 'to carry it off' well.
What can we do as a family to prevent this happening again.
She is fiercely independent.

When this happened to us the bank were able to get us a scanned copy of the cheque, as that is how they record them. Could you do that?

I will ask my Dad , I wonder if he has already tried this.......

Cheque's are being phased out, aren't they? Won't help with this, but means you won't have to wrestle her cheque book off her?

Sorry, not spectacularly helpful I know..

Speak to the bank. Explain the situation to them and ask for their help. That's an awful lot of money.
In the short term I think the only thing you or your Dad could do would be to "misplace" her cheque book?

Is it possible she has misplaced the decimal in that sum? My Grandma wrote me a cheque last birthday for £15. She had meant it to be £150 but wrote the digits in first then wrote the words out and just copied the amount she had written in the box.

Has the money actually gone?

It's probably some bastard who has come to the door. I know of one little old lady who was conned in to signing up for thousands of pounds wirth of new windows etc. Her daughter stood firm and got the creeps to back off. I also know of another little old lady who was straightforward robbed of £1000 by a conman. Utter slime - don't know how they sleep at night.

I assume the cheque has been cashed so yes ask the bank to check who it's made out to.

Ok, Thank you for all your help guys. Dont know if the cheque amount has gone. Will check with my Dad.

If it hasn't gone you could try to stop it.

Sadly alot of conmen pray on people like this.My grandad was wrighting out checks to a pawn broker.My grandad was clearly mentally ill and being taken advantage of.I hope i'm wrong though

I hope i'm wrong about your mum i mean.Sadly my grandad thought these people were his friends hence him wrighting out checks.They said he owed money for stuff which he didn't but because he had alzhemers he was taken in by them

A photocopy of the cheque can be requested by an account holder and usually costs about £4 if not free.

Do check that your mother has actually written it (signature, handwriting, way the date has been written out) and that it's not from a cheque book that's been pinched in the post. I've seen cheque books that have been intercepted and had one or two cheques razored out and then put in a new envelope and put back in the post amongst other things.

As others have said, check with the bank to see if it has been cashed. If it is out of the ordinary and you have literally no idea what it could be for, get the bank to put a stop on it immediately if it has not already been presented. That way, if it is legitimate, the person or organisation will just get back in touch when it is refused, and you can deal with it then, and pay accordingly, with a brief apology.

If it has been cashed, ask the bank to provide details (you will usually get a copy of the front and back of the cheque - depending on the bank it is sometimes possible to get this on your online banking free of charge).

All cheques have a number which is shown on the cheque itself, the cheque 'stub' and will be shown against the amount when deducted from the account (or they used to - its a long time since i wrote one!)

So if it had been 'cashed' you will ser its number on statement even if the amount different (misplaced decimal point etc)

Explain to bank and ask for copy of cheque if it has been cashed. If it hasnt then tell them not to (pref in writing). Then if it goes through it will be banks error and they will have to refund (again unless rules have changed - which I doubt)

Years ago part of my job was to prepare the accounts of several farmers who didnt keep complete records. Often faced with blank cheque stubs without even an amount written on them - banks were quite used to sending copies of cheques then - cant imagine times havr changed that much

Need to hide that cheque book from your Mum or tell her they dont issue them anymore. Perhaps you need a formal diagnosis - i think there is medication that can help some people?

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