DH forgot to deposit a cheque - can't get it reissued, am beyond furious

[SirChenjin]

I can't even be arsed to namechange - am so angry, depressed, gutted, empty...

A cheque for almost £1K for PPI that he 'forgot' to deposit. It's a standing 'joke' in the family that you don't send him cheques because he just forgets he has them - but all he had to do was to say "Chen, on your day off could you stick this in the bank". Instead, he files it away, 6 months pass, he contacts the company again to see if they can reissue, but under the T&Cs they can't.

So now one thousand pounds (which could have made a massive difference to us) is now lost. I can't believe he could be so fucking stupid (he's a bloody accountant...) - actually, I can. He is so fucking irresponsible, nothing is ever his fault (it's always someone else's) and I don't know how I am ever going to forgive him for this.

[chocolateyay]

Are you my sister? It must be an accountant thing.

The PPI company sound like they are trying it on. It is your money, so they can't legally hang onto it. Tell them the cheque was loar/destroyed and that upu would like YOUR money please, within 10 working days, then you start adding interest.

[Georgethesecond]

I was going to post what battle said - what sort of an accountant is he?! It's only a few forms!

[SirChenjin]

Thanks to posters for their helpful advice . I've asked for this thread to be deleted - probably posted more about my personal life on here than I should have done - need to get my head round a few things.

[SirChenjin]

Well, there you are Battle.

[MissBattleaxe]

Just a minute.

Your DH is an accountant but he's using one of the stupid "we'll take 25% for ourselves" companies to deal with your PPI?

I got loads of PPI back just by writing a couple of letters and not using a company. They take about a quarter of your PPI payment when its so simple to do it yourself and keep it all. I can't believe an accountant is using one!

[SirChenjin]

Brilliant - thanks sad

[SirChenjin]

No Pan - I was not aware of the existence of the cheque before it expired. What makes you think I did from my previous posts? If I had been aware if its would have been deposited (by me to make sure it was done) - so no 'expediating' on my part is required.

No, he's not passing the blame onto me - he wouldn't bloody dare. He will no doubt pass the blame onto the company for not reissuing, and will now spend the next few weeks giving them a hard time for it.

[sadwidow28]

From the Money Saving Expert boards - referencing a cheque clearing company FAQ:

Is it true that a cheque is only valid for six months?

No. A cheque is valid for as long as the debt between the two parties (i.e. issuer and payee) exists. In other words, cheques don’t have an expiration date. However, it’s common banking practice to reject a cheque that’s more than six months old to protect the payer in case the payment has already been made another way. This is at the discretion of individual banks. Where there is a dispute, a cheque remains legally valid in order to prove a debt for a period of six years, which is the Statute of Limitations.

[123Jump]

OP, is your DH trying to pass the blame on to you? You seem to hint at this in your post.
I once threw out a cheque for £4000.
DH gets his post (loads), opens stuff, then leaves them lying around. For weeks,if not months.
It drives me mad, he has a large office at work (own business) so take it all there.
Anyway, I had been at him for weeks to sort this post out, bin or take to work. He didn't. I went through it all, didn't notice the cheque in the opened envelope.
A fwe days later he asks for the post, which had been lying around the kitchen. I said I threw it in the bin.I stayed very calm as he shrieked and ranted. I reminded him that it had been lying around for weeks, that was his carelessness not mine. He stormed off to work.
I whisked outside to the bin, I could practically put my hand to it in the recycling.
DH rang 20 mins later to apologise, announcing that it was his own fault.
I told him I had the cheque but to be more careful in future, as was I.
It would really annoy me that he was passing the blame not o you in this His cheque, his responsibility.

[PanGalaticGargleBlaster]

But presumably you were aware of the existance of the cheque before it expired? You can deposit cheques not in your name on behalf of someone else. Sorry, your DH has been crap but if he has previous form for being crap and unreliable and if the thousand quid means that much it is up to you to expedite the situation. You could still be pissed off and bollock him for being crap and lazy but at least you would be a thousand quid better off.

[SirChenjin]

Because Pan, the claim was in his name, the cheque was in his name, and sent in an envelope that was addressed to him. I didn't know it had even arrived. HTH.

Cleo - yes, legal action (or the threat thereof) sounds like a way forward. We'll also try and present it anyway, unless of course they've cancelled it now. He's like a dog with a bone when he feels he's been done out of something, so I can only hope that he gets his arse in gear and gets onto this asap.

[RepeatAdNauseum]

If you do just try banking it, don't spend it as soon as it clears. Leave it a few days to make sure the bank don't call it back.

[RepeatAdNauseum]

It is six months for cheques, but the bank can contact the account holder and ask if they are happy for the cheque to be cashed, or they can return it to you and get you to ask for a new cheque.

I'd look up the T&Cs of the scheme though, they sound odd.

[fuzzywuzzy]

Bank it anyway. Banks are clearing cheques way older now it's changed. Unless the company has cancelled it on their end.

[PanGalaticGargleBlaster]

Yup, he has been lazy and disorganised but I can't see why you did not take control of the situation and take the cheque to the bank yourself during one of your days off. If a thousand quid will make that much of a difference to you why sit on it for 6 months?

You were both a bit crap in my opinion.

[Cleo22]

I think the next step would be to mention the small claims court. you are owed the money - no dispute after all they sent a cheque. Send a recorded delivery letter giving 14 days to reissue the cheque or you will go to the small claims court.

If they do not respond download a copy of the small claims court form. Fill it in and send a copy to the debtor - say you have 7 days to repay the money or this goes into court. Doing it this way means that you do not have to pay court fees at this stage.

If no further agreement - pay the court fee and send it in - £70.

[SirChenjin]

Twinkle - yes, they can be sent in. Having worked in a bank aeons ago and knowing how easy they are lost in the system, and having personal experience of a large cheque going missing when we sent one in to our High St bank, I prefer to hand the thing in over the counter.

Ironing - good advice, thanks. Will try and be civil to him chat tonight to see what the options are. It does seem very odd T&Cs.

[IDontDoIroning]

I'm not a solictor or legal person disclaimer .... But I belive that the payment of the cheque is a separate legal contract to the liability that the cheque covers.
By issuing you with the cheque they are admitting that you are owed the refund all you have done is not presented it for payment I doubt that by not presenting it you are now saying sorry I'm wrong I was never owed this money?
These terms and conditions may be covered by the unfair contracts terms act and may not be enforceable. It seems very unfair to me as the 6 month limit is implied to prevent people not entitled to the cheque cashing it rather that stopping the rightful recipient from obtaining what is legally theirs.

Why not a) try presenting the cheque anyway you may find the bank will honour it and b) getting some advice either on the legal board here or money saving expert, "which"if you're a member or trading standards.

[Twinklestein]

Cheques don't need to be deposited at the bank, he can send by post. If he can get the address and a stamp, presumably you could put it in the post box if he finds that bit difficult?

[SirChenjin]

£15K in expenses???? Yes, tell him to do that pdq - we have a cut off point in our organisation

[SirChenjin]

I agree - it seems odd that they agreed we were due the money, then because the cheque wasn't cashed in time then they can't issue the funds.

Wording on letter is -

I am afraid we are not able to issue you with a new cheque. This is because our records show six months have passed since the date we issued the cheque. In accordance with the terms of the scheme, your scheme claim has expired and no compensation is due under the scheme.

If you want to raise any concerns regarding this, please contact etc.

The practical stuff is one thing - it's the fact that he didn't prioritise this money for the family by making damn sure that he banked it (or at least asked me to, if he was struggling for time) that I'm finding difficult to get my head round. It's not as if we're in a position where £1K is small change - far from it.

[MrsRossPoldark]

I'd pursue the re-issue. Personally I'd give him a boll**ng anyway - mine is due to get one.

Having scrimped and saved for a few years [I haven't had a haircut in all this time, not spending on unneccessaries, no family holidays etc] to get ourselves back to credit [DH having been oow for 2 years]; he now has a great job and since October, has accrued about £15K in unclaimed expenses, so he told me this weekend! I am assuming that if he doesn't claim pdq we will lose the lot? His latest excuse [oh, there were many] is that he can't work out the IT system that they use. I should add at this point that he is in fact, an IT Consultant

[Sallyingforth]

I don't see what the ppi company's T&C's have to do with it.
If this is a payment that they are legally required to pay you, then they still have to pay it. The worst they can do is make a reasonable administrative charge for issuing a new cheque.

[AdventureBe]

I agree just bank it. Do it in the autodeposit thingy and no-one will notice.

Although if it isn't paid, the company must re-issue. A cheque doesn't go out of date and issuing one is acknowledgement that you owe the money. Some banks don't pay cheques after 6m to try and reduce fraud, but there's no legal reason why they shouldn't.