Cheque query.

chicorytip

This may seem a silly question.
Is it possible to cash a cheque at a bank other than that which the cheque has been drawn upon, say BOI at Permanent TSB for example?

GerardKeating

chicorytip wrote: »

This may seem a silly question.
Is it possible to cash a cheque at a bank other than that which the cheque has been drawn upon, say BOI at Permanent TSB for example?

Sometimes you cannot even cash a cheque in the branch it is drawn in.

Assuming the cheque is not crossed, then in theory you should be able to lodge it in the branch it is drawn in, but the banks do not seem to like doing this anymore and will somwtimes quote non-existant "rules" to make you go away.

chicorytip

It is possible to lodge such a cheque alright but cashing one is another issue. I presume I.D may be required.

coylemj

chicorytip wrote: »

It is possible to lodge such a cheque alright but cashing one is another issue. I presume I.D may be required.

I would say virtually impossible. How do the people in the Permanent TSB branch know if that BOI customer has any money in his/her account? The account holder's chequebook could have been stolen, the account could have been closed last week, they know nothing about the drawer - the person who signed the cheque.

Showing ID is all very well but what happens if the cheque bounces? The reason they want you to lodge it to an account is so that they can debit that account if it bounces.

Even if you walked into the drawer's own branch, they would probably still refuse to cash it because there could be other cheques going through clearing (lodged in other branches and which they know nothing about) and which could drain the account by the time your cheque is cleared.

P. Breathnach

chicorytip wrote: »

This may seem a silly question.
Is it possible to cash a cheque at a bank other than that which the cheque has been drawn upon, say BOI at Permanent TSB for example?

Yes, if you hold an account in that other bank. That means that if a problem subsequently arises, they have a good trace on you.

coylemj wrote: »

...
Even if you walked into the drawer's own branch, they would probably still refuse to cash it because there could be other cheques going through clearing (lodged in other branches and which they know nothing about) and which could drain the account by the time your cheque is cleared.

That's very risky for the banker. Refusing to cash a properly-drawn and uncrossed cheque when the drawer has sufficient funds in his or her account to cover it is tantamount to defamation. The message to the drawee is that the drawer is not financially reliable. The word could go out "Don't accept a cheque from XY Ltd because it's likely to bounce".

Banks don't like cheques very much, and have been trying to move the goalposts in relation to them. But the law has not changed.

coylemj

P. Breathnach wrote: »

That's very risky for the banker. Refusing to cash a properly-drawn and uncrossed cheque when the drawer has sufficient funds in his or her account to cover it is tantamount to defamation. The message to the drawee is that the drawer is not financially reliable. The word could go out "Don't accept a cheque from XY Ltd because it's likely to bounce".

Which is why bounced cheques used to go back to the person who lodged it with the (legally neutral) statement 'refer to drawer' franked on it. A bank will never tell you that there is no money in the drawer's account.

And as I've already pointed out, even if there are now sufficient funds in the account, the bank official has no sight of whether other cheques drawn on that account (and capable of cleaning it out) are working their way through clearing so the cheque now being presented could still bounce for lack of funds.

Have you ever heard of a person successfully suing a bank for refusing to cash his cheque over the counter?

P. Breathnach

coylemj wrote: »

Which is why bounced cheques used to go back to the person who lodged it with the (legally neutral) statement 'refer to drawer' franked on it. A bank will never tell you that there is no money in the drawer's account.

And as I've already pointed out, even if there are now sufficient funds in the account, the bank official has no sight of whether other cheques drawn on that account (and capable of cleaning it out) are working their way through clearing so the cheque now being presented could still bounce for lack of funds.

Have you ever heard of a person successfully suing a bank for refusing to cash his cheque over the counter?

A bank must have a valid reason for bouncing a cheque, and they cannot simply refuse payment and pretend that "refer to drawer" is a neutral phrase. Real damage can ensue from a bank's failure to pay on a good cheque.

As for the possibility that other cheques might have been drawn and not yet presented - that's no excuse. The cheque presented at the bankl for payment takes precedence over cheques not yet presented, even cheques in the clearing system.

And yes, I have heard of a bank being successfully sued for damages over dishonouring a good cheque. It was a number of years ago, and I don't recall much detail. The litigant was a business whose reputation was damaged. That is why in my first response I used the example of "XY Ltd" rather than Pat Murphy, private individual - the damage done to a business by bouncing a cheque is usually more clearcut.