Muddle over cheques as Co-op lets me withdraw money and then hits me with massive unauthorised overdraft fees
I paid in a cheque for £35,000 from my mother to my Co-operative Bank account via the Post Office. A week later the bank was insisting it hadn't received the cheque so my mother cancelled it and wrote out a second one, which was paid directly into the bank.
The following day both cheques appeared as deposits on my account; the first cheque showed as cleared funds and the second as uncleared funds. I rang the Co-op and I was told that due to the time taken to process it, the first cheque was automatically cleared on to the account under the "certainty of fate" principle.
I was advised that both cheques would be presented to my mother's bank and, concerned that her account would therefore go overdrawn, my mother cancelled the second cheque.
I meanwhile withdrew the first sum, but two days later the bank changed its mind about honouring it and took the money from my account, claiming "unjust enrichment" and applying massive fees for what it now called an unauthorised overdraft.
I accept that I would have been enriched but not that it was unjust, given that banks make the rules and the rules are clear that I was entitled to keep the money under the "certainty of fate" principle. It seems to me that banks manipulate their own rules to avoid losses made by their inefficiency. CH Christchurch, Dorset
The rules you refer to were implemented by the Office of Fair Trading in 2007 in response to concerns that cheques were taking too long to clear. The "certainty of fate" principle allows banks a maximum of six days to dishonour a cheque after it has been deposited. After this time customers can keep the money, even if the cheque subsequently bounces.
The Co-operative reckons that the funds you withdrew were the proceeds from the second cheque and that you withdrew them only two days after it was deposited, therefore before the funds had cleared. It accepts, however, that you were advised that one of the cheques had cleared, and it is paying you £150 to make amends.
You are adamant that it was the first cheque that had cleared and that you withdrew the money 10 days later. In that case, yes, it would seem that under the "certainty of fate" principle you were entitled to the money, even though your mother's account had not been debited.
Unfortunately, since yours and the bank's accounts of the saga differ, you would have to invoke the aid of the Financial Ombudsman Service financial-ombudsman.org.uk to prove your point.
If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number. Please note, Anna cannot respond individually to letters.
No comments:
Post a Comment