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CLEARING TIME FOR CHEQUE FROM IRISH RELATIVE

A relative recently opened a NatWest current account with a cheque in Euros drawn on a bank in the Irish Republic. She was told at the time that it would take 28 days for the cheque to clear, and after this time had elapsed phoned the bank to confirm that it was ok to draw funds from her new account. The Bank told her that their records showed that her cheque went into the account 14 days after she actually paid it in and it would take a further 2 weeks to clear despite her having a stamped and dated acknowledgement showing that the cheque was in fact paid in when she claims. What I am trying to find out is firstly whether it is usual for such cheques to take 28 days to clear, and secondly whether it is normal for banks to get in a muddle over dates in this way?

John

Reply to
JT1uk
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Unless I am missing something, 14 days plus 2 weeks = 28 days which is the period of time you mentioned first.

Whenever I have paid a foreign cheque into my bank I am always warned it can take up to 6 weeks, though as its Barclays what they usually do is put the money in after about 1 - 2 weeks and then reserve the right to take it back if it bounces at the other end which might take another month or so (this happened once).

So, yes it is normal, and I'm not sure about muddle over dates, because when told verbally people can get very sloppy over terms like paid in, 'went into account', and even 'cleared' and possibly mishear, or maybe the bank staff were not being precise or using a term your relative didnt really understand.

Tumbleweed

Reply to
Tumbleweed

OK I've read it again and what I think you are saying is that she was at the bank on day 1 but the bank is showing she paid it in on day 14, is that right?

In which case, could also be due to the fact she was opening an account, which also takes some time, plus I imagine they would want to check the money is likely to be there before the account is opened. Probably a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in their internal mail, I would guess opening a bank account with a foreign cheque is a non-standard procedure..

Reply to
Tumbleweed

In message , JT1uk writes

Foreign cheques dont go through the normal three day cycle,. They need to be sent for collection. . They get posted by the UK bank to the foreign bank who then send Euros to their head office who then pass it to your relatives bank's account with them in Dublin, who then transfer the equivalent amount in sterling from the drawees account with them in London and who then send the sterling to your relatives account. No formal 'paid' letter is sent.

Often this system is short circuited by the Head Offices's agreeing to negotiate the cheque which means the money gets into your relatives account quicker, before the drawer's account has been debitted, but there is a chance that the cheque might subsequently bounce in which case your relatives account will be debited, and this is what seems to be the case here. The further two weeks is just precautionary and whilst a cheque drawn in Eire most likely will not bounce more than a week after negotiation your relatives bank will be applying the same 'catch all' time scale which it applies to all foreign cheques, some of which seem to use a 'pony express' system in order to clear.

no

They are not in a muddle as I hope my answer above makes clear.

Reply to
john boyle

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