A question about cheques.

My understanding is that if a cheque is paid in by the 'creditor' and it is later found to have the wrong date or hasn't been signed by the 'debitor', the cheque is returned to the person who paid it in, not the person who wrote the cheque.

I am reading a Deborah Moggach novel where the storyline depends on the wrongly filled-out cheque being returned to the person that wrote it and not the person who paid it in.

I think you are right. When I paid a cheque in that had my name spelled slightly wrong via an automated machine at Meadowhall the bank posted it to me to tell me to get it reissued. (I then took it to my local branch with actual humans and they just processed it but that's beside the point).

Also, how would the bank know where to find the originator of the cheque unless they happened to be a customer of the same bank too.

My understanding is that if a cheque is paid in by the 'creditor' and it is later found to have the wrong date or hasn't been signed by the 'debitor', the cheque is returned to the person who paid it in, not the person who wrote the cheque.

 

I am reading a Deborah Moggach novel where the storyline depends on the wrongly filled-out cheque being returned to the person that wrote it and not the person who paid it in.

Yes; the only time I had a cheque bounce was when I was a student. I didn't know until the landlord presented me with the cheque again with a grumpy face.

These days I don't even know where my chequebook is; certainly not made out a cheque to anyone since I've been with my current bank (7 years)

Correct, any cheques returned by a bank for any reason do get sent to the person who presented it and not the person who issued it. You seem quite surprised by this? if the presenter didn't receive the cheque back how would they know there was a problem? the issuer could just bin it and deny all knowledge.

Correct, any cheques returned by a bank for any reason do get sent to the person who presented it and not the person who issued it. You seem quite surprised by this? if the presenter didn't receive the cheque back how would they know there was a problem? the issuer could just bin it and deny all knowledge.

That is what I thought. The author has got it wrong.

That is what I thought. The author has got it wrong.

Now get on Twitter and tell her off for her basic lack of research.