Bounced Cheque Charges.

[halifax]

I run a small business and I have one customer who has owed me in the region of £7000 for six months. For the first couple of months he explained his cash flow problems and we agreed he could pay his debt to me at £1000 per month but he could not have any more credit. For the first three months this was fine. Over the next three months his cheques bounced and I was charged £6 per cheque by the Yorkshire bank. My total charges incurred have been approx £50 from the Yorkshire (I have never had bank charges in the previous 15 years of being with the YB). Can I claim these charges back as the cheque problems were not my fault ?


Just for info I only accept cash of this customer now and his debt to me is a little over £1000, so here's hoping I can get it all before his company collapses.

Any help will be most appreciated.

[lookinforinfo]

Most banks do not charge to return unpaid cheques paid in to their private customers accounts. So the banks swallow those costs. They tend not to do the
same for commercial accounts, as one would perhaps expect. There is obviously
a cost involved when they return a cheque, or notify you that they are
representing one. As I assume that you can claim it against your profits, and the bank gain is small, and maybe almost provable, you might be on thin ice trying to claim.