I recently received a cheque for £1600 in payment for goods I sold.

The cheque was issued through RBS and paid into my account (First direct).

It showed on my online statement as cleared funds and available 7 days later. The goods were then released to the buyer.

11 days after the cheque was paid into my account, I transferred part of the money to a savings account (also with FD).

The following day, 12 days after the cheque was paid in, I received a letter from my bank with the original cheque enclosed, informing me that the cheque had been returned unpaid by the drawers bank. The reason for the return was stamped on the front of the cheque 'ACCOUNT CLOSED'

I have communicated with RBS for several months now to determine how they can 'release' funds on an account that is closed (there stamp on the actual cheque) and then return the cheque unpaid?

However the only reply I get states 'customer confidentiality' in other words - tough!

Would it be worthwhile pursuing this matter through the legal channels?

I have all the original documents and cheque etc.

I would genuinley appreciate any help i could get.

Kind Regards

I'd definetly pursue it further. If the account was closed, all cheque books should have been retained, and checks done to ensure no cheques were outstanding.

It's THEIR negligence

No it is NOT their negligence. You have a legal claim against the drawer of the cheque. There is also the criminal angle; i.e. the drawer knowingly issued a cheque on a closed account. The most useful thing would be to contact your OWN bank and demand an explanation. Banks shouldn't really be allowing cheques to be returned 12 days after presentation. Your Bank acts as YOUR agent when collecting cheque payments. You should demand re-imbursement from them; and your bank can then use inter-bank agreements to reclaim the funds from RBS. Your bank will claim they are entitled to deduct the funds/refer you to T & C's etc; however, it is your bank that is potentially negligent in failing to prevent RBS from claiming funds back 12 days later. As far as I am aware there are inter bank agreements which stipulate that banks should not return cheques after about 10 days. These are inter bank agreements and have no legal force to the consumer, but could be used to demonstrate that your own bank has failed in their duty of care towards you when acting as your agent.

Thanks for the really helpful replies.

I apologise for the delay in responding, but i have been in hospital.

Thanks again

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