Found a refund cheque (2 years old) - need a new one as it's expired

[#1]

I recently found a letter from Plusnet with an attached cheque for £150.97 dated 16th March 2020....

Looks like I never cashed it in - is it possible to send a new one?

I am no longer a Plusnet customer.

I just spoke to somebody on the phone but he didn't really understand the situation and just hung up on me instead

The letter reference is: <Redacted>

Moderator’s Note

Personal information redacted but still visible to Plusnet staff as per Forum rules

See attached letter.

<Redacted>

[#2]

Hey there @mattlevis, Happy New Year.

I hope you're ok and having a great week so far. Sorry about the delay in getting back to you, we're rather busy at the moment.

It's highly unlikely that they will send out a new cheque, what was it for? Just so I can see.

[#3]

Will,

BT does this - see https://community.bt.com/t5/Bills-Packages/Re-How-to-get-a-Cheque-replaced/m-p/2222255#M143413 - does that imply that there is a group policy on this?

[#4]

This is purely a guess as I've never used this kind of promotion before, but didn't PlusNet used to do promotions where they would send a cashback cheque?

Mind you in this day and age cheques are rather old school now aren't they? It is 2023 now after all.

Not that I am cynical (laugh), but if I were (laugh again) then it wouldn't surprise me if companies use cheques as it makes it more difficult to get money from them. You're less like for them to make it easier and they'll do a direct bank transfer in this case (laugh for the 3rd time now).

Sorry but on a more serious note, not everyone is capable of walking to their local bank branch to pay a cheque in. I have a family member at the moment who is in a situation where they couldn't do this now. Hits close to my heart now. Oh well.

[#5]

@Townman, it's not clear from that link if BT would or wouldn't do it.  The mods note says it will take a few days for them to get round and pick up the issue and that they may be better calling in if the want it looked at quicker.  He doesn't say if they would or wouldn't do it, and there isn't any follow up to say if it ever happened.

[#6]

AIUI on the BT forum boards, the mods are staff members. On that basis, I took that to be an authoritative answer.

[#7]

The cheque was sent to me because they took money from my account even after I had cancelled my subscription.

Surely they still have to honour this, even though the cheque has expired?

[#8]

I'm not claiming to be an expert in such matters, but IMO, even though a cheque has been issued but not cashed and said cheque is now past its 'use by' date, the 'debt' to the recipient remains as no funds have actually been transferred between the parties.

If a replacement cheque is requested but is not forthcoming (i.e. refused) there's always the small claims court to fall back on, and AFAIK the limitation period for financial claims is six years.

Just my 2p worth.  

[#9]

For some reason, 2 years sticks into my brain (or what's left of it now). Or is it 6 months?
Cheques are not guaranteed and can either be cancelled by the bank or who issued it I believe.

Which is why no-one bothers with them anymore.

Maybe a government authority like the FCA can advise, mind you my faith ( laugh ) in the government is zero now.

The FCA is just a guess but maybe someone who knows more on this than me (i.e. anyone else) can advise about old cheques.

[#10]

From a reliable source: https://www.comparethemarket.com/current-accounts/content/how-long-are-cheques-valid-for/

[#11]

From the above...

How long are cheques valid for?

Technically speaking, cheques don’t have an expiry date. But, in practice, banks will usually reject a cheque if you try to pay it in or cash it more than six months from the date of issue – that’s the date written on the cheque. So if you’ve forgotten about a cheque and it’s more than six months old, the best thing to do is ask the person who gave it to you to write another.

There are two considerations here...

• The arbitrary choice of a bank to not process a cheque dated more than 6 months prior to the date of presentation
• The point at which a debt offered to be settled by a money order (a cheque) can be deemed to be no longer settleable

They are not the same.  The means of settling the debt expiring is quite different to the liability for the debit expiring, as in becoming Statute Barred, which is 6 years.