Cheques and banker’s drafts
Do you deal with complaints about cheques or banker’s drafts? This page gives an overview of the complaints we can help with and how we approach them.
On this page
Do you have a complaint about cheques and banker’s drafts?
See our guidance for consumers about cheques and banker’s drafts.
Complaints we deal with
We hear from consumers who’ve had problems with cheques or bankers’ drafts, including:
- Cheques paid into their account that were returned unpaid after being credited, or lost during processing. This can cause issues if the customer thought the funds had cleared and acted on that assumption.
- Cheques written to someone else, which the bank either refused to pay or paid despite the customer cancelling it.
- Disputed cheque transactions, including stolen or forged cheques, or cheques paid in but not credited due to suspected fraud.
- Bankers’ drafts that were returned unpaid because the were counterfeit, or because a lost draft wasn’t refunded or was subject to difficult refund conditions.
Rules, regulations and guidance on cheques and banker’s drafts
When we look at complaints about cheques and bankers’ drafts, we use the regulatory and legal standards that applied at the time of the event the customer is complaining about.
You’ll find rules, guidance and good practice on cheques and drafts in:
- FCA Banking: Conduct of Business Sourcebook (BCOBS)
- Pay.UK – Cheque and Credit Clearing
How we resolve complaints
We only look at complaints you've had an opportunity to deal with first. If the consumer is unhappy with your decision, or you don't respond to them within the time limits, they can come to us.
Each case is different, so what we require will vary. But we’ll look at the facts and evidence from both you and your customer. What we consider will usually include:
- relevant laws, rules and regulations, guidance, standards and codes of practice that were in place when the event happened, including the Consumer Duty
We may ask additional questions, or for specific information, for example, to explore whether your firm complied with the Consumer Duty.
We follow the FCA’s dispute resolution rules (DISP) and will take into account how you’ve tried to put things right.
If we uphold a consumer's complaint, we'll tell you what you need to do to put things right. We may also ask you to compensate them for any distress or inconvenience they’ve experienced as a result of the problem.
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We usually look at:
- how the cheque was put into the account
- the account’s terms and conditions
- how long the cheque takes to clear
- any discussions with your customer before sending the cheque back unpaid
- what steps your customer took before finding out the cheque was returned unpaid
If a customer complains that you lost a cheque during processing, we’ll check your records to see if you were responsible for the loss.
If we find the problem was your fault, we’ll usually tell you to put your customer back in the same position they would be in if the problem hadn’t happened.
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We’ll usually look at:
- the terms and conditions of your customer’s account
- the position of your customer’s account (including any arranged overdraft) at the time the cheque was put in by the person being paid
- any discussions you had with your customer about whether you’d pay the cheque or not
- any information you gave to third parties about why the cheque wasn’t paid
- any similar situations that have happened on the customer’s account before
- the underlying transaction and the effect of not paying the cheque or wrongly paying it
If we find you were responsible for the problem, we might ask you to:
- pay the cheque your customer wrote if it wasn’t paid when it should have been
- give back any money you paid by mistake to someone else
If you didn’t pay a cheque when you should have, we might also ask you to cover:
- non-financial losses, like embarrassment or damage to your customer’s reputation
- other losses, like losing a supplier or missing out on business if your customer runs a small business
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If you didn’t pay a bankers’ draft because you thought it was fake, we’ll usually look at:
- any discussions you had with your customer when they paid in the draft
- what options your customer would have had if you had noticed the problem sooner.
If your customer lost their bankers’ draft and is having trouble getting a refund, we’ll usually look at:
- terms and conditions covering the issue of the draft
- how the draft was lost, so we can judge how likely it is that someone else could successfully claim the money.
If we think you haven’t treated your customer fairly, we’ll look at the specific situation to decide how to put things right. This might mean telling you to:
- give your customer a new draft
- put the money from the draft back into your customer’s account
- pay compensation for things like embarrassment, loss of trust, or harm to your customer’s reputation
- cover further losses, for example if your customer is a small business and lost a supplier or profits.
Case studies
Josh’s complaint about a bank error and a wrongly bounced cheque
Banking Cheques
Martin’s complaint about his bank’s handling of an unpaid cheque
Cheques Banking
Business Support Hub
Businesses and consumer advisers can contact our Business Support Hub on 020 7964 1400 for information on how we might look at a particular complaint, or for guidance on our rules and how we work.
We also work with businesses and other organisations to help prevent complaints.
