Processing a debit?

To get, slightly more, back on topic, money not leaving the bank when you expect it to is slightly annoying and can lead to mistakes being made.

While we have quite good pensions, we do need to make our savings work for us, so do not leave more than is necessary in our main account.   I keep track on a spreadsheet of everything that is due to go out each month, some months it is all spent, some months we need to top up the account, but several months have a surplus, so that is sent elsewhere to earn some interest.

At present we have 2 cheques (yes, cheques!) that have not been presented and I have to keep remembering, when looking at whether the bank and I are in agreement, to leave an extra £72 in the account to cover them.  

One has been outstanding for almost 12 months now so may well never be presented, but I cannot assume that.

Write your comments here...That kind of situation can be covered by having an overdraft facility. With interest rates so low, it costs very little to go overdrawn provided there's an agreed overdraft facility.

 

One has been outstanding for almost 12 months now so may well never be presented, but I cannot assume that.

I think they are only valid for 6 months in England. Is it different In Scotland  K.

We do have an arranged overdraft, but never use it. It was put in place years ago when we moved banks, and they have just left it there.

Our bank "rewards" us for banking with them, but only if we stay in credit, so going into overdraft by mistake can cost quite a few pounds between the daily fee and the loss of the "reward".

This would be very foolish when we have savings elsewhere!

 

One has been outstanding for almost 12 months now so may well never be presented, but I cannot assume that.

I think they are only valid for 6 months in England. Is it different In Scotland  K.

The idea that a cheque is invalid after a certain time is apparently a myth, but the receiving bank can decline to accept a cheque that they consider too old.

So no real rules to go on.

http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/information-hub/faqs/cheques-and-cheque-clearing

We have a £500 'pink zone' on our joint current account. If we are up to £500 in debit then it makes no difference

 

One has been outstanding for almost 12 months now so may well never be presented, but I cannot assume that.

I think they are only valid for 6 months in England. Is it different In Scotland  K.

The idea that a cheque is invalid after a certain time is apparently a myth, but the receiving bank can decline to accept a cheque that they consider too old.

So no real rules to go on.

You learn something every day. It is amazing how many of these myths there are about.

It truly amazes me that many people never properly check their bank and credit card statements or whether bills are correct.

If you said to someone that you would pay them £100 for 5 minutes work, they would bite your arm off.

And yet they still fail to see payments going out of their bank because they cannot be bothered to check statements, bills etc. Incredible!

It truly amazes me that many people never properly check their bank and credit card statements or whether bills are correct.

If you said to someone that you would pay them £100 for 5 minutes work, they would bite your arm off.

And yet they still fail to see payments going out of their bank because they cannot be bothered to check statements, bills etc. Incredible!

I argree without reservation on this. It used to amaze me at work that one of accounting staff, who was responisble for hundreds of thousands of pounds, not millions over his working life said he never checked he statements

It seems ages since I last used cheques. These days nearly all payments are done online or by card or through internet banking. There's no longer any need to put a cheque in the post. Also, there used to be a £100 cheque guarantee card. It seems that is no longer issued by banks either.