If you have a debtor’s unpaid cheque returned to you, contact The Bradley James Group, as we offer a “bounced” cheque collection service whereby we shall collect the outstanding amount owed to you as well as any legal costs accrued.

To knowingly issue a cheque with insufficient funds in an account is obtaining goods and services by fraud and deception, and is a criminal offence.

Here at Bradley James, with the aid of our in-house credit checking system, ICC Aquila, we can ascertain the whereabouts of an individual, and carry out the appropriate asset searches. If we cannot negotiate a settlement on your behalf, then we should be more than happy to take the case through court.

By using our Bradley James in-house facilities, we can reduce the length of time taken to get a satisfactory solution to the situation. We do not rely solely on letter writing; we call on the debtor personally, presenting them with the cheque, and requesting payment there and then. Should payment not be forthcoming we will place a charge on the property and issue a judgement against them.

We have years of experience dealing with individuals, sole traders, partnerships, and limited companies utilising our in-house investigation and litigation team, and this, alongside our Tracesmart and Smartmatch databases, allows us to perform credit checks on millions of individuals to ascertain status. Our Land Registry search can then identify property ownership anywhere in the UK.

Understanding the Cheque Clearing System

We are all aware that a cheque can take anything from between three and seven working days to clear, depending on the time a cheque is presented at a bank. With some banks having a cut-off time of 3.30pm, any transactions after this will be carried over to the next working day.

Making a cheque out in a currency other than sterling will prolong the clearing time, as will cheques issued outside of the payee’s banking group.

What a lot of people don’t realise is that most banks actually “clear” a cheque some time after the normal timescale, which often leads to a situation whereby the funds have been made available, but the cheque eventually comes back as unpaid. There are some unscrupulous people who take advantage of this, and use the time difference to take advantage. For example, a cheque can be offered to pay for goods, and the goods returned for a refund before the cheque has actually cleared. The original cheque then “bounces” and the culprit is long gone leaving the business with an angry bank manager and an unpaid bill.

Fortunately there are more secure methods of receiving money from clients and customers, which will go some way towards eliminating the frustration of cheques being returned. We would recommend 1) BACS, which is the Banks Automated Clearing System. This is a money transfer which takes three working days to clear, and is particularly popular for paying salaries, and 2) CHAPS, which is the Clearing House Automated Payment System. This is a more costly arrangement with fees around £25, but has the advantage of offering same day transfers if the request is made before midday. These options offer a greater level of security and reduce the costs incurred by the acceptance of “rubber” cheques.

Contact Bradley James NOW e-mail : collections@bradley-james.co.uk

Bradley James Group