Have cheque to me, but no open accounts, what to do?

Scougar · 22 Aug 2016 at 15:25

So I discovered I'm owed some money by the gov, and the only way they will pay is by cheque. So my parents now have the cheque ready to pay somewhere. Problem is, it seems my accounts have been close due to inactivity (not in the UK anymore). How on earth can I cash these (it's only around 150 pounds) with me not being there, and me not having an open account?

For example, can you pay a cheque into paypal somehow? (I have a UK paypal account).

Other ideas welcome lol.

tom_e · 22 Aug 2016 at 15:27

Take it to a "We cash cheques" place and get robbed a large fee.

Schlong&Stable · 22 Aug 2016 at 15:29

There are various places you can cash personal cheques, for a fee. So expect to lose about 10-20% of your cheque.

Jono · 22 Aug 2016 at 15:36

Do you know anyone with the same name as you?

Scougar · 22 Aug 2016 at 15:38

The cash cheque places... I assume they need it to be you who cashes it though, i.e. my folks couldn't do it?

Jono said:
Do you know anyone with the same name as you?

lol, I thought the same thing... but then thought... how dodgy would that sound propositioning someone like that.

EDIT: It seems the american mobile app allows cheques to be deposited... but does the UK app allow this?

Hotwired · 22 Aug 2016 at 15:39

Had a look, seems you'd need to turn up with ID and proof of address.

Go back to hmrc and hassle them (sit in phone queue) til someone find a computer to do a bank transfer.

tom_e · 22 Aug 2016 at 15:41

Scougar said:
EDIT: It seems the american mobile app allows cheques to be deposited... but does the UK app allow this?

Not yet, there was talk of it happening but I suppose as very few cheques are used over here it's not high on the must have list.

Scougar · 22 Aug 2016 at 16:28

tom_e said:
Not yet, there was talk of it happening but I suppose as very few cheques are used over here it's not high on the must have list.

Yeah.. I was REALLY surprised how archaic the US system is still. Cheques are still highly used, and only recently have banks really started getting more savvy with things.

That sucks, would really have solved my issue.

wildman · 22 Aug 2016 at 16:41

Sending it to me along with your current account details for the country you are in and I will getting this all sorted for you. Please send your informations to

Chief Butalese
123 Nigeria Boulevard
Lagos

also if you are interested I can for selling you some tablets that will make you have strong penis...........

Clav · 22 Aug 2016 at 16:58

Can you just get it sent to yourself in the US and cash it there? I've lodged cheques from the UK into my Irish bank account before.

Scougar · 22 Aug 2016 at 20:06

Honestly I don't know if I can put it into a US account. It's enough of a pain in the butt doing an international transfer.

Em3bbs · 22 Aug 2016 at 20:46

I put a UK cheque into my German bank when I lived there and had closed my UK account after a few years. Wish I had kept them to be honest as I had no credit history in the uk when I moved back and it was a pain getting another bank account for even my wages to be paid into, because I didn't have any utility bills etc!

Stealthploit · 22 Aug 2016 at 23:06

doesnt the bank do it for cash if you have a valid id ?

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 22 Aug 2016 at 23:13

try here, its probably happened before but if not ask

http://britishexpats.com/forum/

johnloo · 22 Aug 2016 at 23:51

Scougar said:
So I discovered I'm owed some money by the gov, and the only way they will pay is by cheque. So my parents now have the cheque ready to pay somewhere. Problem is, it seems my accounts have been close due to inactivity (not in the UK anymore). How on earth can I cash these (it's only around 150 pounds) with me not being there, and me not having an open account?

For example, can you pay a cheque into paypal somehow? (I have a UK paypal account).

Other ideas welcome lol.

when I was abroad I could pay uk cheques into foreign bank accounts.

Kuros · 23 Aug 2016 at 14:42

Could you not sign up quickly for a new basic free current account. If you can do it online, might be the easiest solution.

Scougar · 23 Aug 2016 at 15:53

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
try here, its probably happened before but if not ask

http://britishexpats.com/forum/

Thanks

Kuros said:
Could you not sign up quickly for a new basic free current account. If you can do it online, might be the easiest solution.

If you know where I could do that online....

Origin · 23 Aug 2016 at 20:56

I had the same thing for a tax refund from HMRC after I left the country. I just paid it into my Canadian account, took 6 weeks or so to clear and went through using the standard exchange rate. Will your bank not do the same?

Will21st · 23 Aug 2016 at 21:30

Don't understand the problem OP, present the cheque to your US bank... it will take a while but it's not a problem.

Have cheque to me, but no open accounts, what to do?

Associate