Accepting large sums of money... safest way?

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Louby

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Sorry, I know this has been done before but its happening to me now and Im not sure what to do.
Sold my wagon and a deposit was transfered into my account, well they are picking it up Monday and have rang today asking if a Bank cheque is ok. I asked if they could transfer the money in the same way as the deposit and she said she will but it would be done Monday and may not show in my account. The deposit didnt til the following day, so is a Bank Cheque safe? I will be working the next 2 days so I wont be able to bank it straight away which is my concern. They are lovely people and I dont doubt for one minute they would take the money back but hubby says its a lot of money and it needs to be in the bank first. Im a total soft a*** and its me who will have to tell her this.
Help please :confused:
 
Do they mean a bankers draft? A draft is generally quite safe, as the bank ensure the money is in the customers account before they allow them to have it, and take it out the moment the draft is issued so the customer cant take the draft and the cash too. If they go to their bank they should be able to do a same day payment that will show as cleared in your account same day...i worked for NatWest for 10 years til last summer and that how it worked there....i agree with your hubby, they may be nice but make sure the money is in your account first!
 
Bank cheques or drafts have a risk too, they also take the same time to clear as a cheque, so the money won't be immediately available either. The way to check them out is ring the issuing branch (if their system lets you talk to them!) and ask them to confirm that they have issued a cheque to you.

Alternatively, take the person down to the local branch of their bank and get them to do a CHAPS (also can be called a Telegraphic Transfer/TT) which will cost them £20 but will show in your bank account the same day, providing done by about 1pm. Then you can check the transaction has been done.

Cash is still an option, but you will find that if they give you more than the equivalent of 10000 Euro, you are going to have a problem banking it from a money laundering point of view.

I always find the take to the bank option takes some planning, but is the safest way to ensure that either the money hits the same day or the draft is genuine - they can request any branch to do this and should pre-arrange anyway.

good luck!! And remember that if you are asking them to go to the bank, that they will probably need reminding to bring the apropriate identification.
 
If they do a same day transfer you can phone your bank and check it has arrived. Although a bankers draft should be safe low life types have been known to forge them/ use stolen ones.
 
Thanks for your replies.
She said its a cheque written by the bank, as in printed by them. It is the HSBC. She is being charged £15 for it. I cant see why she cant just transfer the money, she did tell me last week that it was in a bond and that it wouldnt be in her account til today, I do believe her and that although its not showing in her bank today, it isnt now showing in her savings account either, so its in cyber bank at the mo lol.
I think shes thinking that at least by giving me the cheque, she is giving me something as if she transfers the money, it may not show in my account on Monday. Im at work all day Monday and they arent coming to pick it up until the evening so theres no chance of going to banks or anything.
God, why are things so complicated.
 
She can do a CHAPS transfer on Monday, which is a guaranteed same day transfer of funds. Normally the banks say that you need to request it before 3.00 pm, but she could do it early to be certain. I think she can ring up her telephone banking and do it by phone. I see on this link that they are offering something called EFT, same day transfers. http://www.business.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/commercial-banking/business-payment-processing#top
 
if shes been charged £15 for it, it is likely to be a draft, you can tell by looking to see that it is drawn on the bank's own account, not on her account, its also much bigger. For HSBC branches it would be issued on the account 'Branch Payments'.

Drafts take time to clear, but provided you check the serial no with the bank involved to ensure it isnt forged or stolen and what amount it was issued for, there is no chance of it being dishonoured by the bank, as they debit the customers account and then credit their own Branch payments account in order to then issue the draft. I issued hundreds in my time! They are normally the best way of doing this kind of transaction.

Electronic payments can be same day but EFTs can be costly and there are cut off times of about 3-3.30 or even earlier. Telephone transfers are instant but sometimes theres an upper limit for the amount.

In summary a draft is fine so long as you check not forged and not stolen, as long as you can wait a couple of days for it to clear- which it will.
 
I agree that a bankers draft is safe!!!!!

A long time ago we got the Abbey National to do one for us and posted it to Barclaycard - in the old days before electronic banking. Anyway, it didn't arrive and we needed to get it cancelled so that it could be reissued or refunded to our account.

Well, to cut a long story short, they said they couldn't cancel it until Barclaycard confirmed that they had it ???? It is lost in the post - how can they confirm they have it duh!!!!

Sorry, but have I just gone off on a rant ......

Seriously though, you should be safe with a bankers draft - just check it is not forged.
 
Thanks again for all your help.
Im working until 5pm so the first time I will see the draft will be about 7.30pm when they come to pick up the lorry so I wont be able to check any serial numbers before they take the wagon. I dont want to appear to be awkward or over the top, they really are nice people and I can also see it from her side, shes being asked to transfer a load of money to someones account she doesnt even know before driving away in the lorry.
Good old cash eh.
 
we bank with HSBC, whenever we have transferred money to other people, if it is to another HSBC customer, it is instant, and often when sending to another bank, its done within a few hours.
I would be wary of a bankers draft i think, as they do forge them etc.
I know you can see it from their point but after all, they are buying a lorry, if you went to a car sales room, they wouldnt let you drive off in it unless payment had cleared etc.
 
Louby, who is taking the draft from them, and handing keys over? There is no way I would want to risk the draft being stolen, so it is absolutely VITAL whoever is in charge of keys/draft calls you and gives you the draft details. You can then call your bank who will get it confirmed by issuing bank that it is genuine.Once you have done that, the keys can be handed to the buyer.
If you do not take that simple meaure, you risk being left out of pocket should the draft be forged or stolen.
I work for one of the "big 4" banks, and although it is not that common to have problems, it does happen. You MUST protect yourself.
 
Thanks, I will ring her tomorrow and say that I cant accept a draft unless of course its recieved and cleared before they take the wagon.
I just didnt want to appear over the top as Ive never sold anything myself of this value before so I wasnt sure what was the 'norm'.
Thanks again everyone
 
I think you should be sure the money is in your bank before you part with the wagon. I'm sure everything is OK but why should you take any risk?

I have made 'electronic transfers' and it is true that whilst the the money disappears from your account immediately it doesn't necessary appear in the recipients account for several days. I have often wondered where the money is in the meantime but I suspect it is earning money for the bank in some cyber account.
 
The draft by its nature will have to be issued in bank opening hours, if they ring you with the details then you can confirm it with the bank. They then come with the draft, check the details match and bobs your uncle.

I wouldnt pay cleared funds to anyone for a lorry before I got the lorry! it works both ways.
 
Louby said:
Thanks for your replies.
She said its a cheque written by the bank, as in printed by them. It is the HSBC. She is being charged £15 for it. I cant see why she cant just transfer the money, she did tell me last week that it was in a bond and that it wouldnt be in her account til today, I do believe her and that although its not showing in her bank today, it isnt now showing in her savings account either, so its in cyber bank at the mo lol.
I think shes thinking that at least by giving me the cheque, she is giving me something as if she transfers the money, it may not show in my account on Monday. Im at work all day Monday and they arent coming to pick it up until the evening so theres no chance of going to banks or anything.
God, why are things so complicated.
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will be a bankers draft - its cleared funds - just say to them yes its ok but you want to take it to bank and put it in your account before you will give them keys. (just as some not very nice people have been known to forge bankers drafts)
 
mainpower said:
ditto this, or if the element of trust is a problem, withdraw cash and pay the OP cash when the lorry is collected?
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some banks are funny with the amount you withdraw - halifax def are you have to ring well ahead to tell them how much you want.
 
Soooo... a CHAPS transfer is still safest, less hassle for you and a same day transfer into your account. CHAPS transfers get used a lot in property transactions to move money about in one day.
 
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