Advice regarding stolen cheque

[matty1286]

Hi all - relatively inexperienced poster here, so I apolgise in advance if I have lumped this thread in the wrong section, anyhow feedback is welcomed on the following situation........

 

In May of this year I raised a cheque for just over £1000.00 as payment for services carried out to my home following a recent move. I sent the cheque in the post via a third party whom they were an associate of, to be forwarded on to the relevant payee as I did not have their current address details, but the third party did (an established local business who have carried out excellent work for me in the past).

 

Anyway, I sent the cheque on its way (via regular mail) and thought nothing else of it. I had already budgeted for the debiting of the monies when reconciling my personal accounts (I have a list of unpresented cheques) and so did not pay much attention to the fact that the cheque remained uncashed for a number of weeks.

 

To bring the story forward, I received a phone call from my bank (Lloyds) last week asking me to verify the details of a cheque drawn on my account. The cheque in question was that described above, and it soon become apparent from the details I was being given that the cheque had been altered. I informed them that the payee was indeed different to the original and correct one and was duly informed that they would reject the cheque and log it as stolen.

 

Needless to say this was quite a surprise, I had up until that point forgotten about the cheque entirely and so was caught a little off guard to say the least. The lady from Lloyds briefly explained that the cheque would be returned unpaid, and that I would incur no charge for this given the nature of the situation. She also mentioned that collecting bank's fraud team would open an investigation into the transaction and that a copy of the cheque would be sent out to me, but my brain was that frazzled at the time I didn't push things much further.

 

So the gist of my posting is that I am seeking advice from anybody who has experienced a similar scenario to mine, and what the due process is? Given that the bank have told me that an investigation has been opened by them, I assume that I am not required to inform the police etc?? Do I need to do anymore or should I just await the banks response??

 

Many thanks

 

Matt

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

What of the original payee, have you heard from them?

 

If you have the cheque returned to you, does it show detail of the person/company that attempted to fraudulently cash it?

 

Have you had details of the banks fraud investigations yet.

[Conniff]

Have you had an enquiry from the intended recipient asking where payment is for the services ?

[Grotesque]

Lloyd's will probably send you a form requesting permission to investigate and contact the police on your behalf, but unless you are required as witness etc you may not find out what happened. Letter from Southend IIRC.