posted on July 31, 2008 02:51:53 PM new
I belong to a Credit Union and had them pay a check yesterday that was written on 1-9-2008 for my car insurance. My credit union says they received it yesterday, my insurance lady's bank had just got around to sending it through.Why didn't it show up in her account,she says its shows cleared. So the credit union payed it and charged the hell out of me for bounced checks that I now have to pay. What I can't figure out is why my checking account was balanced with theirs all these months and if it was never payed why my insurance company who says they were payed didn't cancel me fo non payment. The credit union tells me if I do a stop payment,I have to pay the money to my insurance lady if they put it back. Now I know why people don't want a bank account.
posted on August 1, 2008 08:49:52 AM new
To avoid this problem in the future... have your checks printed with "Void after 90 days" on them. That way, if somoene doesn't cash the check within that time, they can come to you to have another check written. Also, this gives you a back up against your CU/Bank. It would be their fault for accepting a voided check.
One thing... even though the check was written in January, you should still have it in your check register as uncashed and the balance of your checking account should reflect this.
Your best bet is to go in person to the CU, be nice, and if you can't get your way, cough up the $ to stop payment on the check if it saves you multiple NSF fees. They shoud be willing to work with you if this is a one time incident. Then go immediately to your insurance company and rewrite them a check. If they have a problem with this (b/c it took them 7 months to cash a check), then it is time to find another insurance company.
I'm not sure what kind of insurance you are dealing with, but there is no reason why it should take them 7 months to cash a check. Unfortunately, it is your responsibility to make sure enough $ is available to cover the checks written even beyond 6 months.
[ edited by shagmidmod on Aug 1, 2008 08:54 AM ]
posted on August 1, 2008 09:14:05 AM new
I wonder about have that printed on the check and think I will in the future. The strange thing about all of this is that the insurance company got their money and never at any time was my account over that amount of money. My insurance lady would have known right away if there was a problem,but her books balance and this was paid. Today I am doing a stop payment on it, and will fight it from there. I just need to get some paper work from the other bank so I can file a complaint against the Credit Union. Meanwhile I will open an account somewhere else and eventually dump the credit union.
posted on August 1, 2008 03:05:49 PM new
What I'm getting is the ins. check was paid by your credit union so I don't know how you can put a stop payment on it.
Are you saying when that check was cleared then there wasn't enough money to cover other checks you wrote.
shag is right when he said the money should have still been in your account if you kept a register. But I know that when you get your statement month after month & you see more money that your register balance shows you start to think you forgot to enter a deposit & then change your balance. I would never expect an insurance company to forget to deposit a check for 6 months.
Happened to me once when I gave a builder a deposit for a new room we were adding. I asked him to hold the check for 5 days until I could transfer money from a money market account. He promised then went right to the bank & cashed it, same day. Caused me to bounce several checks. After talking to the bank manager she said the best she could do was to cut the penalty in half.
I told the builder if he still wanted the job he had to pay the other half. He said he would take it off the bill, dumb me said OK, but you know they have a way of "adding" extras so I really don't think he paid any part of it.
Give it a try, you have nothing to lose.
Your bank will probably help you with this, but do ask.
posted on August 1, 2008 03:30:35 PM new
I talked to one their Supervisors today and she say they would investigate it and get back with me next week. She told me not to deposit anything just leave everything as is. I told her after they get it straightened out, I will close my accounts and go to another bank. She said she could understand that. She had me submit a written statement of what happened and sign it.
posted on August 1, 2008 05:07:41 PM new
Just a simple suggestion for future results...
Never tell someone you are going to close an account, or never shop at their store again... until you get satisfaction or you have cut your losses and decide to truly move on. It saves face if you decide to stick it out, and you still hold the upperhand.
It is easier for someone to feel compelled to help if you're nice. If they don't want to help you, if they blow you off, or they tell you no, by all means throw the tantrum of a lifetime.
In my store, if a customer started threatening me with that BS, I would tell them to take a hike and not bother helping them... what's the incentive now that you've lost the customer anyways???
I had a rude customer who got really upset at me once. He made an offer on a cabinet, I accepted the offer, and then he tried to use a coupon on top of the offer (the coupon clearly stated "cannot be used with any other discounts". I explained he was getting a better price than the coupon anyways, and he snatched the coupon from my hand and said, "whatever!" I turned to him and said, "I'm sorry, but you are going to have to leave. I don't want to sell this to you because you are being rude." He immediately apologized and ended up buying the cabinet.
posted on August 5, 2008 09:04:46 AM new
Remember, the most profitable action a bank can take is to bounce a check.
Just remember they know this and do many things of purpose to make this happen.
Case in point.
You have 5 checks enter the bank for posting to your checking account on any given day.
$5, $10, $7.80, $28.75, and $980 (your house payment). They will post them to your account this way
980,28.75,10,7.80, then $5. They will not post them by the time of receipt. WHY? say you have only $981.00 in your account for whatever reason. if they post the 980 check first, they will get the bounce fees of 4 chekcs at $35 each, making the bank a $140 worth of bounced check fees.
If they did it as the checks came in, then the $980 check would be last, and be the only one they could charge bounce fees to, and they would only make $35.
posted on August 9, 2008 04:21:28 PM new
Like my college professor friend who teaches graduate level finance said-keep more money in your checking account and hope no check will bounce.
*
Gulag-a Soviet era concentration camp is now reincarnated as EBAY with 13,000 rules.
posted on August 9, 2008 04:32:52 PM new
It seems an odd concept, this bouncing of checks.
I *can't* bounce a check. I have my online checking at ING Direct. I tell them to generate a check and mail it; when that happens they deduct it from my account. Checks are always covered.
I wouldn't even know if someone didn't cash the check for six months and it wouldn't matter.
Look, if you don't want to worry about checks bouncing or balancing your checkbook (ugh) or forgetting to pay a bill, online checking is the way to go. It's so easy. And you can transfer money directly there from PayPal. Sometimes it happens as fast as overnight.
Give that credit union a big boot in the tush.
fLufF
--
It looked like she had that dreaded neurological disorder that lets you browse and bid on eBay all day long but won't let you push the "Pay" button.
posted on August 10, 2008 04:14:20 PM new
Talking about banks. My mother has started gifting her kids a few times a year with a check. If I take her check to her bank and cash it, they charge me $5 to cash my mother's check. I tried to cash a check from her this way instead of depositing it into my own account in another town because I really needed the money right now. I wasn't going to pay them $5 to cash her check. I ended up driving to her house and taking her to her bank where she pulled the money for me. It was the principle of the thing!
