If I needed to borrow a small amount of money and I had a cheque book
and a cheque guarantee card, I could go to a cheque cashing shop and
get a loan to the extent of the guarantee which can be up to £250. The
cheque cashing shop insists that I don't put a date on my cheque and
they will insert a date before they present the cheque to my bank. If
I am unable to repay the loan after, say, the agreed period, the
cheque cashing shop will extend the loan at a suitable usurious rate
of interest. The cheque can, in practice, be presented many months
after receipt by the cheque cashing shop.

This has happened to a friend of mine and she currently owes the
cheque cashing service £250 plus interest plus interest on interest.

She intends to pull the plug on the transaction and let the cheque
cashing service sue for their money but in the words of Lord Dunpark,
that eminent Scottish judge, "they cannot get blood from a stone".

What she doesn't want to happen is that the guarantee kicks in and she
goes overdrawn and the meagre state benefits paid into her account are
used up for the benefit of the bank.

She cites the APACS UK Domestic Cheque Guarantee Card Scheme.
http://www.apacs.org.uk/payment_opti...c_cards_7.html


Under the rules (Rule 2) the cheque must be dated on the actual date
of issue and under Rule 6c the cheque must be presented within 3 days
of issue else the guarantee is null and void.

If she can show evidence as to when the cheque was issued in the first
place, is the guarantee worthless and is her bank likely to
acknowledge this?

I'm not suggesting my friend acted with moral rectitude but I'm
interested in only the legal position. Cheque cashing services may
have to rethink their practices.

--
Alasdair.