Lost Cheques.
The payee or the holder who loses a cheque can, of course, give notice of his loss to the banker upon whom it is drawn, and the banker would doubtless question any presenter, but he, the payee or holder, must obtain an order from the drawer instructing his banker to stop payment. The drawer, though he cannot refuse such a request, may insist upon receiving security before he issues a fresh cheque. Further, if the drawer employ the customary means of communication, such as, for instance, sending his cheque through the post, or should the payee himself select a particular channel, then any loss falls upon the latter. A holder for value, however, provided the cheque be not tainted with forgery, and that it be not crossed “not negotiable,” can compel payment from the drawer, who must then fall back upon his indemnity should he have issued a duplicate cheque.
Sending Cheques through the Post.
When remitting cheques to one’s banker for the credit of one’s account it is advisable to write across the face of each: “A/C Payee, with —— Bank of London.” In the event of a cheque thus marked getting into dishonest hands no banker would care to collect it. Where the sender is the holder, and not the payee, he would, of course, cross the cheque “A/C John Jones,” etc.
As the paying banker is not liable on a forged indorsement, it is always desirable to receive an acknowledgment from the payee of a cheque posted to him. Should not this come to hand in proper time, then payment of the cheque might be stopped at the bank, and the stop removed when the receipt arrives. It is, perhaps, as well to remember, when sending a crossed cheque through the post, that the addition of the words “not negotiable” lessens the risk of both payee and drawer.
Paid Cheques.
These are the legal property of the drawer; but a banker is entitled to an acknowledgment from the customer before he surrenders them.
Providing for Cheques Specially.
A customer, whether his account be overdrawn or not, may pay in a certain sum to his credit, and request his banker to pay a particular cheque against it. The person who adopts this procedure is invariably somewhat “hard up”; and having issued cheques which, in the aggregate, amount to more than the balance at his credit, or which would, if presented, overdraw his account beyond the agreed sum, he is naturally nervous lest his banker should return one or two of them. Assuming that he has some half-dozen cheques in circulation, but is particularly anxious to pay one to John Smith, who has threatened to sell him up, for £30, and another for £40 to William James for rent, then he should pay £70 to his credit, and write across his paying-in slip: “To provide for my cheques of £30 to John Smith and £40 to W. James specially.” The banker, if he accept the slip, is bound to hold the money against the cheques in question.