Tracing the origin of a cheque

[shaun1972]

I am trying to trace the source of a cheque payment i paid into my building society around three years ago. I cant think who it was from and wondered if it were possible to find out via the building society?

[CheekyChops]

Your building society should be able to give you the account number and sort code at the very least. They may be able to give you the name of the account the cheque was drawn on. Whether they actually will or not is another matter.

[stevie21]

"Whether they actually will or not is another matter." ??

They'll be able to give you a photocopy of the cheque and are likely to charge you for it. Under the Data Protection Act I think things tend to be kept for up to 6 years so you're only halfway there to this info being destroyed and irretrievable.

You'll need to be able to tell them the date, anount and paying in branch of the cheque : all the info, basically, that would appear on your statement.

[forgetfultel]

The cheque itself will have been sent on to the bank it was drawn on, as they need to check the details, ie, signature, date, words and figures agree etc. So while the Building Society records should show the Bank Sorting Code and possibly Account Number, they or you, would have to try to get in touch with the Bank on which the cheque was drawn, to get a photocopy of the cheque. Whatever, there will almost certainly be charges to pay for all of this.

[stevie21]

My bank is utterly kak and they can provide me with photocopies of any cheques paid in or out. A proper Bank or Building Society will be able to do the same. You won't need to contact anyone but your own Building Society

[chazza]

When i worked in a bank we regularly got requests from people for copies of cheques. We kept a copy of them on microfiche in the bank and also were able to obtain a copy by fax.

It shouldn't be a problem but it would depend on your building society