I am a small retailer who’s taken a cheque for £1,000 from another retailer for some surplus stock. Now the cheque has bounced and I am getting empty promises. Can you advise me of the legal situation?
I’m afraid you may have lost your money. From a legal point of view you are not entitled to call round and take your goods back pending payment. You should have insisted on either cash or a bank transfer. You now have the option of suing in the County Court, but if the individual concerned owes money all over town you will have little chance of getting your cash. Alternatively you could contact the police. The buyer may have committed a criminal offence if he knew at the time he wrote the cheque that it wouldn’t be met by the bank.