Effectiveness of Stopping Payment on a cheque

[bizaro86]

I wrote a cheque to a company who installed some granite in a kitchen. They called me yesterday, and said they lost it, and wanted a new one. Now, I can do a stop payment of the cheque, but I'm pretty sure that's not 100% effective.



http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2009/06...e-cheques.html



On the other hand, it's a pretty small business that I'm dealing with here, so they probably need the money. But it's enough money that if both cheques got cashed, I'd be pretty unhappy. What would you do? Could I write something up saying if the other cheque turns out and someone cashes it they're liable for repaying me the money?



I don't want to be a jerk about it, but I'm not really interested in losing the thousands of dollars involved. The cheque was written off a HELOC account if that matters.



Regards,



Michael

 

[housingrental]

Wow that's brutal

 

[MonteDobson]

Stop payment on the cheque and you should be good to go. I have done it once and my bank stated that it essentially renders that cheque # null and void. And unless this company you are dealing with is extremely " shady", you should have nothing to worry about (and it would be a fraudulent transaction).

 

[bizaro86]

[quote user=MonteDobson]I have done it once and my bank stated that it essentially renders that cheque # null and void.



The bank won't cash it, but if someone finds it and takes it to Money Mart, Money Mart would would cash it for someone. When they tried to put it through the bank, they wouldn't get their money, and they'd sue me. They'd win too, since a cheque is still a promise to pay even if it's been stop-paymented.



Any thoughts from anyone on how to protect against this possibility? I'm thinking of getting them to idemnify me against a potential loss in some way. Would a signed agreement hold up?



Michael

 

[Alvaro Sanchez]

I am assuming the cheque is under the company name... the only one who can cash it is the same company.. Money mart or others...stop payment + signed documentation from the small company indicating that they lost it.

 

[housingrental]

If what Michael has provided in the article is correct, they could still cash both. He'd be forced to litigate and hope company doesn't fold. Michael - If small amount I'd go for it. If large amount maybe check in on how long until cheque can't be deposited even at money mart (isn't more than (6?) months after date = post dated = can't deposit ? I wonder if this applied at Money mart etc.. too?