Sold car what's the best way to collect the money?

If they're doing a bank transfer then that can also take up to 5 days or more to clear. If you give them a deposit slip they can go to any branch of your bank and pay cash in there - it should be reflected in your balance immediately and of course the onus is on the bank staff to check if they're forgeries, etc.

You could accept a cheque but I would wait a few days *after* it has 'cleared' into your account as if the chequebook was reported stolen the amount could then be debited from your account after it had been credited (immoral in my opinion, but banks generally are).

Don't forget that the new owner needs to fill in their details on the V5 which *you* then post to DVLA, so it's unlikely they'd put their real address if they were using forgeries, but then they'd have to write to DVLA and pay £19 to claim a new logbook - by which time you'd have reported it stolen.

Darren

You can get a same day transfer done - usually for £25 or so. If you happen to be lucky & he banks with the same bank you do then a standard transfer between accounts is instantaneous (at least this works with HSBC/First direct - I assume other banks do the same now)

A bankers draft and some building society cheques are pretty much non revokable as far as I know.

That's a possible

I wouldn't accept a cheque. Even if it appears to clear into your account in the standard 5 days it can still be bounced upto a good couple of weeks later.

Aye, certianly works with the co-op/smile. Ages ago, when I was in my early teens, I'd be away or out and about somewhere, short of cash in my current account to withdraw, and I'd be able to phone my Dad to borrow some money, wait 5 minutes for him to do the transfer over the phone, and then draw it out from the cash machine. Blindingly quick way to get £20 from Bracknell to Windermere :-)

If they're genuine, they are.

As is asking them to get a banker's draft, give you the details from it over the phone during the day so you can phone up the bank and confirm it's validity, meaning all that's left to do is check that the draft, in the flesh, has the same numbers on. Bingo.

In your position, I'd go for the cash. If the notes have the foil strip and the watermark, if the "Bank of England" print at the top of the note feels embossed, then go for it. I wouldn't feel comfortable with a stranger having my bank account details.

-- R

Good idea. No need for a deposit slip, bank, name of account, account number and sort code are all is needed. They can get a paying in slip at the bank if it's needed. Then phone or look at your account to see if it's there. Normally cash is an instantaneous transaction. I'm sure banks will stop that one in the future!

R (ruggNOSPAM snipped-for-privacy@yahooNOSPAM.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I take it you never use your Switch card or chequebook, then?

You've never written out a cheque for anything to someone not a close friend or relative before then?

Peter

The advantage with banker's draft (if genuine) AFAIK is that they wont bounce after money has been transferred into your account, provided the bank doesn't go bust. The problem is to find out if they are genuine, Maybe you can call up the bank to find out if they have issued it.

In any case, you should find out & verify address details of the buyer, and call him on a landline phone.

There's a market in stolen bankers drafts. It used to be difficult to determine if such a draft was stolen out of banking hours. Is this still the case or have banks and building societies changed their stand? After all they don't lose any money out of a stolen bankers draft.

HSBC are.

They're delaying any cash transfer by 2 days to (or from?) an "unknown" account, to prevent money laundering or something.

Once it's been checked, any transfers are instantaneous.

Pete.

Thank you all for the replies, I called the guy on Sunday evening and he was happy to meet him at the bank and collect the money and then we paid it into my bank account. It's always a shame to see a nice car go to a new owner but I hope he has as much enjoyment as I did from the vehicle.

The bankers draft will have to be printed with a date and amount for the actual issue. Maybe they can be scanned and copied, but they probably wont look like the real thing by a close inspection.

I bought a car (privately) in 1997 using a bankers draft. I called up the seller and said i was interested, and he asked for my name, address and tel number so that he could call me back (good move!). As seller was some distance away, I asked for VIN and did a HPI check. As this was OK, I went to look at the car and verify VIN and engine No. Happy with that, I paid a cash deposit with a countersigned note for the intended purchase and expiry date for the deposit. Then had a bankers draft issued and fetched the car.

The car was low on petrol and I had to visit a petrol station before I could get home. I almost panicked when the petrol flap didn't open. Unknown to me, this car had the petrol flap linked to the central locking, whereas my usual car had the petrol flap operated by a push button on the fascia...

But that's just it - how does your average punter know what 'the real thing' looks like? And even if they did, unless they had a 'real thing' to perform a side-by-side comparison with it'd still be practically impossible to determine for any half-decent copy. Indeed, with modern counterfeiting ability such a comparison would still likely be only useful to an 'expert' in this field.

Checking with the bank does of course help, but what if the printed number is that of his mate...? Pushing it I know, but not beyond the realms of possibility....

'HSBC... How can I help you? ... Yes, that draft is genuine sir...'

Mathew

Yes, you're right, it's easy to stitch up an idiot. It's also not beyond the realms of possibility to check the details of the bank (including phone number) before phoning them, though admittedly it's not something you'd expect to need to do.

Peter

Last time I got a bank draft I was asked to get a letter from the bank confirming it. Of course I suppose fraudsters might have bank headed notepaper too. ;-)

If it's highly organised fraud, like those who put £100 Mill UK notes in circulation, then you're probably f** anyway. But you might guard against the small time crook by quite simple means, such as e.g. chat away about what he's doing and where he lives...

Not to someone I suspect may give me forged bank notes, as was the OP's concern.

-- R

I don't give it to strangers, or let it out of my sight when using it. Can't remember when I last used my chequebook. Perhaps I'm paranoid about identity theft.

-- R

Plenty of dishonest people work in shops, who will always keep a copy of your credit/debit card transaction slip. If it's a switch card, then it's got your bank details embedded into the number.

Peter