time for BOI sterling draft to clear in UK?

John Player

Hello There,

I bought something on ebay and I don’t have a credit card so I went into my bank (BOI) today and got a sterling draft for the amount.

The seller should have it sometime towards the end of this week. The guy in the bank said it can take up to 6 weeks for them to clear.

I know the seller has a Barclays bank account and the draft was underwritten by Lloyds & I know the banks have to give the max time it could take to clear just in case it actually does take that amount of time & they don’t want people going nuts. But does anyone have an idea of the average amount of time it would clear in?


Cheers,
Luke

Toots

I'd always tell customers that it can take up to 4-6 weeks to clear fully. His bank will probably let him draw on it in about 5 days, but it can come back weeks later. It I were him, I certainly wouldn't be releasing goods until the draft was 100% cleared. I've seen a lot of customers lose out this way. Is there any way he'd send the draft back and you could wire the money to his bank account? It'd be much quicker and the money would be cleared in his account as soon as it arrived.

John Player

he gave me his bank details first but i didnt have the iban number so i couldnt do it that way so i just told him id send him the draft if he didnt know it.

id say if he can access it in 5 days he will post the item (HTC Magic:) cos i gave my work address to post it too and i sent the draft in a work envelope and ive good feedback on ebay (fingers crossed)

the worst part about buying things online is the bloody waiting, if ive to wait 6 weeks ill go bananas.

cheers for getting back:)

Toots

You don't need the IBAN to send money to the UK from a BOI account. If you just have the sort code and account number you can still send it, but you'll have to send Sterling, and there are charges. It could still be worth a shot. If he's happy to release the goods once he can draw the draft, well and good, but if he's spoken to anyone in his branch about what the cheque is for, they'll probably tell him to wait until it's fully cleared.

John Player

no way, thats gas, i rang up 365 banking and they said id need the iban as well. last time i listen to them

sure i might as well hang on now and wait, dont want to be messing him around too much asking him to send it back, ill say nothing and hope he gives me the benefit of the doubt and that no one in the bank advises him otherwise.

that being said he must have some sort of trust with me cos he gave me his bank details and as i understood it was easy enough to gain access to UK accounts if you had the name, sort and a/c number.

Ill chance sending him a mail next fri week and see what the story is.

cheers,
luke

John Player

hiyas just to say i got a mail last sunday the 12th saying it had cleared, had the phone thursday, best phone ever:)

Toots*

Toots* wrote: »

I'd always tell customers that it can take up to 4-6 weeks to clear fully. His bank will probably let him draw on it in about 5 days, but it can come back weeks later. It I were him, I certainly wouldn't be releasing goods until the draft was 100% cleared. I've seen a lot of customers lose out this way. Is there any way he'd send the draft back and you could wire the money to his bank account? It'd be much quicker and the money would be cleared in his account as soon as it arrived.

This absolutely puzzles me.
Where is the money for this 5 or 6 weeks in this electronic environment?
Or where is it even for 5 days?

A customer buying that draft in BOI had to pay over real money there and then for it or he wouldnt have got it.
Where did that money go?
Does it go on a round the world trip?

I can understand a delay in a personal cheque where it is not certain if the funds drawn on a different bank are there.

But a Draft??!!

Sounds like one or either banks are holding onto the money for their own gain in that case.

While I'm here and reason for my post-How long does it take an AIB draft [cash paid up to aib to get the draft remember...] to clear when lodged into a bank of Ireland account?

I know of a case of a solicitor requiring 5 working days for one of them to clear once lodged into his BOI a/c...
I suspect thats also an arrangement whereby he gets credit for the monies for an extra 3 days.

Rip off culture Much.

Toots

There's actually a huge amount of administration required in the clearing of foreign drafts. The funds will be in the customer's account from the day they lodge the draft, so they will have value for them, however the draft still could be returned unpaid for whatever reason (won't happen if it's legit), but it would be inadvisable for a customer to release goods on the strength of these monies until they are 100% certain the funds are cleared.