When your claim is settled, and you know your cheque is on the way, stay patient! We know you want the money as quickly as possible, and you probably already have your eye on a few things you want to buy once the cheque has cleared, but there are still processes involved.
When the claim is settled, we will normally request the cheque within 14 – 21 days of the acceptance to pay the agreed amount. However, there are a number of things to consider:
Insurers can be slow
The Defendants representative will need to raise the cheque. If we are dealing with a solicitor, instructed by an insurer, they may need to contact the insurer and ask them to raise the cheque and send it directly to us. We can’t vouch for how fast the accounts departments are for third-parties. If it takes them 2 weeks to raise a cheque, there is precious little we can do about it.
The postal system
We can’t control the post. If something is sent by first class post, that doesn’t guarantee it will get there for the next day. Once it has been sent to us, we will then send it to you as quickly as possible. If in the worst case scenario a cheque is lost in the post, you may face a long wait. Again, there isn’t a great deal we can do about that!
Mistakes
The common mistake the other side makes is writing the cheque out in our name. We tell them, and highlight in our letters, that the cheque must be in the name of you as the client; but the amount of times we still receive cheques made out to us is insane.
As a business, it takes longer for our cheques to clear in our special Client Account. We have to have a separate account for money that is rightfully our clients to be in the account for as little time as possible. Once it’s cleared, which can take more than a week, we can BACS it to you. You’re then at the mercy of the banks.
The interest myth
Some people can unfortunately get aggressive when they know their cheque is coming. Sadly, some people believe that solicitors hold the cheques in the accounts to gain interest on the money. Well, aside from the fact that even with hundreds of thousands of pounds in there the amount of interest earned is next to nothing, the strict Solicitors Accounts Rules mean that we have to get money out of our Client Account as quickly as possible.
Trust me, it’s entirely the opposite to what you might think – we can’t get the money out of our account quick enough. Delays may have to be reported to the Solicitors Regularly Authority, and we do not want that!
We want to get your money to you as quickly as we can – but patience may be required as there are a lot of things that are out of our control…