RetireJapan

I have seen that many British people based in Japan are sending cheques to pay for their HRMC. I have also decided to indulge in this quaint system as though I were living in a bygone age and managed to find my old chequebook from about twenty years ago.

It has the same bank details as my account in the UK and Debit card, so...

1.) Are my cheques likely to be good for making payments? I don't think they expire do they?
2.) Are they safe to send through the usual post or should I use registered mail?

I would appreciate any help you can give.

volatileresolve wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2024 12:39 am I have seen that many British people based in Japan are sending cheques to pay for their HRMC. I have also decided to indulge in this quaint system as though I were living in a bygone age and managed to find my old chequebook from about twenty years ago.

It has the same bank details as my account in the UK and Debit card, so...

1.) Are my cheques likely to be good for making payments? I don't think they expire do they?
2.) Are they safe to send through the usual post or should I use registered mail?

I would appreciate any help you can give.

1. They don't expire. (I asked this question of a yooth in a jumper sitting on a pedestal in what purported to be a bank branch in my old home town.
It actually felt more like an airport pub. You know. Serving a purpose but some many things off the mark.).
Whether yours are good or not will be down to your penmanship and availability of funds.

2. Given the trend to leverage AI and Social media in cybercrimes I think we can assume the chance of a criminal entity establishing a dummy HMRC entity to catch and then cash your cheque is so low I'm going to underwrite that risk at zero cost to you.
Safety aside, you may want to use registered mail but I recall someone had a non-delivery event even with that method. If you want to be sure then DHL or similar would be preferred.

volatileresolve wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2024 12:39 am I have seen that many British people based in Japan are sending cheques to pay for their HRMC. I have also decided to indulge in this quaint system as though I were living in a bygone age and managed to find my old chequebook from about twenty years ago.

It has the same bank details as my account in the UK and Debit card, so...

1.) Are my cheques likely to be good for making payments? I don't think they expire do they?
2.) Are they safe to send through the usual post or should I use registered mail?

I would appreciate any help you can give.

I have paid HMRC for my class 3 NICs for the last 20 years by cheque. Apart from going through a period during Covid when they wouldn't accept cheques, they have always taken them. The only thing I would be careful about is that if the chequebook is over twenty years old, a lot of the banks/ building societies have merged or demerged. For example, my Lloyds TSB has demerged, and they would not accept a Lloyds TSB cheque. It could only be Lloyds. Also, Santander took over a lot of the converted building societies when they went bust after the Lehman crash.

I send it by normal post.

Wales4rugbyWC23 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2024 11:02 am

volatileresolve wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2024 12:39 am I have seen that many British people based in Japan are sending cheques to pay for their HRMC. I have also decided to indulge in this quaint system as though I were living in a bygone age and managed to find my old chequebook from about twenty years ago.

It has the same bank details as my account in the UK and Debit card, so...

1.) Are my cheques likely to be good for making payments? I don't think they expire do they?
2.) Are they safe to send through the usual post or should I use registered mail?

I would appreciate any help you can give.

I have paid HMRC for my class 3 NICs for the last 20 years by cheque. Apart from going through a period during Covid when they wouldn't accept cheques, they have always taken them. The only thing I would be careful about is that if the chequebook is over twenty years old, a lot of the banks/ building societies have merged or demerged. For example, my Lloyds TSB has demerged, and they would not accept a Lloyds TSB cheque. It could only be Lloyds. Also, Santander took over a lot of the converted building societies when they went bust after the Lehman crash.

I send it by normal post.

Arrrghh! Yes, my cheque book is actually a Lloyds TSB one. I guess it won't be valid then.

Thanks for the information.

Thanks to Moneymatters as well for your input!

shyam wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2024 10:42 am I think you should stick with the modern payment methods! While cheques might seem like a fun throwback, they're not the most practical option for paying bills internationally.

If you're feeling nostalgic, frame that old chequebook as a reminder of financial systems of the past

Why do HMRC and a whole host of British financial institutions still only pay out refunds and remittances by cheque.....

Wales4rugbyWC23 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2024 10:48 pm Why do HMRC and a whole host of British financial institutions still only pay out refunds and remittances by cheque.....

I don't have any experience myself but it appears they have a method to do it online or via an app, but I don't know how that gets decided.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-overpayments-and ... e-a-refund

adamu wrote: ↑Tue Jun 11, 2024 1:34 pm

Wales4rugbyWC23 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2024 10:48 pm Why do HMRC and a whole host of British financial institutions still only pay out refunds and remittances by cheque.....

I don't have any experience myself but it appears they have a method to do it online or via an app, but I don't know how that gets decided.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-overpayments-and ... e-a-refund

Albeit three years ago, but I got an overpayment of my income tax paid to me by cheque.