Why was my inheritance sent by carrier pigeon?
D.C. writes: In August, my wife received a cheque for C$75,000 (£44,204) from a law firm in Canada. This was an inheritance and she banked the cheque at our local NatWest branch in Shrewsbury. We were told the cash would be in the account in four to six weeks, which was no problem. After a couple of months had passed, I enquired what was happening. I made numerous phone calls and was passed between departments. Eventually I was told to expect an answer in five weeks. The law firm in Canada says the money left its account on August 29. I cannot believe that a banking transaction can take so long. But even more frustrating is that no one at NatWest could tell me where the money had gone before it appeared in my account in late November. I KNOW that cheques are going out of fashion and I understand that international cheques do take longer to cash. But what I find staggering is that when you asked what had happened to your wife’s inheritance, NatWest replied: ‘The collections process is typically a protracted and costly one that takes up to 12 weeks or more to obtain payment, at which point our customer’s account is credited.’ In an age of electronics, it is as if the banks are relying on carrier pigeons that have gone on strike.
I first contacted NatWest on your behalf on November 23 and five days later the money was in your account. I do not take credit for this – I am sure the timing was a coincidence. But there were still two disturbing issues.
In one of your conversations with the bank, it was finally admitted that the Canadian cheque had been lost. But more seriously, C$1,527 (about £900) had evaporated into thin air. NatWest wrote off its £63 commission and offered you a further £60 because of the long delays, but that did not explain the disap- pearance of £900. I pressed NatWest to explain and officials have told me that instead of sending funds straight to it, the Canadian bank – Innovation Credit Union – first converted the C$75,000 to sterling and then sent it to a different British bank. That bank converted it back into Canadian dollars and sent it on to NatWest. And NatWest converted it to sterling yet again. Every time the currency was converted, there was a difference between be the foreign exchange exch buying rate and t he selli ng rate. Naturally, there were bank charges on top. NatWest N agrees this should shou not have happened, but it says it was unable to get answers from the bank in Canada. After a lot of discussion over o several weeks, the result is that NatWest is adding C$1,500 to your account – £880 in sterling. I have checked with you and you have confirmed co that the money really is there. th NatWest N tW th has not commented on the suggestion that the C$75,000 cheque was lost, but one member of the bank’s staff has told you verbally that it was sent back to the law firm in Canada by mistake, rather than to the Canadian bank to be cashed. Why that might have happened is going to remain a loose end in what has been a frustrating experience.