Ask Me Help Desk - Post dated checks

I recently wrote a post dated check to my propane provider. I asked them if they could hold the check for one (1) day and they agreed. I dated the check for the following day. The next morning I checked my bank statement online and found that they had deposited the check the previous day and it caused 4 electronic POS charges to fail to clear costing me $100.00 in bank charges. Is the propane company responsible to reimburse me for those bank charges? I ask because this happened one time before where a company accepted a post dated check and cashed it early. They could not apologize enough for their mistake and covered ALL bank charges.

Yep that is the way they do it. Places say that they will hold the check until the date that you dated it for and then they don't. No they are not responsible because you really aren't suppose to write post dated checks. You can politely ask them why they went and cashed and mention that it caused you other things to bounce, but then it is up to them to reply however they want.
I use to be able to point out to the bank what the problem was that caused a check to bounce and they would cut me some slack. Like I deposited enough for the other checks but you took your bounce fee out and it cost the other four to bounce. So they would only charge me for the one bounce and not the others cause they could see the chain reaction.
But not any more. Now they say you should always keep a spare $100. In the bank so it never gets to the point of bouncing a check. Lucky me if I was able to spare an extra $100.

The bank should not have accepted a postdated check. The propane company shouldn't have deposited. Get them to split the charges. Then apply for overdraft privileges on your account so this won't happen again. The interests costs will be a lot less than the NSF charges

Uniform Commercial Code:

Post-dated checks - A bank may charge a customer's account for a check before the date of the check, unless the customer has given the bank clear notice of the postdating in a timely fashion that affords the bank a reasonable opportunity to prevent the check from being processed. If a bank has been so notified and it then charges the check against a customer's account before the check's date, it is liable for damages. (Section 42a-4-401(c))

Banks are not required to wait until the date on the check

There is no such thing as a post dated check NOT to be deposited or cashed before the date on the check. Notifying the bank is a good start, but that takes time and you apparently did not have that time. You should not have written what you knew to be essentially a "bad" check before you had the funds available in your account. Don't ever rely on anyone NOT going to the bank and cashing or depositing a post dated check. I would pay the overdraft charges and consider it an expensive lesson well learned not to do again in a big hurry.

No they are not responsible legally, morally the local manager may if you go in and talk to them.

A firm is not obligated to wait till the date, ** we have had a number of past threads on this. The firm that cashed it, can not charge you a fee if their check does not clear.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deputydawg

I recently wrote a post dated check to my propane provider. I asked them if they could hold the check for one (1) day and they agreed. I dated the check for the following day. The next morning I checked my bank statement online and found that they had deposited the check the previous day and it caused 4 electronic POS charges to fail to clear costing me $100.00 in bank charges. Is the propane company responsible to reimburse me for those bank charges?? I ask because this happened one time before where a company accepted a post dated check and cashed it early. They could not apologize enough for their mistake and covered ALL bank charges.

A post dated check when there are insufficient funds is legally a bad check - the bank has no liability to comb through checks and check the dates.

I have no idea why the company did this but perhaps they don't have a pile of checks to be deposted today and another pile of checks to be deposited on a certain date.

I thought post dated checks are illegal in some States?