I paid cash into my building society to cover a cheque paid to the credit card company. When I received my next credit card statement my previous payment was not shown and a lot of interest was incurred. The credit card company said the cheque was returned thro lack of funds. The building society told me that even though I had put sufficient funds in the account on the day (before 3.30) the cheque was presented they had returned the cheque. They 'kindly' overlooked charges for the cheque return, however I incurred on-going charges with credit card company of interest etc. I was not informed by either company that the cheque had been returned. Is this legal? With a bank a deposit before 3.30 is good enough. Should I ask building society for the costs on my credit card statement. Can someone please help.

Cash deposits clear immediately Cheques take 3 - 5 days, depending on whom you bank with (the exact times should be on their web site), to be processed. You can speed up the process by asking for the cheque to be rushed through the system (different places use different names for this service) and by paying the appropriate fee.

Normally if you post a cheque at the same time as you deposit a cheque the funds and the payment should arrive at about the same time unless you are really unlucky. Depositing a cheque on the same day as a cheque is presented wont work unless you make special arrangements with the building society.