Nationwide will know more about building society cheques than bank drafts, but they are similar things. Yes, some people forge them but otherwise they are difficult (but not impossible) to cancel. A number of steps to consider for this transaction are:

What is the value of the transaction? If it's a few hundred pounds, cash is usually easiest to use.

What sort of person is the buyer? If the buyer is willing to hear your thoughts on the payment process and is willing to be a little flexible, then the transaction is less likely to go wrong than if you are dealing with someone who insists strongly on one particular payment method (perhaps supporting their stand with some complicated story). If a large sum is involved, neither buyer nor seller should be wanting to rush things.

Can you complete the transaction in a bank? If you are receiving cash (or even a cheque/bankers draft from the bank that you are in), the cashiers are likely to notice any forgeries when you pay the money in as well as providing a fairly safe environment.

When you pay in a cheque/bank draft, you can ask your bank to "rush" the cheque (some banks have a different name for this) so that it clears within a day or two. There's no guarantee of the time or of the cheque not bouncing later.

Is the buyer providing good proof of ID for you to fill in the V5? You don't need to check ID (you can just ask for the name and address if you want).

There's no one answer to give but you need to look at the person and the amount involved when deciding what to do. You certainly shouldn't hand over the keys and definitely not post off the V5 until you are certain that you have the money.

nathalie

I believe you should find out if the draft is genuine and funds have gone into your account before releasing the car.

See British Banks association guide on this topic. http://www.bba.org.uk/bba/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=263&a=654&artpage=1

Huckster

Take a look at http://scamvictimsunited.com/counterfeit_cashier%27s_check.htm

Thanks, that's good to know. I'm selling a car at the moment and getting a lot of offers to pay by bankers draft. I'm pretty certain most if not all so far have been scammers. My boyfriend says go for it anyway because he thinks bankers draft is guaranteed and we won't release the car until it has been cleared and the funds taken out of the account, but I'm sure the scammers know what they're doing...

Bank draft is cancelled if it is counterfeit. Sometimes it is not detected immediately and the bank pays the money into the account and states it has been cleared but later on when the bank finds out that the draft is counterfeit it will approach you or reverse the transaction.

Hi,

Sorry if this has been asked before, could someone confirm to me whether a bankers draft can be cancelled or not after being issued? I asked someone at Nationwide and they said no, but I have been told and have read several times online that it can. And from my experience bank staff don't always know what they're talking about. Are there any circumstances when a bankers draft can be cancelled once it has been cashed in and cleared?

Thanks

Nathalie