OUCH...This is gonna hurt!

[Craig Lindquist]

Found out yesterday that an insurance company payed a customer direct and they spent our money....

Just checked the account and a check we received for almost $1300.00 is bouncing!

 

[Kevin B]

Been there done that. Here is an underlying problem in the insurance biz right now. Mortage company gets the check in some cases, ......they are not the best people to be hanging onto our money right now either!

 

[WISE]

Craig--

Shoot me an email and I will tell ya how we have greatly reduced the probability of that happening.

WISE

 

[John Watson]

Boy, I feel for you. Happened to me back in 83, Did an $80,000 job. Ins. Co pre payed us 30,000 for materials, 50,000 check cut on completion,

Went to pick up our check and ins co said The homeowner picked it up a couple hours before. Yes our name was also on the check,

We had payroll and other bills pending on the deposit of that check.

Homeowner picked it up, went to her bank (which also was ours) signed her and our name to the back and deposited it to her account.

She left for Vegas and we couldn't find her for 3 days, by then it was to late, it was all gone.

I got lucky, I went after my bank, My lawyer call them and they, after a little hesitation and seeing our invoice, cut us our check. It was their fault, they knew all our checks were rubber stamped, they had our account for years.

The bank got their money back, the lady's husband died 3 months prior to the flooding and his ins. policy had the coverage to make the house free and clear. they just had her sign a new lien or go to jail for forgery. She ended up losing the house later anyways with her gambling problem.

Hope it all works out for you..

 

[Desk Jockey]

We had a customer that we had cleaned for, for over 10-years ripped us off.

He was a doctor and had a Water Damage Loss back in May, it was around $3,000.00.

The loss came in on a Sunday and we were well into it when the deposit came back insufficient funds.

We called him and he said he must have wrote it on a different account, he apologized and said if we would give him the total he would drop by and cut us a check.

We emailed the bill to him and nothing that day, the following week he is on the news and on the front page of the paper for ripping off the elderly for 1-million dollars.

He contact his insurance and they confirm he has been paid but they said don't worry your name is also on the check. Sure enough, he wrote on name on it and spent our money....hopefully on his attorney.

Tried to get the insurance company to cancel the check, but not much luck. Made a Police report but they said not much chance of ever getting any of it back.

You just never know who you can trust!

 

[Rex Tyus]

A worthless check for $1300 is a felony in many states. It should be retrievable. At least you have the check. Don't redeposit it in your account. Research when their payday is. Take it directly to the issuing bank. As soon as the money is there the bank will cut you a cashiers check made out to your company name. You will not get the service charge for a bad check but it is often easier and faster.

Disclaimer:

Rules may vary by state.
It is only good on the account they wrote the check.

 

[1tigers]

In ALABAMA every counties d.a.'s office has a bad check dept.They'll put them in jail quicker for a bad check than for murder.

 

[Rex Tyus]

In ALABAMA every counties d.a.'s office has a bad check dept.They'll put them in jail quicker for a bad check than for murder.

That is true but in New York you will go to jail quicker for speeding than worthless checks.

 

[TimP]

The bank I do business with will tell us when funds are in there before redepositing with a bad check if it's with my bank of course. They aren't supposed to but we have been doing business with them for a long time so we get special privileges. It would be hard to figure out if there was money in another bank....but probably around here the tellers/banks are going to help you get your money.

 

[Rex Tyus]

It is a normal course of business to "verify funds" on a check. Just call the bank the check is drawn on and verify funds, drive to bank and collect from issuers account. Do not redeposit in your account. If the check is made out to the business name, (ie Rug Rex) they cannot cash the check they will issue a cashiers check made to the business name. They even do this in New York. The most business unfriendly state I ever worked in.

 

[Al]

Time for a prank?

 

[AnnaAgostino]

Hi John

Definitely forgery and in which you could have taken her to court and/or put a lien on her house.

Then you could have gone after the bank because it would have been their fault for accepting such a large check without checking it thoroughly.

Hi Rex,

Verifying availability of funds does not always work. First of all you may check availability now and by the time the check clears the funds may not be there. Also when you are dealing with such a large amount, most likely the bank will not cash the check out and some banks insist on depositing a business check.

Hi Craig

Call the insurance company and let them know what has happened. Otherwise you can take the customer, the insurance company and the bank who took that check to small claims court

Anna

 

[John Buxton]

file a lien on the house before 60 days expire. You can sue for 3 times the amount.

 

[Rex Tyus]

Hi Rex,

Verifying availability of funds does not always work. First of all you may check availability now and by the time the check clears the funds may not be there. Also when you are dealing with such a large amount, most likely the bank will not cash the check out and some banks insist on depositing a business check.

You are absolutely correct. That is why I said

Just call the bank the check is drawn on and verify funds, drive to bank and collect from issuers account. Do not redeposit in your account. If the check is made out to the business name, (ie Rug Rex) they cannot cash the check they will issue a cashiers check made to the business name. They even do this in New York. The most business unfriendly state I ever worked in.

I thought I would bump this up to see if Craig would give us an update.

 

[Greg Loe]

You can sue for 3 times the amount

Hit'em hard. I think in California you can get 3 times for a "stopped payment" is you win in court. "NOT SURE" maybe just for a bad check

Check with an aggressive lawyer(Shark)

Also, if the insurance company was required to pay you and didn't, you can go after them too.