Some people overnight payment to satisfy their debt collection claim. But did you know that doing so could result in having to pay twice?
The recent uptick in crimes targeting the postal service has experts warning the public not to send checks through the mail. Our bank, and most likely yours, has even warned against placing checks in the mailboxes outside of the post office. If a thief steals mail from an unsecured post office box, he could come upon a check you’ve written either to a vendor or a creditor.
Thieves have been using a technique called “check washing,” which uses chemicals to erase the text on a check. In doing so they replace the name of the recipient and the amount of the check while keeping the account and routing numbers intact.
In order to avoid the possibility of check washing, you may choose to send payment via overnight courier to ensure delivery. Even with a tracking number, you can not be certain that the check will make it to its intended destination and be protected from the risk of loss – except for a nominal amount.
A Risk of Overnighting Payment
Here’s how it works. Let’s say you send a certified check for $15,000 written to “ABC Company” via overnight courier. You are able to receive shipping updates on the courier’s website and sign up for alerts if there is an issue known as a “delivery exception.” You receive an alert that your package was delivered damaged. You find out from the recipient that the overnight envelope was tampered with and the check is no longer in the envelope. A week later you find out from the bank that the check was deposited by an unknown third party. When you obtain a copy of the deposited check you see that instead of being written to ABC Company, as it originally was, that instead was written to and endorsed by an unknown individual for the same $15,000. The check had been washed and deposited at a third-party banking institution. How can you be made whole again?
In the above scenario, it would seem that the overnight courier is responsible for the damaged shipment that resulted in a third-party individual depositing the check. However, what many people don’t realize is that overnight couriers usually place a very restrictive limitation of liability on overnight mailings, usually limiting their liability to no more than $500. Therefore, the ability to recoup the lost funds from the overnight courier is highly unlikely. You will most likely be left with either filing a claim with your financial institution that issued the check or the financial institution that deposited the altered check. Neither claim guarantees that you will be reimbursed the full amount of your check. You may be left with filing a police report, but even if you press charges against the individual in question, there is no guarantee that you will recoup the monies stolen. And, you will need to make payment a second time to satisfy the debt collection claim.
For more debt collection best practices, check out our other articles.
