If a stopped cheque is cashed at a financial institution or cheque cashing agency, Financial Client Payments & Revenue (FCP&R) will receive a letter from the organization.   When FCP&R receives the documents, such as the letter, cheque and any corresponding documents, they will  forward them to the District Office Manager for action.

The delivery site will review the cheque and other signature samples on the client’s file to determine which of the following three situations applies and decide if a reimbursement should happen:

• Duplicate Payment
  • If a client was reissued benefits for a cheque and then the client admits to cashing both cheques. 
  • Yes, the financial institution or cheque cashing agency should be reimbursed.
• Cheque Stopped in Error
  • If the worker placed a stop in error and the client was entitled to the cheque. 
  • Yes, the financial institution or cheque cashing agency should be reimbursed.
• Forged Endorsement
  • If the client denies cashing the cheque and the signature does not appear to be the client’s or there is no signature on the back of the cheque. 
  • No, the financial institution or cheque cashing agency should NOT be reimbursed.

Workers should refer to the Stop Payment on Cheques Subsequently Cashed policy  for how to proceed with the client in each of the above scenarios.

Reimbursing Financial Institutions

The Indemnity Agreement  should be followed to reimburse Financial Institutions. If conditions outlined in the agreement are not met, the Financial Institution should NOT be reimbursed.

Reimbursing to Cheque Cashing Agencies

A cheque cashing agency is defined as a “holder in due course” per the Bills of Exchange Act therefore the department is obligated to pay the holder in due course the amount of the cheque, in the absence of evidence of fraud, etc.

Cheque cashing agencies are required to do their due diligence to ensure the individual who is cashing the cheque is the client indicated on the cheque. If these do not match and the cheque cashing agency processes the cheque anyways, it should not be reimbursed.

The cheque cashing agencies must send the original cheque. In some instances, the original cheque cannot be sent, so the cheque cashing agency will attach the bank account information to the copy of the cheque.

Cheque details are as follows: 

• Cheques with Central Cheque Processing (CCP) bank account information:
  • Bank/Institution #:  010
  • Transit #:  30019
  • Bank account #: 00-14907
• Cheques with District Office Cheque (DOC) bank account information:
  • Bank/Institution #:  010
  • Transit #:  30149
  • Bank account #: 00-19305

To process the payment to the cheque cashing agency, see the instructions in the IMAGIS AP Manual.  For any questions regarding how to process the payment, contact your Accounting Officer.