Report a civil dispute
Unless a crime has been committed or someone is in immediate danger, the police are unlikely to intervene in civil disputes. However, we’ll put you in touch with the groups and organisations who can help. Complete the sentence below to get the advice you need to resolve your dispute as quickly and amicably as possible.
Advice tool
I’m having a dispute with a debtor about a bounced cheque
A cheque can ‘bounce’ for a number of reasons:
- it's been cancelled by the drawer (the person who wrote the cheque)
- there are insufficient funds in the drawer’s account
- the cheque hasn’t been completed correctly
- the bank suspects fraud, such as a stolen cheque
The bank will usually write instructions on the returned cheque to let you know why it's bounced.
The first three situations above can usually be resolved by contacting the drawer. However, if you suspect that a fraud has taken place, speak to your bank, who may advise you to report the matter to the police. If so, you can contact our dedicated Action Fraud team.
This information is provided courtesy of Ask the Police.