Surrey Asset Finance Ltd v National Westminster Bank plc: QBD 30 Nov 2000

That a cheque was endorsed ‘account payee’ did not mean that the drawer of the cheque would be entitled to damages for conversion from a paying bank crediting it to a different account. to succeed under this section the claimant had to show an immediate right to possession of the cheque. There appeared to be no evidence that the cheque has not been delivered to the payee. It appeared that the conversion took place after that delivery. The possession in the section referred to legal possession rather than their physical custody. Since the section deemed good delivery, there was no conversion as against the claimant. An entitlement to injunctive relief did not amount to an immediate right to possession under the section. In this case of the cheque would have been paid in any event, and there was no demonstrable loss arising from the payment of the cheque into a different account.

Times 30-Nov-2000
Bills of Exchange Act 1882 21(3)
England and Wales
Cited by:
Appeal fromSurrey Asset Finance Ltd v National Westminster Bank CA 24-Jan-2001
Application for leave to appeal against dismissal of application for summary judgment – rejected. . .
CitedIran v The Barakat Galleries Ltd QBD 29-Mar-2007
The claimant government sought the return to it of historical artefacts in the possession of the defendants. The defendant said the claimant could not establish title and that if it could the title under which the claim was made was punitive and not . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Banking

Updated: 26 January 2022; Ref: scu.89614