Man's £120k council cheque surprise
NEWS about cash-strapped local authorities is not uncommon, but that's hardly surprising because it seems Swansea Council is just giving it away.
While for most people finding a stray pound coin is the limit to an unexpected financial boost, Alun Thomas recently received a six-figure surprise in the shape of a cheque for £121,936.90 from the council.
Red-faced council chiefs have confirmed it was an error, and are investigating.
The envelope arrived at the Thomas family home on April 1.
"There was no covering letter, and I thought it was just an April fool," said Mr Thomas, of Trewyddfa Road, Morriston.
"I rang the council, said thank you very much for the cheque and asked them what it was for!
"But no-one got back to me for three days. So I rang again on the Friday, and gave them the cheque number again."
"There didn't seem to be any disbelief," added the 49-year-old.
"So I thought I would hold onto it, just to make them sweat a bit!"
HOW many people who received a cheque for £121,000 wouldn’t cash it at the speed of light?
When Alun Thomas opened his mail on April 1, it contained a cheque made out to him from Swansea Council. He didn’t rush to the bank, the travel agent or executive car showroom. Instead he did the decent thing and phoned the local authority.
Admirable behaviour. However, when three days later the council still hadn’t returned his call, or dashed round his house to rescue the cheque, most of us would have concluded ‘you’ve had your chance’!
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by justice fingers, SWANSEA
Monday, April 13 2009, 8:27PM
“Monty. It certainly is theft if you cash the cheque and then refuse to return it when requested to do so. This is not mere opinion but fact.”
by maddentist, waiting for the postman
Monday, April 13 2009, 12:45PM
“A similar mistake occurred in the 1970's when a student at London University received a grant cheque of over £100,000 instead of £100 (both figures from memory) Being savvy he took legal advice immediately and put it into a savings account BUT DID not spend it and awaited the council to respond after he had told them by letter, which of course they did and he gave the money straight back to them and according to the legend made a few quid, in interest, in the process.
I was a student at the time and me and my cronies dreamt about it happening to us, which of course it never did.
Mr Thomas did the right thing but maybe he should have opened an account to "keep the money safe" and returned it immediately the council started panicking.
I believe in my story it was an english council that was involved , either that or it was an urban legend.
Thank god Mr Thomas did not live in Iceland considering recent events.”
by Peter, Swansea
Monday, April 13 2009, 10:42AM
“A mistake such as this is very worrying and needs to be investigated. However, Monty would do well to remember that 'the Council' is not some amorphous entity, it is populated by ordinary people doing a job in the same way as the vast majority of people who comment on this site carry out their job. People make mistakes. In this case nobody was harmed, no money was lost and it is now important that systems are put in place to ensure that it does not happen again. Frankie appears to have missed the fact that the £600,000 s/he refers to was recovered and not lost to the Council.”
by Monty, Swansea
Sunday, April 12 2009, 9:34PM
“we are not talking about some innocent persons mistake, we are talking about the council screwing up. If i received a cheque signed to me for that kind of money yes i would query it, but if they didnt get back to me i certainly wouldnt chase them again. It certainly is not theft if the damn cheque is made out to you”
by Matthew, Swansea
Sunday, April 12 2009, 6:30PM
“Monty seems to have lost the plot. Well said Steve, couldn't have responded better.”