I recently dropped my insurance company and informed them with a written notice. I received a letter from them telling me that they had cancelled my account, and not to send in any more payments. I placed a stop payment on my most recent check, but a few days after I did so, my account showed that it had been cashed for a different amount. My bank told me that companies often change the amount on a check in order to get around a stop payment. Isn't this fraud? Is there anything that I can do to get my money back?
If your bank was aware that the check amount had been changed, it should not have paid the check, knowing that you had placed a stop order. If you take a look at the check and it's evident that the amount was changed (sometimes alterations are hard to detect), you have a strong case for getting your money back from the bank.
In most banks, if the check number in the stop payment order agrees with the encoded serial number on a check, the bank should get a report flagging the check for further visual inspection, even when the dollar amounts don't agree. If the amount change was hard to detect, the bank could have an excuse; otherwise, the bank should pay up.
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If your bank was aware that the check amount had been changed, it should not have paid the check, knowing that you had placed a stop order. If you take a look at the check and it's evident that the amount was changed (sometimes alterations are hard to detect), you have a strong case for getting your money back from the bank. 