About 2 years ago I was in an accident, they totaled my motorcylce and sent me a check for the value. I decided to fix the bike and cashed the check. I went into my bank recently (I have a savings acct. with them and don't often go in)and they claim I owe them the 5,000 because the check was not endorsed correctly? I have spent this money can they do this?

You really expect us to believe that the bank is just now telling you after 2 years that you owe them $5,000 due to an improperly endorsed check?

Yes, they have never attempted to contact me. The only way I found out is because I went in to deposit money. I checked the address they have and it is correct.

To whom was the check made payable?

Myself and the company I had the loan thru., I did not know that they needed to sign the back of the check or I would have had them.

i believe insurance companies have a crazy amount of time where they can return a check for improper endorsement, that might explain why you are just now finding out.

I can understand the demand for payment - only if the loan was unpaid. If the loan is paid in full - what concern is it of theirs now? Their only interest in the insurance proceeds should be as repalcement for the collateral. Did you stop paying for the bike?

they are demanding payment becasue the insurance company returned the check for improper endorsement

I am just finishing paying on the loan, probably 4 months left. I owe around 1,500. Isn't there some sort of time limit on this? Can I fight it and where should I start

The time limit to raise a claim of forged/improper/missing endorsement is three years. Your bank most likely did not notify you sooner because they just received the claim themselves.

IMO, the easiest way to resolve this case is to take the check to the lender to obtain the missing endorsement. Then, once you have their endorsement, redeposit the check at your bank.

Only one thing wrong with that suggestion, Jac. If I were a bank with one of these cases, I would not want to hand the offending check over if my customer hadn't paid me for it.

I suggest starting with the Insurance Company and explaining to them what happened. Hopefully they can reissue the check and you can get proper endorsements. Sad this happened because the teller should have checked the endorsements before depositing the check.

The insurance company will requie proff that the motorcycle was repaired with the proceeds of the check before htey will even consider working with you on this.

You would probably be surprised how many people intentionally cash these check and naever have the reapirs made.

This is done to propetect the loss payee or the lender. If repairs are not made and the vehicle repossessed, they cannot recover the outstanding amount of the loan, only slavage value, if any.