Going to rent a property abroad from a British private owner in the summer.
He obviously doesn't accept a credit cards which would have been my preferred choice, but only a bank transfer or cheque.
Not ideal, but he seem legit - plenty of good feedback on HomwAway.com, and I also have his home address and phone number.
Which would give me a better protection should anything go wrong? My instinct says a cheque...
I don't think you'll have *any* protection either way - so it doesn't make a lot of odds.
Neither gives you any protection like a credit card s. 75., but sending a cheque gives him your bank details, or he could cash it at a cheque cashing place using fake id so you don't know who he really is.
Bank transfer doesn't give him your bank details, and creates a trace of where the money goes.
Obviously don't use Western Union or anything like that.
Owain
cash
It will cost me almost as much in petrol as the rent for the house - 485 miles each way ;-)
Neither gives any protection. Go for whichever is more convenient (I would say bank transfer, and I suppose that protects you from him saying the cheque hasn't arrived but someone has paid it in).
have you read this?
I assume this is a British bank not one in another country??
Brian
I'd be more interested in what sort of insurance he has and whether it covers you if you accidentally burn down his house and whether the property is on a mortgage which prohibits sub letting, personally. Brian
Pay a deposit then the rest on arrival after everything is as described?
No longer possible. Cheques have to be paid into the account that the payee specifies.
Of if the address he uses in the UK is social housing paid for by housing benefit.
You could look him on the voters list or equifax to make sure he owns the UK property where he claims to live.
It is.
According to the Land Registry and Google Maps it is a nice family home on the South Coast, worth in excess of £250,000.
never heard of Cash Converters?
tim
you need the Land Registry to check ownership
not everyone is available on the online version of the voting list - sensible people opt out of this nonsense
if you want to check them you have to go and read the physical list which is only available at the town hall/library of the specific authority location(s).
tim
"The most common scams involved plane tickets ..."
I'm surprised
I would have thought that making sure to buy plane tickets from a reliable source was the easiest to do
tim
>
Yes, but they're so much cheaper from these other sources.
Not according to lots of reports around the UK. It happens repeatedly that someone mistypes a number and money goes astray, when the bank is asked about it they confirm that they *don't* check that the name matches the account number.
It has to be quite a bad typo to cause this sort of error though as there are (I believe) check digits and such in account numbers and sort codes.
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