Lost or stolen chequebook: how to stop payment

Tell your bank as soon as you notice the chequebook is missing.

The answer in 2 lines. Contact your bank immediately through a trusted channel and say that your cheque or chequebook is lost or stolen. Ask it to stop the affected cheques and confirm the scope of your instruction. Supply cheque numbers and payment details where available, but do not delay reporting because you lack them. Check your account for unfamiliar payments. Report theft through the police reporting route below. If money has already left, ask the bank to investigate.

The first steps

Contact your bank using its app, a recent statement or independently checked contact details. Say clearly whether a cheque, several blank leaves or the whole chequebook is missing.
Ask for the affected cheques to be stopped. Give cheque numbers, dates, amounts and payees where known. Ask for a reference and written confirmation of the instruction.
Review recent transactions and list anything unfamiliar. If the book was stolen, use the official police reporting guide: select the theft reporting route and provide the circumstances.

Stop: danger

Theft happening now or immediate danger: call 999. For a theft discovered afterwards without immediate danger, report online or call 101. The official police contact page explains which route to use.

What to ask the bank

Do not simply request a replacement chequebook. Ask whether the missing cheques have been stopped and which cheque numbers the instruction covers. If you cannot identify the numbers, explain that and ask how the bank will protect the account.

Ask whether any cheques from the missing book have already been paid or are being processed. Record when you reported the loss and save messages or acknowledgements. Confirm whether the bank needs a further declaration, secure message or branch visit. Follow its instructions rather than assuming that a separate letter is always required.

A missing cheque, a mistake or a dispute?

The MoneyHelper cheque guide explains that you can ask your bank to cancel a cheque that is lost, stolen or contains a mistake. Read its section on stopping a cheque and gather the details requested by your bank. Available channels and charges depend on the account.

Stopping a cheque does not itself resolve a disagreement about goods or work, or establish that you no longer owe money. Explain the true circumstances to the bank. If you still owe the recipient, agree a replacement payment after checking the original cheque's status.

What not to do

Waiting until you have found every cheque number before notifying the bank.
Assuming that ordering a new book also stops the missing one.
Issuing a replacement payment without checking whether the original cheque has already been paid.
Using a recovered cheque after it has been stopped without first checking with the bank.
Signing blank cheques or leaving the book where other people can easily take it.

If a payment has already gone through

Tell the bank promptly which transaction you dispute and why. Distinguish a cheque you signed from one with a signature or amount you do not recognise. Ask the bank to check the cheque image and explain its findings in writing.

If a cheque was paid after your stop instruction, provide the acknowledgement and the time you contacted the bank. Request an investigation into whether the instruction covered that cheque and whether it was received in time. Keep statements, correspondence and evidence of any resulting charges. A refund should not be presented as automatic: the circumstances need investigation.

Reporting fraud and escalating a complaint

The police reporting guide provides a separate route for fraud and cyber crime. Follow that route if missing cheques have been used fraudulently, and keep the reporting reference. Reporting a crime does not replace notifying your bank.

If the bank's response does not resolve the matter, make a formal complaint explaining what happened and what remedy you want. Use the Financial Ombudsman Service complaint guide to check when you can refer the case. Keep the final response and follow the deadline stated in it.

Good to know

If a cheque payable to you goes missing, tell the person or organisation that issued it: they need to contact their bank about stopping and replacing it.
If your card or identity documents disappeared too, tell the bank about the wider loss and deal with each affected item.
This guide is for England. Banking procedures depend on the provider; police reporting routes differ elsewhere in the UK. The official police contact page links to the relevant routes.

Illustrative example: in Bristol, Helen discovers that her bag and chequebook are missing. She contacts her bank, asks it to stop the missing book and saves the confirmation. She checks her transactions and reports the theft. Before replacing a cheque previously sent to a tradesperson, she asks the bank whether it has already been paid.

A made-up story, for illustration.

Bobby

Sources, verification, confidence

Verified on 6 November 2026, for England. Confidence: high for contacting the bank promptly, requesting a stop, reporting theft and using the financial complaints process; medium for cancellation availability, charges and reimbursement, which depend on the account and circumstances. No universal written-confirmation requirement, cancellation fee or refund deadline is stated.

MoneyHelper — How to use cheques and banker's drafts
GOV.UK — Contact the police
Police.uk — How to report theft and fraud
Financial Ombudsman Service — How to complain
Financial Ombudsman Service — Historical case concerning a cheque paid after a chequebook stop instruction