Do cheque have a time limit on them?

This was the subject of a debate with my sister in law at the weekend. She works for a bank, I am researching a Phd into Late Payments.

Here is the answer taken from www.paymentscouncil.org.uk

Is it true that a cheque is only valid for six months?

A cheque is valid for as long as the debt between the two parties (i.e. issuer and payee) exists. In other words, cheques do not have an expiration date.

Notwithstanding the above, it is common banking practice to reject a cheque presented for payment bearing a date more than six months earlier to protect the payer, on the basis that payment may already have been made by some other means or the cheque may have been lost or stolen. However this is at the discretion of individual banks.

However, where there is a dispute, a cheque remains legally valid in order to prove a debt for a period of six years, which is the Statute of Limitations.

So the end answer. We were both right, me from a legal stand point and one of fact, her from the reality of the world and that our banking system applies its own rules that on the face of it are above the law...

Thought you'd be interested.