I own a flat in England and I have disputed some charges raised by the
property management company.

As a consequence, I sent them a cheque for the undisputed items and,
in a covering letter, specified that this was 'in full and final
settlement of their account'.

They accepted the cheque but are still claiming that I owe them for
the disputed items.

My understanding is that, by accepting my cheque, they also accepted
the terms on which it was offered.

Can a researcher find any case law and/or references that I can quote
- without going to a lawyer?

Hi probonopublico

I'm afraid I am likely to be the bearer of bad news for you: despite
what is popularly believed, words such as "in full and final
settlement" written on a cheque have no legal authority under English
Law. For a brief but succinct outline of the legal situation, please
read through the information at:
http://www.homeworking.com/library/debt/30.htm

Note that there is a proviso contained in the above webpage:
"If a debtor sent a *letter, accompanying the cheque*, saying that the
cheque should only be accepted and cashed in full and final settlement
you do have to look more closely at what the circumstances are,"
(emphasis theirs). This seems more in line with what you have
described, but it's still quite a tenuous straw to grasp at, as the
page goes on to explain:

"I have personally been to court (as a creditor) in this situation
between 3 - 5 times in the past 20 years and have always had the
courts [sic] backing. Trying to be clever with the law, and it's [sic]
administrators, is not recommended."

For a creditor's perspective, the final two paragraphs of
http://www.businessboffins.com/emag/article9.html also seems to bear
out the fact that these are not magic words. Although it recommends
contacting the debtor to explain that the cheque is not accepted as
such, it also suggests cashing the cheque anyway and then sueing (if
necessary) for the balance, which would strongly suggest that the
legal system would come down on the side of the creditor.

You asked for case law, and I think I've found one, which once again
would appear to defeat your case:
http://www.lawreports.co.uk/chandecb0.1.htm

This was a recent High Court (Chancery Division) decision brought by
the Inland Revenue against a Lloyd's Name who tried to use the above
wording to pay only a precentage of the income tax being demanded from
her. The decision of the High Court was that irrespective of the
wording on the accompanying letter, the simple act of cashing the
cheque did not constitute the making or acceptance of any contract
between the parties, and hence the original debt stood.

Therefore I have to conclude that in your case it is unlikely that you
will be able to claim that you owe nothing to the property management
company. As always, however, I must point out the standard Google
Answers disclaimer that anything written here is not a substitute for
professional legal advice, and I would strongly suggest that at the
very least you seek an informal professional opinion, perhaps from a
Citizens' Advice Bureau.

Regards
iaint-ga


Google search criteria
"Full and final settlement" (on ://www.google.co.uk/ after
selecting the "Pages from the UK" option)

Well done, even though it wasn't the answer I was seeking ... I shall
now post a further question.

Thanks a lot!

This isn't what you want, I'm afraid, but you might want to see this:

http://www.sinclairtaylor.co.uk/updates/2002/update0202.html

( scroll down to "settling debts" )

Hope some other researcher can find references that support your case.