PROTESTING BILLS OF EXCHANGE

A Bill of Exchange is a written order, addressed to a ‘drawee’, and sent by a ‘drawer’. The bill orders the receiving party, the ‘drawee’, to pay a certain amount of money to the sender of the bill, the ‘drawer’. Protesting a bill of exchange with the help of a Notary Public, is called a ‘Notarial Protest’. This happens in the instance that the bill was presented, and payment was refused or could not be obtained. A Notary Public will issue a notarial protest as a formal written statement that attests to the bill having been duly presented to the drawee, and that the payment was not obtained by the drawer.

If a Bill of Exchange has a drawer, or drawee, located outside of the United Kingdom, it will be classified as a foreign bill of exchange. In this instance, upon non-payment or rejection of the bill, the bill must be ‘protested’ with the help of a Notary Public.

A protest must contain a copy of the bill which is being protested. This requirement is usually met by attaching a photocopy of the bill to the protest.

After the Notarial Protest is issued, it may also need an Apostille, depending on whether its destination country is signed up to the Hague Apostille Convention. The Apostille will allow the foreign country to accept the Notarial Protest as a valid document. Failure to obtain it when needed may mean your Notarial Protest will be rejected for use. I am able to arrange the Apostille for a Notarial Protest when necessary after notarisation. 

Some countries also require further legalisation at their Embassy in the UK.

If you have sent a Bill of Exchange that has been refused or you have been unable to obtain payment for, please do not hesitate to get in touch for a Notarial Protest.

Please contact me on 01244 470339 or at sara@notarychester.co.uk and I will be happy to provide you with a quote and arrange an appointment.

To see my office locations and the areas that I cover, please see the Locations page.