Question: I bought some merchandise from a company and I paid them by a cheque It has been so long now and they never cashed it, and the cheque is void by now anyways. Do I still owe them the money or it is their fault for not cashing the check and taking the money.

Answer: Praise be to Allaah.
We put this question to Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-�Uthaymeen (may Allaah preserve him), who answered as follows:
Yes, you are still in debt to them, because when they did not cash the cheque, the money stayed in your account at the bank. You are in debt to them because the check is merely an instruction to the bank to transfer the money. And Allaah knows best.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-�Uthaymeen