UPS Loses Man's Hefty Inheritance Check: Report

A bank in Canada has released more than $846,000 — roughy $658,000 U.S. dollars — to a man after UPS reportedly lost the original bank draft sent to his home. The money was his inheritance and the funds are finally being released after a months-long back and forth.

The story, which was reported by CBC News in Canada, began in February, when Lorette Taylor was finalizing details of her father's will. She was tasked with giving her sister and her brother their share of the inheritance.

Taylor told CBC News she went to her local TD Bank branch to get certified checks but the bank told her a bank draft was more appropriate. Her husband John Taylor told CBC the bank said there were procedures in place if the draft was lost or stolen.

The bank draft was sent via UPS to Taylor's brother, Louis Paul Hebert, 61, who lives about 270 miles away from Taylor, close to the Vermont border. Hebert said he hired UPS to ship the bank draft to a nearby UPS store.

The bank draft never arrived.

Hebert told CBC he was facing financial insecurity and he hadn't received a single penny since the draft was lost.

"I would have been debt free. My money would have been invested" he said. "I would have been retired."

A UPS spokeswoman told CBC in a statement that their teams conducted an exhaustive search for the package but it was never found. The family then went through a long back and forth with the bank as TD required Taylor to sign an indemnity agreement that would hold her liable for life if the draft was cashed illegally, CBC reported. Then the bank had more demands and the Taylors said all of the onus to protect TD would have been put on them.

"If the bank really wants indemnity, then UPS should sign it," Taylor said.

TD Bank told CBC in a statement that bank drafts don't expire and once issued, funds are guaranteed for payment and should be treated as though they are cash.

"In situations where a bank draft is lost or stolen, before we can agree to a replacement or reimbursement we need appropriate security to be in place," the statement said. "Examples of security requirements could include an Indemnity Agreement signed by the parties involved and a surety bond or GIC held for a period of three years."

After CBC ran the story, the bank said it would not require the family to put up collateral against the new bank draft and an indemnity agreement that Taylor was asked to sign will expire in February 2019.

CBC reported that Hebert was aware his money was finally being released by the bank.

Read the full story at CBC News.

Photo by David Goldman, File/Associated Press