Safest way to pay for a used boat in Hong Kong is via Cashier’s order. It is safe for both the Seller and the Buyer.
Normally when you buy a used boat in HK. You will place a 10% deposit into a broker’s account. This deposit is refundable if something very wrong is found during the boat survey.
So many times, the Brokers keep the deposit in their account until the survey is done. This is to just safe guard buyer’s interest.
The final payment however should be done using cashier’s order in exchange of all the transfer of ownership papers. Many times such transaction is done in the Marine Department of HK itself.
When the Buyer and Seller meet. They check all the documents from Seller’s side are good and give them a Cashier’s order in return.
Why Cashier’s order is safer than a bank transfer or a cheque?
Firstly Bank transfer takes time to come into the account. Bank Cheque can also be bounced. So if you are giving away your ownership or a vessel then it is not wise to blindly trust anybody with a Bank Cheque or trust their bank transfer.
So why can’t a Cashier’s order bounce?
The Cashier Order sometimes also referred as “Bank Cash Cheque” cannot bounce. The reason is that, the Bank already debit’s the money (takes the money out) of the issuer’s account and keeps it in the Bank’s account. The bank then issues the Cashier’s order to a recipient’s name. That means that the money that you are getting is not from the account of the Buyer. It is from the account of the bank directly. Because the Buyer has already paid the bank. (if you understand what Iam saying, I hope Iam clear)
Is it possible for a Buyer to issue Cashier’s order and then call the bank and cancel it and take his money back from the bank?
Not really, The Issuer needs to bring back the original Cashier’s order and explain to the bank why it is not used and then the bank will return him the money. If in case the Cashier’s order is lost. Then the issuer needs to get a police report copy to the bank, together with the letter from the recipient explaining that the Cashier’s order is lost and therefore be considered void.
Can the Cashier’s order be just a fake document, if so, how to protect from it?
It is possible to make fake document, but in this case, it is a big criminal offence and the Buyer will have serious consequences. There is also a way to check if this is real or fake. When Bank issues the cashier’s order, they also charge the Issuer a small fee of HKD 50. That receipt you can also have a copy of to ensure this is real. The recipient also can call the bank via their normal hotline and give the bank the Cashier’s order number and they will verify if this is fake or real.
How does it protect the Buyer, looks like its only safe for the Seller?
This also protects the boat Buyer, because the Buyer does not need to transfer the money before hand. It is like holding cash that he can take in exchange for the papers. To be more safe, the Buyer can also first show all the documents to the Hong Kong Marine department officer and ask them to check if all the documents are in order. Once they give their thumbs up. The boat Buyer can then hand the Cashier’s order to the Seller. In general cases, If all the documents are presented especially like original Certificate of ownership and operating license, with the original forms signed and ID proofs. Then it is very safe to hand over the payment. The documents required for transfer of ownership of a boat in Hong Kong are straight forward and not complicated.