Are Scottish bank notes legal tender in England? Three shops refused to take my Scottish £20 recently…

I had a Scottish £20 note in my wallet which I received from a cash machine while recently north of the border.

I tried to use it in a shop when I returned to England, but the shopkeeper said they couldn't take it.

The same thing happened when I tried at two other shops, until eventually, one accepted it for payment.

Are Scottish Bank notes legal tender in the UK outside of Scotland? And do businesses outside of Scotland not have to accept them?

Helen Kirrane of This is Money replies: This is a thorny issue and it comes down to what is classed as legal tender and rules around what businesses have to accept as payment.

Scottish banknotes are not technically legal tender according to The Bank of England, which is the authority on this.

But that does not mean businesses outside of Scotland won't accept them.

As it stands, businesses throughout the UK are free to choose what form of payment they accept.

There's no Bank of England rules or laws governing what they have to accept - that's why, since the pandemic, some cafes, restaurants and retailers no longer take physical cash whatsoever, they're not obliged to.

The short answer is it is up to them, as businesses outside of Scotland within the UK can decide whether or not they accept Scottish banknotes as a form of payment.

A Bank of England spokesman replies: Legal tender has a very narrow and technical meaning, which relates to settling debts.

It means that if you are in debt to someone, you can't be sued for non-payment if you offer full payment of your debts in legal tender.

What is classed as legal tender varies throughout the UK. In England and Wales, Royal Mint coins and Bank of England notes are legal tender.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, only Royal Mint coins are legal tender. Scottish and Northern Ireland banknotes are not formally defined as legal tender.

A Bank of England spokesman replies: In the UK it is up to individual businesses what they individually do or do not accept as payment.

A British Retail Consortium spokesman replies: Scottish banknotes aren't considered legal tender in England and Wales so retailers are not required to accept them although of course many choose to do so.

A Post Office spokesman replies: We do encourage our branches outside of Scotland to accept a Scottish bank note which may form part of a larger deposit of cash that an individual or business wants to deposit into their bank account.

A Bank of England spokesman replies: We would refer the noteholder to the issuing bank to discuss exchange arrangements, as there is no legal provision in the Banking Act 2009 that requires the issuing bank or the Bank of England to exchange Scottish and Northern Irish notes for other notes.

A Post Office spokesman replies: We do not allow customers to 'swap' a Scottish bank note in our branch for an English bank note.

However, a customer can deposit a Scottish bank note in their account and then withdraw the equivalent cash – either over the counter or at an ATM if there's one at the branch.