Direct Debits taken from closed account

nickym222

Hi there.
5 years ago I closed my account with Barclays. I zeroed my account and thought nothing more of it. Since then the bank have never sent me a statement or a card etc.
Today, I get a call from a debt collection agency saying I am £1000 overdrawn on this account due to 2 DD that have been paying out for the last 5 years.
Barclays say the account was never closed down because a current account cannot be closed down with active DD. Is this true?
I asked - if the account was still open why have they never sent me any correspodence. They couldn't answer that.
They say it's down to me to reclaim the money taken, I say they should not have paid the money out. Am I liable.
Thanks for any advice

~Beanie~

Did you actually ask them to close your account or did you just remove all the funds and assume that it would be closed?

Who were the direct debits to, for what?

I would say that unfortunately you were liable but also find it strange that you have received no correspondence about the debt before now. Have you moved house or anything?

nickym222

I actually asked them to close the account. Don't remember getting any conformation that the account was closed. I did move house but I was living in the same house before moving for a year and a half and received nothing. The two DD were for a charity which I thought I had cancelled. And for an insurance on a mobile phone which I didn't even know I had and I no longer have the phone! My argument is that even if the bank had sent me just one statement, I would have rectified these immediately. But if they start to claim the statements were sent, then it's my word against theirs.

bengal-stripe

It sounds more like a continuous payment authority (via a debit card) than a DD. The bank will have to honour it (even if the account is closed), unless it is cancelled by the receiving party.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=14717951&highlight=continous+payment+authority#post14717951

That still does nor explain why you did not receive notification about your account being overdrawn.

Fedz

Sorry but, this doesn't add up at all!

You asked them to close the account but, don't remember getting any confirmation but, didn't chase this up.
Mobile phone insurance for a phone you didn't even know you had but, then you say I no longer have the phone!

It's upto you to keep your personal details updated correctly and as you didn't close the account because you just brushed it under the carpet, you are now liable, sorry :rolleyes:

Was your Barclays account online, paperless billing or similar at your request?

YorkshireBoy

Fedz wrote: »

Was your Barclays account online, paperless billing or similar at your request?

...and did it also have an agreed overdraft facility, that was only exceeded after you left the previous address?

jonesMUFCforever

..........So before you asked the bank to close the account (although you do say that you just zeroed the account which is not the same thing? )you received statements - but even though you lived at the same address for 18 months after you received none??

nickym222

Right.
I closed the account at the bank. I asked the cashier to close the account. I zeroed it. She said the account was closed. I didn't recieve a closing statement. I didn't from that point receive any statements, thus I thought the account was closed. It wasn't an online account so I hadn't requested any paperless billing. I remained at this address for 18 months and redirected mail to new address for a further 6 months. I have never worked in a bank so I don't know the official procedures, but if I'm told the account is closed, I believe that to be the case.
And Fedz, I knew I had the phone, I had just got it prior to closing the bank account. I didn't realise I had an insurance on the phone. I had the phone for a year and then cancelled it. And it's easy to say I should have kept track of my personal details, but I genuinely believed the matter to be closed.
So for 5 years Barclays took 2 DD out of an account that I knew nothing about and which had no income coming in. The account did have 1000 overdraft facility. But surely if an account had outgoings and no income for 5 years, the bank would inform, overdraft facility or not. Once again my arguement is that from the time I thought the account was closed, statements stopped. If that hadn't happened, I would have noticed the error yes? They have only tracked me down now because the overdraft facility has just been exceeded.

YorkshireBoy

nickym222 wrote: »

But surely if an account had outgoings and no income for 5 years, the bank would inform, overdraft facility or not.

Your "5 years" should probably really read "2 years", because for all you know they have been trying to contact you for the last 3 years (since your re-direct ran out).

Suggest you get copies of your credit reports to see how much damage has been done, before deciding what to do.