Legal advice URGENTLY needed

Fungas

Hi all,

My brother-in-law is an undischarged bankrupt. Whilst he was slipping down the spiral, my wife was helping him make payments and generally try to sort his dreadful situation out, in the absence of any action on his part (lazy sod).

She made a payment to his car insurance firm, from our joint account. The payment was made to keep up his monthly insurance payments, and occured at or around August this year.

What happened next is unclear, as my brother-in-law has not been bothered to find out why his insurer, Swinton, were claiming nearly £800 from him. He'd received a couple of letters regarding their claim, but did not do anything to discover why the claim was being made. He received a letter last week informing him that all had been sorted, and effectively "thanks for the payment".

What is now clear, is that the £800 has been taken from mine and my wife's joint account, and has now left us critically short of funds before payday in two weeks, and has left us looking forward to a very depressed Chritsmas indeed.

On account of the fact that we 1) have never authorised this payment; 2) never acted as a guarantor on behalf of my brother-in-law; 3) have no contract with or interest with Swinton Insurance: are they entitled to take this payment?

The way I feel at the moment is fleeced, robbed, worried etc etc. We've tried to help a family member and have ended up being robbed in daylight. Lloyds Bank couldn't offer reason why Swinton couldn't take this payment, despite the fact that it was £800, we never authorised it etc etc.

HELP URGENTLY NEEDED PLEASE!

p.s. update - it's probable that after my wife made the payment for him, he defaulted further and then broke the terms of his credit agreement, which in turn incurred the annual payment.

a11waysindebt

It looks as if you have signed/agreed a direct debit payment somewhere along the line.

whitewing

What does Swinton say? You need to speak with them.

Also, check if your house insurance includes legal cover, if you need to take that route.

If it has been taken as a direct debit then Lloyds must refund under the direct debit guarantee. Is there an active direct debit set up on your joint account?

Fungas

Direct Debit agreement: no; to reiterate, I'm not a customer of Swinton, and have no business with them, with no legal terms and conditions agreed. My wife made a payment to them on her brother's behalf back in August using a debit card, and this is what's they've used to try to take a payment in lieu of the £800 they're owed. To reiterate, this is an unauthorised transaction by means of a debit card transaction, NOT a direct debit transaction. The two are different.

ifonlyitwaseasier

i'd contact the bank first thing in the morning stating this is an unauthorised transaction and you want it to be reversed and a block put on swinton taking anything else ever. if your wife authorised only a single payment then they shouldn't have held onto her card details.

hth & good luck

a11waysindebt

Well if thats the case you need to do as whitewing has said.

They shouldn't hold your debit card details.

You need to get on to Lloyds and again explain the situation to them.Has any one access to debit debit card numbers.

It looks to me as if someone has given out the details of the card to Swinton for payment.

zzzLazyDaisy

Be very insistent. If they refuse to reverse it, make a formal complaint of fraudulent activity on your debit card, make sure the card is cancelled, and insist that your complaint be investigated by their fraud department.

Fungas

I did speak to the bank (LLoyds TSB) but their attitude was "tough". Basically, we'd made a payment in the past, they'd held onto card details including the three-number code on the back, when it came to a dispute Swinton went down the route of trying whatever card numbers they had on file, regardless of whether we'd authorised the payment or not.

I mean, for Christ's sake - are they (Swinton) REALLY allowed to do that, to the tune of £800, without Lloyds TSB even blinking an eyelid?

This is the advuce I need, really, because if Swinton tomorrow say "no" to my demands for return of payment, I;m going to have to go down the small claims court route, and there's little point if I'm going to fall at that hurdle too, because legally they were always entitled to, perhaps. But that's it - ARE they legally entitled? I can't for one minute believe that they would be.

zzzLazyDaisy

Insist on your complaint being referred to their fraud department.

It might also be worth seeking assistance from Trading Standards as they can contact the company on your behalf

Bayblue

I don't know if this is relevant but...

This year I decided to change my car breakdown cover provider. I decided to go with the RAC (mostly because I got Quidco points). When I filled in the form online to sign up I paid in one single payment using my debit card. I did notice however a small proviso (or condition of payment- whatever you want to call it) that stated that they would use these same details of payment to automatically renew my membership when payment is due next year. I remember it specifically because it almost put me off taking out the cover but in the end I decided to make a note in my diary to cancel the agreement next year if necessary.

Is it possible that when your wife made the original payment there was similar condition attached? As I said, I don't know if it's relevant, just a possible scenario. I take it that you have spoken to Swinton and asked them what specific authority they had to take the money from your account? What did they say?

Anyway, I hope that you get things sorted out.

sandraroffey

perhaps also wringing the neck of your brother in law???

let us know how you get on??xxxx