Legal advice URGENTLY needed

Fungas

Yep, there might be some sort of condition that exists as a term/ condition with their customers, but as I've said, neither me nor my wife are customers of Swinton's. As such, we have no legal agreements with them, hence my predicament and the questions.

It would be really useful if somebody could get me a legal angle on this. I'm desperate to know if these thieves have any legal right to use those card details to pursue payment, regardless of the circumstances behind it.

Thanks in anticipation.

Fungas

sandraroffey wrote: »

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

let us know how you get on??xxxx

Mmm....it has crossed my mind :mad:

However, as my wife pointed out, whilst he got himself into this mess (through bad money management, and a relationship breakdown), he wasn't to know that that would or could happen. That said, enough sticking up for him, he dragged other family members into his dire problems and we were trying to help him. However, thanks to the financial systems now, and the fact that anybody can drain anybody's account at any time, that help won't be there in future.

Blackpool_Saver

Can you remember any sort of legal statement being made to you at the time, was this payment over the phone?

Fungas

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

Can you remember any sort of legal statement being made to you at the time, was this payment over the phone?

One payment was made back in August to cover that month's payment - probably around £100.

This payment (for little short of £800) has appeared on our account statement, unauthorised with no communication at all.

dmg24

You need to check the terms and conditions of the policy. Some do retain the right to take payment from any card associated with the policy, and if this is the case, you will have a problem.

geordie_joe

dmg24 wrote: »

You need to check the terms and conditions of the policy. Some do retain the right to take payment from any card associated with the policy, and if this is the case, you will have a problem.

Stuff that! The OP has no business with Swinton and they have no right to take money from his account for a debt owed by some else.

How would you feel if one day you were behind a close relative in a shop queue and that relative was short 10p for their shopping. So you pay the 10p for them, and from then on the shop thinks it's ok to come round your house and take money from your purse to pay for that relatives shopping?

Taking money from a bank account is no different, and I don't care what is in the T&S, if someone stole my money there would be hell to pay!!!!!!!

Voyager2002

Data protection could be another angle to pursue. Swinton should not have held on to the details of a card that had been used to make a single payment.
(I had a similar issue, in that I paid an organisation by debit card; then settled my account by other means; then, months later, they took a card payment. I telephoned the office of the information commissioner, and was told that holding on to card details was against data protection rules and that if I made a formal complaint the information commissioner would be pleased to take further action. The matter was resolved by other means, however, so I don't know how effective such action would have been.)

dmg24

geordie_joe wrote: »

Stuff that! The OP has no business with Swinton and they have no right to take money from his account for a debt owed by some else.

How would you feel if one day you were behind a close relative in a shop queue and that relative was short 10p for their shopping. So you pay the 10p for them, and from then on the shop thinks it's ok to come round your house and take money from your purse to pay for that relatives shopping?

Taking money from a bank account is no different, and I don't care what is in the T&S, if someone stole my money there would be hell to pay!!!!!!!

The OP formed a relationship when they gave authority to use that card on a previous occasion. What that relationship is would depend on the terms and conditions.

Your opinion and the law are very different things. The OP wants to know what his legal rights are.

Bayblue

Fungas wrote: »

Yep, there might be some sort of condition that exists as a term/ condition with their customers, but as I've said, neither me nor my wife are customers of Swinton's. As such, we have no legal agreements with them, hence my predicament and the questions.

I see what you're saying, but the insurance company won't often know (or care TBH) whether the payment card belongs to thier customer, they may just see it as the payment method attached to that insurance policy. The difference in names etc may not be a red flag to them either because I would imagine for instance, that quite a few partners and parents make payments on others behalf.

I'm not saying that this is what has happened, just that it's a possibility. The best thing you can do is speak to Swinton, (or get your brother in law to do so) ASAP.

Good luck and keep us updated.

ekkygirl

I paid for my sons insurance as he had changed bank accounts and the next month I paid again I was told they were not allowed to take any monies unless they had my permission for EVERY transaction and they were not allowed to store my information