Does anyone know the law on this please?

Emmzi

was it your charge card? set up for the business?

if so, I think you are on a hiding to nothing as the debit authorisation is probably in the originlal card agreement, not a seperate document. Do you have the card T&Cs to check them?

ILW

As above.
I have a HSBC business account along with the chargecard. It is in the terms of the card that payment is taken from the current account via DD. This is pretty standard for a business card.

wednesday2212

It was a business credit card and that maybe in the agreement but the point is that after about 20 letters, they have not provided this info or really acknowledged my enquiry properly. So if it goes to court, the issue is that they have not made attempts to prevent it going to court "act reasonably … in trying to avoid the necessity for the start of proceedings." - 20 letters asking why they set it up and they have not provided a copy of the dd mandate or cc agreement and just keep sending standard letters demanding payment - there is no way that is acting reasonably.

ILW

What sort of business is it?

wednesday2212

Thanks ILW, so you would think that HSBC would say that in response to my first letter. I have sent so many letters, typed it in bold, underlined it, everything and they refuse to say on what grounds they took payment.

If they had said that it was in the cc terms then I would have paid the charges and claimed them back, but they can't even be bothered to reply to my letters, so they have failed in their duty of care. The point is this, anyone couold send you a bill for 1 million pounds, would you pay it without them stating why you owe them the money?

wednesday2212

Sole trader ILW

ILW

wednesday2212 wrote: »

If they had said that it was in the cc terms then I would have paid the charges and claimed them back, but they can't even be bothered to reply to my letters, so they have failed in their duty of care. The point is this, anyone couold send you a bill for 1 million pounds, would you pay it without them stating why you owe them the money?

I would have checked the terms before disputing them.
To be honest as a small business myself I would not waste my time sending 20 letters for what seems to be a few quid, I think a quick phone call could have put you straight.
I do not think you will be able to reclaim the charges.
If you are setting up a business I think you should expect the bank to treat you like a business person. It is not thier fault if you do not read the terms and conditions.
Treat it as a lesson and concentrate on building the business into a success.

wednesday2212

I appreciate the sentiments ILW but I am also a student and am using this as part of my dissertation so the time is not a problem. I have made numerous calls and if someone had said that it's in the cc agreement I would have paid up (after checking it) but the point is they just demanded money with no proof and they never said on what grounds they were taking it.

If you just keep paying up you end up like everyone else in this country, skint. I have the money to pay, that's not the point, it's the service and duty of care that is the problem. You can reclaim the charges, the procedure is different to that of personal charges but similar and the test case only relates to personal so the court will not put a stay on the hearing.

Emmzi

confused here - they already gave you a copy of the T&Cs - so badgering them for another wont really stand up in court.. pay up. let it lie, get on with your life..?

Debt_Free_Chick

Be careful here .... with a business account, the relationship is almost certainly a business-to-business one. This means that you don't get the same protection afforded to consumers. Essentially, a business is expected to have a higher degree of understanding and/or to take advice.

Even though you are a sole trader you are not considered to be "the little man" (or woman) and the Courts will treat you as if you are UK PLC. Just be careful. If the amount is small, it's almost certainly not worth the risk.