Claiming back a DD via indemnity

homeadvice_2

Hi
I have a small problem with a Direct Debit taken out of my account by British Gas for £340. The problem is that I recently switched my supplier to utility warehouse but on my previous statement Britsh Gas mixed up my meter with that of a neighbour & when i recieved my final bill it was nearly 1000 units over what it should have been (due to mixup) meaning my bill was £340. So I contacted British Gas to alert them with the new reading and inform them that it was due to wrong meter being read.
Now they said that they were unable to do anything about it until they recieved a new final reading from my new supplier (and I should inform them of the mixup dispite it being British Gases erroe) but agreed to put a stop on my account till this had been achieved. OK I though, not a problem. Now I came to my account and the money had been taken regardless so I went to the bank (Lloyds TSB) and had them submitt an indemnity request under the direct debit garentee which I was told would be back in my account my the end of that day ....4 days later and I have yet to recieve a penny.
When I went back into the branch I was told it was been investigated and would take 10 days!!!!! Now due to this stupid error I am now overdrawn and after informing my new company of the error and the correct reading it seems that BG actually owed me money. Can I force them to speed up this payment? Can I claim bank charges from BG for breaking our agreement and making me overdrawn? Legally where do I stand? and does anybody know why its being investigated (I was told under the DD mandate the bank would pay the money back then claim it from BG). I'm a little confused and well P*ssed to say the least not to mention out of pocket for the month and will have to trasfer money from my saving if this is not resolved soon. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
J.

willo65

d/d gurantee says bank will refund immediately, i would normally expect within 2-3 days but 10 days is kinda taking the mick. If your o/d because of lloyds taking in excess of 2/3 days to do claim then ask lloyds to cancel charges if charges before this then ask british gas.

dacouch

Here is a link to the BACS wesbite (They adminster the DDM system), if you scroll down to page 6 it has the standard Direct Debit printed, this is what BG have to abide by. As stated before your bank have to refund any iincorrect payments "Immediately"