Direct Debits transferred without my permission

EmmaV

Hello all,

Hoping someone can give me a bit of advice.

I'm in the process of buying my first home, and as a term of my mortage with Halifax, I had to open a Halifax current account to pay the mortage out of. I already have a Lloyds current account which I intended to carry on running the same, and just transfer the mortgage amount across.

Having opened the Halifax account, I received the usual communications asking if I wanted my direct debits transferring across. I phoned Halifax and told them no, I didn't want anything moving, and was told I'd need to speak with Lloyds.

I duly phoned Lloyds, who said that they hadn't been approached by the Halifax yet, but they would put a note on my account to show that I did not want any of my direct debits moving. Fast forward a week later... all my direct debits have been transferred to my new Halifax account. Neither bank had my permission to do this- I specfically requested that they did NOT do this.

Can anyone help? I'm really angry about this but can't find any information about what they should have done, if they should have informed me, etc. It has caused me massive headaches!!

Any advice or info would be much much appreciated.

Thanks everyone

whitewing

I couldn't get Lloyds to transfer mine when I closed the business account. That caused me more headaches!

You need to decide if you want them all transferred back, or whether you are going to leave them now.

Then you need to follow the complaints procedures for each bank and put in a letter of complaint, including what action needs to be taken by that bank. To be safe, I would copy each bank on the other's letter too so they can't blame each other.

the_annoyed_customer

Remember they that lloyds and Halifax are now the same company so complaining to both may be a waste of time as you may only need to complain to 1. Get hold of their complaints booklet so u know the time scale it takes to sort out. And even if you haven't been shorted so to speak ask for a large amount of compensation

opinions4u

EmmaV wrote: »

I'm in the process of buying my first home, and as a term of my mortage with Halifax, I had to open a Halifax current account to pay the mortage out of.

And also pay your salary in to?

"†First time buyers applying for mortgage deals with a loan to value greater than 85%, up to a maximum of 90%, need to open or already hold a salary funded Halifax/Bank of Scotland current account."

I already have a Lloyds current account which I intended to carry on running the same, and just transfer the mortgage amount across.

But that may lose your entitlement to the mortgage deal applied for.

Having opened the Halifax account, I received the usual communications asking if I wanted my direct debits transferring across. I phoned Halifax and told them no, I didn't want anything moving, and was told I'd need to speak with Lloyds.

I assume you signed a form to transfer these across.

You need to establish whether or not you signed the form. Then you can decide if the have acted without your instructions or you have not clearly understood what instructions you were giving.

You also need to decide if you want the mortgage deal discussed if it is reliant on transferring your current account, but you're unwilling to do this.

whitewing

Good post there from opinions.

I think you are going to have to mark it down to experience, get your salary transferred to your Halifax account and close the Lloyds.

You have some grounds for complaint, and could write a letter to Lloyds (who may send you an apology), but I think now that you need to move forward from here.

Why did you want to keep the Lloyds account open anyway? I'll all for simplifying, especially when you've got mortgage payments to meet.

zzzLazyDaisy

You don't have to close the Lloyds account. Just leave £1 in it and keep it open. Although every six months or so it is useful to have some activitiy on the account to prevent it from going dormant.

Sometimes it is useful to keep a longstanding current account open, so that if you are asked how long you have been with your current bank, you don't have to rely on the newly opened one.

EmmaV

Thanks everyone for your help. A couple of things to clarify:

The Halifax account is labelled "salary-funded", but I queried this and was told that as long as there is a monthly payment into the account of +£1000, I'm fine. Doesn't necessarily have to be my salary direct, although obviously that's what they'd prefer

I've kept complete records of every bit of paperwork I've dealt with over the last few months, and I've been through it all. I definitely did not sign anything which instructed the direct debits to be transferred. The letter Halifax sent me stated that they would proceed "if they didn't hear from me within seven days". They heard from me the very next day, when I phoned them and asked them not to proceed. So for whatever reason they've either not noted my communication with them, or ignored it.

(Incidentally the only reason I wanted to keep my Lloyds account was cos my payroll department is an absolute nightmare at the best of times, and is going through a major restructure at the moment- wanted to leave it a few months til I was sure they weren't going to accidentally pay my salary to someone who died 50 years ago or something..!)

I think, as whitewings said, the best thing I can do is leave things as they are and chalk it up to experience. I will be contacting both banks though, because I've been quite clear with them, done everything they asked- and both did the exact opposite of what I asked of them. In particular it worries me that Lloyds allowed the transfer to go ahead, when I specifically asked them NOT to. (My sister's also had security-type issues with them this month so maybe I am well shot of them?!)

Anyway, thanks everyone for your insight, really appreciate it.

Comyface

If you do plan to leave things as they are, this is what I do.

When I bought my first home (2001) I opened a new current account to pay all of my direct debits out of. I left my wages going into my original current account and set up a standing order from that into the DD account to cover all the payments out each month (rounded up in case of any probs). Then whatever's left in my orginal account is mine to spend/save, whatever.

It's worked really well for me. When setting up new DDs I don't have to worry what day of the month they are due to debit (when switching insurance and the like, I've found you can't always pick the day of the month you want) because the card and cheque book for this account are in my bedside drawer, rarely use them, just leave the account alone and it pays my bills for me. Also if I do need to send a cheque off for anything I transfer extra money in and use the DD account. Don't need to remember how much money to leave in when making transactions etc, again it just looks after itself.

So, if you do want to leave your wages going into Lloyds, you could do this for a bit and see how it works for you?

All the best in your new home.