Random Sky payments

Sazzyukrafc

Today we came across a strange payment coming out of our old joint account and I'm looking for some advice. We don't check our joint account statements - our fault - as it's always the same things that come out for the house every month and that's all it's used for.

The payment is for Sky. It is an old joint account, which our Sky came out of in our old rented house. Since we bought our own house in August 2008 Sky has come out of my account.

In July 2008 we left our old rented house and made the final payment of £50.76. We rang to cancel the Sky account, we had had it for a year at this point (we lived there for a year). We set up a new one in my name when we moved to our new house a couple of weeks later. No payments to Sky were made on the old account in August, September and October 2008.

After finding this today I looked back through all our old joint account statements and found that in November 2008 a Sky payment started up again and have been ever since, usually it was £16.50, but this has changed every now and then with other figures being £15.87, £16.76, £17.50, £17.00 and £2.52 (?!).

First of all, I'm trying to work out what would normally cost £16.50 from Sky, but also range so much in monthly payments - as above. Secondly, I'm starting to think that the people who moved into the house we rented are using our old Sky account in our name?

Any help and advice on this would be much appreciated, and your thoughts on if we can get this money back. It totals to £186.15.

macman

Did you not cancel the DD on the joint account when you left the rented house?

Sazzyukrafc

We closed the account down and so we didn't cancel the direct debit payments, also because once we'd closed the account no payments came out for three months after (obviously as expected if you close an account).

I'm searching all our paperwork for letters of cancelling the account and come across Sky Talk at the moment, which is dated 7th July 2008. I'm just concerned that the other letters might have arrived after we'd left the house and the owners threw them away. Hopefully I'll find them.

macman

I don't get it. If you closed down the account in August '08, how can they have been taking payments out of it ever since Nov '08.
You can't take DD's from an account that doesn't exist.

Sazzyukrafc

Sorry some confusion. The joint bank account is still open but we don't use it anymore, this is the bank account that our old Sky payments came out of. What I can't understand is why there were no payments taken for three months and then suddenly they started up again but at random amounts.

After thinking more about it, I'm now wondering if Sky sent letters to confirm the cancelation after we had moved out and the owners threw them away or never gave them to us when we came to collect post.

macman

Well, your previous post said you had 'closed the account'. That's not the same as 'not using it any more', as all the DD's will remain active. So you need to cancel the DD's or close the account.
I suggest you speak to Sky to find out the status of your account-is your online account still active with them?