dd taken wihtout my permission

itsalongroad

hi - apologies if wrong place

I changed supplier, and canxelled my DD to old supplier - lets call them x

On Frioday, I had a lengthy conversation with x and agreed I owed £44 to gas, but they owed me £42 for electric.....I paid £2 over phone, and was told a closing statement would be sent

Today, I look at my bank and they have set up a new DD, and taken the £44 out

Aaaaaaaaaah

Do the bank have to give this money back? They say as its a replacement DD I had previously authorised I need to contact x???

Thanks

dzug1

Who did you cancel the DD with - your bank or X?

itsalongroad

both

the bank confirmed the DD was stopped, but X have simply opened up another 1!

macman

They can't do this, only the account holder can authorise a DD, so you need to ask your bank to refund this.
Are you are sure it's a DD and not a recurring debit from your debit card? If so, that can only be stopped by the payee.

Mynewt

If the MDD has been re-established by your supplier this is completely against the T&C's of the direct debit scheme and well as their codes of conduct.

How soon after your final bill were the funds debited? Normally when the final bill is sent if the MDD facility is still active a request is immediately sent to the bank for full payment of outstanding balance. This would have occured (I assume here) prior to your covnersation regarding the balance transfer, as it takes 7 working days for a direct debit claim to be processed.

SO it is possible that they sent the final biill -> immediately raised the claim -> you called and arranged the trasnfer and payment of remaining balance -> bank reiceved mdd request and processed it -> funds debited from your account and credited to your suppliers.

If this is credit is bad timing and poor custoemr service as the agent should have been able to spot this and advise you, in this case they owe you a refund. IF it is the former you can make an indemnity claim with your bank, as it would fall under the mistakes and error claused of the direct debit guarentee you are provided with.

However in either case it is also important you raise a complaint with the supplier concerned as there's either a serious breach or a poor custoemrservice issue to be dealt with.

itsalongroad

hi,

about 4 wks back we switched

gas bill turned up quickly, but no elec, hence on friday had the telephone call

in terms of the DD - I said to the bank as we hadnt signed to authorise it I wanted a refund, but the lady said dd authorisation can be given over the phone, and again pushed me towards the supplier

i stated as I hadnt given via phone or in writing I wasnt best pleased. she confirmed she wasnt aware of X having claimed DDs without auithority previously and I should discuss it with them

unfortunately I cant contact x as the bills are in my wifes name (and she is working...)

thanks 4 ur advice. wife will contact x tonight, and I will write to bank asking for the money to be refudned as I hadnt provided authority for the dd

thanks again

macman

Ask the bank to produce the record of when you gave authorisation over the phone. If they can't do that, ask them to refund you under the DD guarantee scheme.

Premier_2

S11.3 of the Originator's Guide and Rules to the Direct Debit Scheme states:

Under ther terms of the Direct Debit Guarantee, a payer is entitled to an immediate refund if an error has been made by either the Originator or the Paying Bank. This includes any errors relating to:

...

- payments made after an instruction given to cancel a DDI.

The Paying Bank must, therefore, refund the Payer immediately and only raise an Indemnity Claim where there has been an Originator error ...

Term 11.1 of the above Guide states:

The Paying Banks will accept the word of the Payer concerning an error made by an Originator due to their obligations under the Direct Debit Guarantee and will raise an Indemnity Claim...

...

The Paying Bank will action the Payer's instruction to amend/cancel a DDI. Failure to progress a cancellation immediately will result in the Paying Bank being liable for any Direct Debits being paid in error under the cancelled DDI unless the Payer has already notified the Originator...

Section 15.12 states:

...
A cancelled / expired DDI may be reinstated by an Originator, in accordance with the customer's authority. This is not permitted where the DDI has been cancelled by the paying bank, the customer is deceased or the account is closed.
...

Or just tell the bank you want your money back immediately.