unauthorised payment taken from co op bank a/c

allyssa

Don't know if this is the correct forum?

But I've just noticed on my bank statement (Co op) that two unauthorised payment totalling almost £100 have been taken directly from my account today by Autonet insurance.

I previously had a direct debit set up with the bank to pay Autonet for a car insurance policy. But that direct debit was cancelled in September last year when I sold the vehicle and cancelled the policy.

I have phoned Co op today and they told me they had paid these in good faith and I will have to contact Autonet and ask for a refund.
Surely a bank cannot pay a company unauthorised payments? And if they do, they are entitled to refund them?
I'm getting nowhere with the Co op on the phone. Almost an hour ago I was promised a return call by a manager within 5 minutes. But they have not called. It took them more than 30 minutes to answer my initial call this morning.
Anyone help, please?

allyssa

quick update on above.
I have telephoned Autonet again and been told the money was taken from my account by 'Lion debt recovery' a company I have never heard of.?? I imagine they are an arm of Autonet. But my bank statement states it was actually Autonet who took the money today.
It seems Autonet say It's not my fault - talk to Lion, and Lion say we don't know, talk to Autonet. Nice avoidance of responsibility!

Meanwhile, I've been trying to phone Coop Back again. But all lines are dead. Even Lost & Stolen cards reporting lines.
Great service, eh.

McKneff

You cant just cancel a policy with no penalty, you would either have to pay the rest of the insurance for the year or a cancellation fee. (which can be as much as 2 months dd amount. Have you checked this

allyssa

McKneff wrote: »

You cant just cancel a policy with no penalty, you would either have to pay the rest of the insurance for the year or a cancellation fee. (which can be as much as 2 months dd amount. Have you checked this

Hi, yes I have checked this. At the time of policy cancellation August 09. I phoned Autonet and they told me I would have to forfeit the September payment as I hadn't given them enough notice. I accepted that, and the September payment (£21.00) was taken (even though I'd sold the vehicle in August).
I heard no more from Autonet and the direct debit was removed from my bank account.
Then, out of the blue 4 months later, they have taken £100 from my account without authorisation or direct debit being in place.
Surely that cannot be legal? There must be some redress from somewhere.

McKneff

To be honest, i would contact your bank and get them to refund it under the DD regulations.

(looks like 4 months x £25 = £100) cheeky monkeys.

Did You cancel the dd or did you presume that they did it.

lincroft1710

If you personally told the bank that you wanted the DD cancelling then it is their fault for making a payment contrary to your instructions.

allyssa

Hi, thanx for the replies. I did indeed cancel the DD personally. I did this after the last payment was taken in Sep 09.
The DD debit for Autonet was immediately removed from my online banking DD page, and no more payments went out till suddenly this sum was taken today.
I have tried calling Co op all day since they failed to return my call as promised. They now have a recorded message on their phone lines informing customers that the call centre is closed due to the bad weather. Unbelievable!

lincroft1710

I didn't realise India was snowbound!

nikki2804

^^^ OT but it actually is according to GMTV!!!

allyssa

Update.

After finally getting through to the Co op bank customer services, I spoke with their account management team.
The outcome is their fraud dept are investigating Autonet's unauthorised withdrawal of funds from my account. Meanwhile, my debit card has had to be cancelled and a new one issued.

It appears Autonet have misused (unlawfully) my bank details information, that I supplied initially for the purpose of setting up a direct debit last year.
Autonet wrongly believed I still owed them some money because of the early cancellation of a vehicle policy in August 09. So rather than speak to me about it, they (unlawfully) gave my bank details to 'Lion debt recovery' which is actually an arm of Autonet.

Lion Debt Recovery, used the bank details passed to them from Autonet to take money from my account without authorisation, either written or verbal. This is illegal.

I expect to have the money taken from my account repayed within the next week. The Co op say they will probably refund it themselves, because Autonet (Lion DR) are unlikely to be forthcoming.

Moral of the story:
Dont EVER take out an insurance policy with AUTONET http://www.autonetinsurance.co.uk/ they are fraudsters and crooks.
They seem to think when you give them legitimate access to your personal banking details for the purpose of a DD that gives them free rein to pass them along to a third party companies who will then help themselves to your cash.

To me, it seems no accident that this attempt at fraud was carried out just after New Year when they knew bank statement are packed with item of expenditure related to Xmas. They hoped it would go unoticed.

allyssa

Thought I'd round up this thread with good news.

Autonet Insurance Group have finally refunded all the money they illegally withdrew from my bank account, today!

No apology, no letter, nothing except a full repayment straight back into my account.

Why?
I kept badgering Co op Bank to instigate legal proceedings.
I badgered Visa to investigate the matter as fraud.
I wrote to the Financial Ombudsman (no reply..?)

What seemed to work:
I complained to the Insurance Brokerage site Comaparethe market.com (from who's site I first had the misfortune to come across Autonet)

Looks like those little furry Russian Meerkats really do have some clout behind their organisation!