Help needed asap!!!

cazscoob

thanks again MF i have got a record of every persons name and extension numbers including the team leaders i have spoken to!

huckster

Going by this you signed up to a continuous payment authority to allow the payments to be taken by debit card from your account. This would have included an authority to collect any cancellation payments, subject to them providing notice of this. I think they have to provide 10 days notice.

So your question to the companies complaints people is. Do they hold a continuous payment authority to collect payments and if so, what notice did they provide for collecting the cancellation payment ? If they provided no notice, they have to refund the payment and then make arrangements to collect what is owed. On your FIL's instruction the company has to provide a full written explantion of any cancellation charge on request.

cazscoob

another thing i have just found out, there was an agreement send for him to sign and send back if he agreed with the payment terms and conditions this has not been sent back does this make a difference? there is to be a phonecall returned to him by 10pm tonight and i have asked him to ask the questions asked on the previous page.

huckster

It is important your FIL questions whether they gave any notice of the cancellation payment being debited to the card under any 'continuous payment authority'.

If they did not, they are obliged to refund the payment to the same card.

*MF*

Ok ... it looks like it wasn't a DD, but I would still proceed along the lines I have suggested.

Your main platform maybe needs to change ( I was hoping DD)- so now - I would use what the Bank are saying to you - namely that they are saying you report a fraud on your account.

Then roughly what I said in my last post applies.

Remember you are not trying to avoid payment - but are trying to obtain agreement to pay over a period.

Now, bottom line - they may not agree. If so, were it me, I would hit them with everything I could throw at them - in particular using your MP, ok. (believe me if the person who says no to you - gets a phone call from the office of your MP (or MSP - they can be easier to get hold of) to discuss a fraud case against the Post Office - the fan gets dirty, ok.)

As to money for tomorrow, if you don't get a refund? See if the Bank will help you ... 1) by arranging for the fraud paperwork to be completed and submitted and 2) with a temporary overdraft to feed the kids. Again - try and find the right person - some bank staff are good, some not in situations like this.

If that fails - do try Citizens Advice - there may be "emergency" benefits you may be entitled to.

Whatever - good luck!


*EDIT*

Lol, while I was typing the other posts appeared.

Yes, the fact that they have no signed agreement over payment makes a difference - a big one.

And take into account what huckster is also saying, ok.

*EDIT #2*

Under the Data Protection Act - I believe your FIL can authorise you to speak to them - if that helps?

cazscoob

no notice was given as the cancellation was written to them as they now do not own a home phone and only have a mobile for emergencies! the first we knew of anything was when the money was taken, a cancellation fee of £35 would have been ok to deal with but £300 is way too much!

*MF*

cazscoob ... you've got my best shot, ok. I hope it helps, and you get the refund etc. I am out for a while now, but will look back in later.

cazscoob

thank you so much i could kiss you right now lol! i feel we have more info behind us and more to go on rather than being fobbed off every time we phone x

rudekid48

Hi, sorry to read your predicament!

There are a few things that you need to be aware of here, and whilst I do not want to criticise ay of the advice that you have been given so far, I would hate to see you channel your energies in the wrong direction.

First up, lets deal with the unsigned credit agreement - the fact that this was not signed will not have any bearing at all on what is happening now - an unsigned credit agreement just means that Budget would not have been able to enforce the agreement through a court if you had defaulted, it does not mean that they cannot take any payments as they had provided the service that the agreement was to pay for i.e. insurance cover.

Secondly, what they have done is not uncommon. A lot of organisations now write into their terms of business that they will do just this kind of thing if a policy is cancelled and you have not yet paid the full annual premium - particularly if it is purchased on-line. It may be morally bankrupt but if the terms are accepted then they will defend their right to do it.

The key thing with this is how the policy was set-up on line. An earlier post quotes the payment methods on the PO web site and lists continuous card authority (CCA) as an option so I am assuming that this was the option that was selected to authorise them to take further payments from the card. This is where your best hope lies..........

If the policyholder (your FIL) is not the cardholder (you) then he CANNOT give consent for a CCA on a carrd that he is not named on - only an authorised card holder can do this. So, your arguement needs to be that neither Budget or your FIL had your authority to set up a CCA on your card. A grunt in the call centre is not going to be aware of this (or even understand it!) so you are going to have to get someone senior involved. At no stage must you give them the impression that it was you who set the policy up on-line! They need to understand that your FIL is the policyholder and so they did not have "explicit consent" (use this term as it is real!) to set up a CCA on your card.

Also, contact the card issuer and tell them that you want to process a "chargeback" as an unauthorised payment has been taken.

Even if they agree to refund the money they will probably play the "it takes 10-14 days to refund to a card" line so you may have to wait a while anyway.

An earlier poster gave you some really good advice by advising you to seek an emergency overdraft - you need to focus all your energy on getting some cash available first - sorting Budget out can wait if need be as there is not a time limit for you to be able to tackle them.

Lodge a formal written complaint straight away, outlining the FACT that they have made an unauthorised debit to your card and that you fully intend to pursue the matter with the FOS, your Bank AND tell them that you will also be lodging a complaint against them with Mastercard or Visa (whichever yours is) as you believe that they have breached PCI-DSS conditions (Payment Card Industry - Data Security Standards) by setting up a CCA without "explicit consent" of the card holder.

I really hope this works out for you - sorry for the long post.

Oh, by the way, don't EVER use your card for someone else, if you want to help them out, give them the cash, there are too many ways that it can come back to haunt you by using your card.

cazscoob

thank you for the reply, we are still awaiting a phonecall which should be before 10pm. i have forwarded on the posts and a few questions for when he is on the phone and will report when i know more
thank you all for your replies and help, feel a little calmer than i did earlier