Bill paid for twice leaves me overdrawn?

Premier_2

Cat695 wrote: »

Basically when you sign a direct debit form you are telling the bank that the company (in this case O2) can take as much money as they want when they want....

Basically that is correct ... but there are of course some terms that apply.

One of those terms is the requirement for an Originator to give Advance Notice to a Payer should the amount or frequency/date of the collection change.
(Where the DD is for the same amount at regular intervals/frequency, then only one Advance Notice needs to be given at the start of the period)

As this thread appears to relate to a mobile phone bill, presumably the amount collected varies each time dependant on the amount of calls made.

Advance Notice is by default a minimum of 10 working days unless otherwise agreed and should take into account delivery time (e.g. time it takes Royal Mail to deliver if notified by post). Advance notice is usually included on the bill where a DDI exists.

If that was not provided, then the OP would have every right to claim under the terms of the DD Guarantee. The Paying Bank is responsible for re-imbursing the Payer immediately. The Payer can also make a claim for consequential loss (e.g. bank charges resulting), but the bank is not obliged to repay those immediately, but rather once they have recieved the funds from the Originator.