Alliance & Leicester Direct Debit Refund

mrjam

Hi All

Long story short, our monthly payment on insurance policy was meant to be 120, since april 2009 its been at least 200 a month so we spoke to the company who were no use whatsoever. Failing repeated calls we just phoned our bank A&L who we explained the situation to, the girl happily said @That's fine, i have processed the direct debit indemnities for you and you will need to contact the company to arrange to pay what you owe. But.... Nothing in the account? I thought it was meant to be an immediate refund...

How long do A&L take to credit the funds back?

Thanks
Jam

Mark_In_Hampshire

Yes, the funds should be credited immediately. I don't know whether A&L's online banking is in real time, you may be seeing an old balance and the funds are in fact available. Suggest a second call to the bank.

On a side note, your reversal of the DD's puts you in breach of contract so your insurance policy may well be invalidated. You don't say what it's for - if it's car insurance, you will need to be very careful here.

Yes, you can have incorrect DD's reversed under the so called guarantee, but you can't just have the overpayments reversed, the entire payment is reversed.

Even when you pay with DD it's YOUR responsibility to pay the supplier the correct amount, not theirs to take the right amount. The responsibility does not shift to the payee. If you don't pay the right amounts when they fell due/as they fall due, you're in breach of contract.

You'll need to tell the insurance company what you've done and probably make a one off payment immediately for what you do owe.

mrjam

Hi Mark

Thats exactly what we intend to do, its for an old car insurance policy (no longer active) from last year which we have documentation to say monthly payment was 120 per month, however we hadnt noticed they had been debiting just over 200 each month, so after speaking to them and hitting a brick wall, i spoke to the bank who said they had all been processed and DD indemnities carried out, what i was aiming to do once the funds were back in my account was phone the car insurance people, documentation in hand and pay the full amount owed, which should leave us with the overpayments.

Just phoned A&L and they said it wont credit until tomorrow!? Whats this "immediate" about then.... Pfft!

Jam

Mark_In_Hampshire

The refund should indeed be immediate, yes. Slap on the wrist for A & L.

Well done for getting your cash back, though - always satisfying to get your cash back forcibly using your rights when you know you're correct.

mrjam

So how do they get away with saying "Tomorrow" then when the guarantee states immediate....

Mark_In_Hampshire

Because they can...

Is it "tomorrow" already? In which case there's nothing that can be done.

If it's "today" then ring them back and repeatedly quote the direct debit guarantee, in paricular, the part that says "immediate", and ask why they are refusing to implement the direct debit guarantee which they are bound by.

Once the first person you speak to becomes bored enough with the conversation going round in a circle, speak to the next highest authority, then the next...

You can actually have BACS intervene on your behalf but I doubt they'd do it quickly enough for it to make a difference.

DrScotsman

Nothing about A&L's banking is immediate. Even faster payments into an A&L account only bump up the available balance (if they feel like it) and don't appear online until the next day.

mrjam

DrScotsman wrote: »

Nothing about A&L's banking is immediate. Even faster payments into an A&L account only bump up the available balance (if they feel like it) and don't appear online until the next day.

I have to absolutely agree with this, how A&L operate i have no idea, say my salary is paid in on a Monday and available to withdraw, if i take money out it then shows later on in the week that im overdrawn and in a negative balance, so sometimes on my statement it can actually say -4,000, yes thats minus 4,000 when ive never been a penny overdrawn. Very Very misleading.:mad: