Taking Funds from Bank Without Permission

amebum

Hi all, this is my first time posting here and wonder if anyone knows if this is allowed or has experienced it themselves.

I am currently switching away from Utility Warehouse for my gas and electricity as I can get it cheaper elsewhere. Had a letter from my bank yesterday saying that they have taken £40.12 from my account, and as a result i'm now in an unarranged overdraft which i will get charged £5 a day for being in... I won't have funds to replace it until 19th May so that will be a charge of £70 for £35 overdrawn!!!

I had no direct debit set up as I pay on receipt of bill. I had not received any bill or reminder, if I had, I would obviously have made sure the funds would be in my bank for it to go out!

So what i'm really angry about, is that they must have kept my card details from a transaction months ago (as we pay using my partner's bank account) which I believe they are not allowed to do as I haven't authorised them to do so.

I called my bank (Halifax) and the fraud department are looking into it. I have also contacted Utility Warehouse about this and they say its for April's bill (which I never received and wasn't expecting to as we are switching) and that it says in their terms and conditions they are allowed to keep my details and take the money if i don't make a payment on time. I've checked their terms and conditions and can't find this anywhere.

What do you think, are they allowed to do this? have you experienced this? Is there anyone I can complain to? and do you have any idea how long Halifax Fraud Team take to work on this?
I'm unemployed and 8 months pregnant so this is causing a lot of stress as there is no way I can afford to repay all the charges etc!
Thank you.

chris_m

If, as you say, you are "currently switching" surely your energy in April was still coming from Utility Warehouse. Why, therefore, do you say that you weren't expecting a bill from them? Surely they will continue to supply you, and should bill you, right up to the day that the switch is complete?

amebum

yes i do agree with what you say actually, however I had not received a bill from them for april, therefore i assumed i was awaiting on a final bill.

Mark_In_Hampshire

What you're describing is technically, and actually, theft.

If there is no mention in their terms and conditions then they have actually committed a criminal offence, albeit one I don't think the local police station will be terribly interested in.

Edit to add: You can have the transaction "charged back" by the Bank. Normally they send you a claim form which you fill in and then the money is re-credited to your bank account.

However with regard to bank charges, the bank is entitled to stand by those charges, since it isn't their "fault".

amebum

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

What you're describing is technically, and actually, theft.

If there is no mention in their terms and conditions then they have actually committed a criminal offence, albeit one I don't think the local police station will be terribly interested in.

Edit to add: You can have the transaction "charged back" by the Bank. Normally they send you a claim form which you fill in and then the money is re-credited to your bank account.

However with regard to bank charges, the bank is entitled to stand by those charges, since it isn't their "fault".

Thanks, Halifax have passed it to their fraud team, as I didn't give Utility Warehouse permission to take the money, and they kept my card details

chris_m

amebum wrote: »

yes i do agree with what you say actually, however I had not received a bill from them for april, therefore i assumed i was awaiting on a final bill.

Ah right, I see.

Hope you can get it sorted without too much delay.

amebum

unfortunately the bank say it isn't fraud/theft etc as i originally gave them my bank information for the direct debit (even though its now cancelled) in november 2009.

they have given me an overdraft though to reduce the charges from £5 a day to £1, so will only be charged around £10 in theory when i can repay it which is better than £50.

hopefully it will turn out i am in credit when i finally switch and get my money back that way, will be writing a letter of complaint to gas supplier as well.