Regular Payments off a Credit Card Discussion

Paul_Herring

dichremy wrote: »

Ive had similar problems. I think I may have to "lose" my card. Cheers for the advise.

Won't work. Since it was set up 'before your card was lost,' the charges will simply be put on to the new card.

eaton

I have a problem with a recurring payment I am unable to cancel, and am unsure of how to resolve it. Any advice welcome

Basically in my previous employment I used my personal credit card to pay an eFax acount and would then claim this back using expenses. I left in October last year and months prior to this date I informed eFax in writing and verbally that I was leaving and I wanted my details taken off file.

Despite repeated assurances that this had happend, I still am being billed £2-300 monthly, on a CCA, which I am powerless to cancel. Each time efax will refund the money, but unless I check my statement on a daily basis I have no visibiluty of when and how much they take from me.

Barclays have advised I must sort this out with the vendor, however efax seem incapable of removing my card details from file.

If I reported my card missing would I get a new card number, start+expiriy date and CVV code? Would the CCA continue to be billed to my new card?

ho-hum_2

I have just found out about a recurring debit on a credit card,but thats not all.............
I had a credit card with Citi Finanncial and i took out payment protection which covered all my cards. In January 2010 I cancelled the card and so I thought the payment protection. Citi sold the account to Opus, Opus reopened the account and then closed it in July 2010. Febuary 2011 I recived a bill from Opus to say that my account was in arrears,that i had missed payments and if i didn't pay then further action would be taken. When i phoned Opus I found out that the account was still closed, I owed money on the account (the payment protection) Opus had "allowed" the debit to go through onto the card because they thought that "I needed it because it covered all my cards". This is desipte that the payment protection company lost contact with me in 2003 and knew that i had moved, I cancelled the account as i no longer needed it.I had not recived any statements from the cedit card company since jan 2010, no new card from Opus, no statements from Opus. No acknowledgement from any company to say the account was live or taken over,or any letter, communication or anything from any of these companys for over a year!!! So even if you close the card account it don't stop them. Forceful letters have been sent to all concerned I am now checking the credit reference angencys for arrears on a credit card account that don't exsit.! :mad:

motoko

I've also had a bad experience with these recurring credit card payments in the past. I gave my credit card details to ntl (which thankfully no longer exists) for a single payment, and they set up a recurring payment without my authorisation. I was unaware of it until the following month when the unauthorised payment was taken from my credit card account. When I rang ntl to complain, they told me about this recurring payment they had set up but refused to cancel it (at the time they thought I was in arrears having lost one of my previous payments). I reported the card as lost to my bank, and no more payments came out of it. In retrospect I should also have reported them to the police for credit card fraud.

I've also had a similar issue with an insurance company who set up recurring payments without my authorisation, and even when I had specifically requested them not to. Since the insurance policy was in my partner's name rather than mine, they refused to cancel it without his authorisation, which is terrible since it is my authorisation which they need to take a payment from my credit card not his, and I had made it abundantly clear that I was not authorising it. This was not a problem in our case, as my boyfriend confirmed the payment should be cancelled, but if for example we had split up and were no longer in touch, then this could have been a serious issue.

Reading other people's comments on here regarding payments still being honoured after cards have been cancelled etc, it sounds like I was very lucky. I was of the understanding that the reason you couldn't cancel the payment with the bank was that the recurring payment only exists on the system of the company you are paying, who then request payment each month/year from the bank, but to the bank these just look like completely separate payments, so the only way for the payments to be stopped is if the company stops requesting them. However if this is the case, then it makes no sense for the bank to continue honouring the payments which are requested after the account is closed, or even if the card details change when you are issued a new card, as they would not have any information on their system to confirm the payment had been "pre-authorised". In this case surely the bank should inform the other company that the card details are not valid, and it should be the responsibility of the company to contact you to arrange alternative payment if you have not already done so? In particular if the card had been reported lost or stolen, then the bank should not assume that a payment requested using those card details has been authorised by you, as there is every possibility that someone could be attempting to use your card illegally.

I would think that the best advice to anyone in this situation would be to contact the offending company in writing, tell them to stop taking the payments and make it clear that they do not have authorisation to take any more payments from your account. Then send a copy of this letter to your bank, along with a letter explaining that xxx company have used the card details provided to them by you in good faith for a single payment, to illegally request further unauthorised payments from your account, and requesting that they send you a new card and do not honour any payments requested using the old card details. Ensure both letters are sent by recorded mail. Once the bank has been informed that the card details have been compromised, then they will be liable for covering any payments honoured using those card details, not you. However, I think its important to explain the details to them in writing, rather than just reporting the card lost or stolen, as in that case they cannot simply claim that these payments had already been authorised by you before the card details had been compromised.

Regarding any payments already taken, it really depends whether you did genuinely set up a recurring payment and forget about it, or whether the company has done it without your authorisation. In either case, I would be inclined to deny authorising it until the company could provide proof that I had, e.g. a recording of the phone call / your signature on a recurring payment authorisation form / not sure want proof they would provide if it was an online transaction? If you didn't authorise it or they can't prove that you did, then you are not liable for a penny, and they should pay it back, although getting them to do so may not be easy. If they do have proof, then I guess there's not much you can do. Also, if you have authorised the payment but later requested that it is cancelled, then it is up to you to provide proof that you cancelled it.

slinkswell

Thanks for this info. I got rid of Barclaycard 7 years ago and CPP used to take an annual fee from it, when I closed the account CPP was closed too. Egg transferred me back to Barclay card (takeover) I was not aware that CPP had regenerated the account and I have gone over the limit on the Barclaycard which I been fined and £12 fee for late payment. This cannot be right can it.

sgorandubh

Last April and May, two debits appeared on my CC under the guise of DRI*Microsoft. I immediately contacted my CC issuer to explain I knew nothing of these and was referred to their fraud department. I explained, whilst I use Microsoft software for PC and Xbox, these were purchased from a high street retailer. The CC company suggested that I had perhaps agreed to a "Continuing Authority" - which I have not to my knowledge done. They then suggested I contact the company directly, which is impossible. A search on Google simply throws up hundreds of discussion boards with people who have been similarly treated. I cannot find any contact details and, worried that the anniversary is approaching, with possible further payments deducted, phoned to cancel my CC. I was astounded to find that this would be entirely inneffectual, since my CC company would pay anyway and then attempt to recover the debt from me. Other posts suggest "losing" the card but there seems to be disagreement as to whether this works. Is there any way out? Or does anyone have a contact for DRI*Microsoft Luxembourg?

Paul_Herring

sgorandubh wrote: »

Other posts suggest "losing" the card but there seems to be disagreement as to whether this works.

It won't because the agreement (if any) was make when the card wasn't 'lost.' 'Losing' the card doesn't negate the contract (if any) - the CC company simply move it to your new card.

Is there any way out?

Inform your CC company that you've tried searching for the company, cannot find them, and that you will not recognise any further charges as legitimate transactions and you will call them up to report fraudulent activity.

See what they say then.

sgorandubh

Thanks P-H. Did as you suggested and, surprise, surprise, got a call offering a full refund despite the delay plus £25 for my inconvenience. Still wouldn't cancel my CPA but gave direct dial line to fraud dept if a future payment is deducted.

Thanks again.

lincolnscofield111

I usually prefer direct debit and always try to avoid Continuous Payment Authority. I am very much aware about its drawback. But if even with direct debit there is some risk involve then i would like to know. Please give me some more tips for this.

tony.jones123

Hi Guys

Hope someone can help.

I had a continuous card payment with perfect homes.

I missed 1 week, I sad I will phone up and make that catch up payment. I went to the bank and they had took 2 seperate payments 1 after each other on a different day to which it was set up.

Is this allowed