Does any bank empoyee work with direct debits

terryw

I have had a bit of a problem lately and hope that some MSE member and bank employee can give a bit of insider information.

I have a building society account with only a notional balance of £10. The account has only been used for pre-loading when going abroad and getting cash out of cash machines. It has not been used by me for over a year and is unlikely to be used in the future.

Out of the blue, a travel insurance firm, have instigated two direct debits against it for £29. Obviously these bounced as there was no money there, but the account has been charged with two lots of £30 charges. It has been a real right pain the bot getting this put right. The insurance people have put there hands up and admitted it was an error on their part and are in the process of giving me the £60 back.

But the society do not accept any responsibility for this in any shape or form. A long expensive call to the call centre merely gives a refusal to do anything about it, to refuse to stop accepting direct debit requests from the travel firm and I must take the question of reimbursement from the travel firm.

I have written twice to the society but no reply is forthcoming.

Am I correct in assuming that if a direct debit request is made, it is ONLY worked on the account number even though the name of the account is completely different? Surely my society can see that the direct debit does not apply to me if the name bears no relationship to mine.

thanks for any ideas.

Cheesedoodles

I didn't think a bank could charge for direct debits if there is no direct debit agreement in place?

pmduk

I'd start the formal complaints procedure, after all they are letting anyone dip into your account without your authority.

For future use remember that direct debits are entirely to make life easy for the bank, they leave all the work to other people and make no effort to police them.

opinions4u

In what way is the building society at fault?

Direct debits are paperless these days.

If the insurance company says they have the authority, then the account provider is duty bound to action their request.

You state "The insurance people have put there hands up and admitted it was an error on their part". Make them cover the cost of the bank charges too - an extra £20 compensation sounds appropriate too.

(by the way, the building society should be able to re-credit your account with the amount of the direct debits concerned if you have advised them that they have been taken in error and I would have expected them to refund the charges - but it's NOT their fault that this happened).

Surely my society can see that the direct debit does not apply to me if the name bears no relationship to mine.

The sort code and account number drive the direct debit collection. Not the name on the account. I would be pretty peeved if my bank refused to pay my stepson's mobile phone direct because he has a different name to me.

Mikeyorks

terryw wrote: »

Am I correct in assuming that if a direct debit request is made, it is ONLY worked on the account number even though the name of the account is completely different? Surely my society can see that the direct debit does not apply to me if the name bears no relationship to mine.

It's more and more of a problem because of the extensive use (mandatory for all new originators from 1.1.08) of mandates generated via AUDDIS. Which means it's done electronically and no signature is given / able to be checked by your Bank. However - it's my understanding that the AUDDIS mandate (it's difficult getting precise data off the BACS DD site if you're not an originator / Bank) sent to the Bank contains the (alleged) name of the account holder.

It's a few years old now - but I think the final case study (27/4) on this link will be helpful? As it significantly echoes your own case.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/27/27-directdebit-guarantee.htm

It might also help (or not!) to plough through some of the AUDDIS FAQs? They're written for originators - but I deduce they're a bit old and not kept up to date. However it will re-inforce the fact that the account holder on the Mandate was not you ........ as there's a requirement for the originator to write to you in all AUDDIS cases.

http://www.bacs.co.uk/Bacs/Businesses/FAQ/Pages/AUDDIS.aspx

terryw

Cheesedoodles wrote: »

I didn't think a bank could charge for direct debits if there is no direct debit agreement in place?

Thanks doodles. That is what I thought as well. But this particular society can and do, do that! This direct debit has nothing whatsoever to do with me in any shape or form - but the view of the society is that I must sort it out.

Thanks again.

terryw

pmduk wrote: »

I'd start the formal complaints procedure, after all they are letting anyone dip into your account without your authority.

For future use remember that direct debits are entirely to make life easy for the bank, they leave all the work to other people and make no effort to police them.

Thanks very much for your post. I agree entirely with your second paragraph, now that I have seen this in action.

Unfortunately despite one very expensive long telephone call and two letters to the branch, I have received no response whatsoever. It is hard to start a complaints procedure when they just wont reply.


Thanks very much for your post.

terryw

opinions4u wrote: »

In what way is the building society at fault?

..........Because they have allowed a concern who is completely unknown to me to try and take money from my account, and consequently caused me a large amount of money for their fees in allowing unauthorised activity on my account.


Direct debits are paperless these days.

.........Ok I accept this. But that is their problem not mine. I do not want random strangers trying to take money out of my account

If the insurance company says they have the authority, then the account provider is duty bound to action their request.

..........Hey great stuff. Please let me have your account number and sort code so that I may take money from your account or cause you to go overdrawn and pay the fees.

You state "The insurance people have put there hands up and admitted it was an error on their part". Make them cover the cost of the bank charges too - an extra £20 compensation sounds appropriate too.

...........Yep, the insurance company have indeed confessed absolutely to the mistake. They have indeed offered to pay the £60 charges and £40 compensation. My actual expenditure is more than this but I shall accept it. I just want the whole daft affair to stop.


(by the way, the building society should be able to re-credit your account with the amount of the direct debits concerned if you have advised them that they have been taken in error and I would have expected them to refund the charges - but it's NOT their fault that this happened).


.........The direct debits falsely taken have been refunded the same day, purely because there was no money in the account to cover it.
The problem is that they are charging £30 per bounced to ME per dd which I have not authorised in any shape or form.

The sort code and account number drive the direct debit collection. Not the name on the account. I would be pretty peeved if my bank refused to pay my stepson's mobile phone direct because he has a different name to me

...........I fear that I have not made myself clear. Your missus has given full authority for money to be taken from her account to pay your stepson's bills. I shall repeat "Full authority has been given".
In my case, a complete and utter stranger whom I have never even heard of decides to take try and take money from my account. My society then charges me for their mistake and leaves me completely and utterly to sort the matter out.

.

Thanks very much for your reply. I really am grateful but you sound like the guy at the call centre. Please try and see it from my point of view.

A complete stranger (that I have no relationship at all) with makes a mistake and tries to take money from me. Luckily there is no money in the account. But the society merely asks me to sort this out myself and charges me £30 a time for the privilege.

I have answered your points above. My replies are the indents with the dots.

thanks again.

terryw

Mikeyorks,

Treble karma points for your kind links. Power to your elbow. I shall check these out - I think that they will be a great help. thanks again.

Mikeyorks

terryw wrote: »

Mikeyorks,

Treble karma points for your kind links.

Can I spend those at Tesco?

I feel quite left out with all these DD problems people have. Other than the odd occasion where a company asks me what date in the month I want a DD taking - then they set it up for a date diagonally opposite - I have had no problem whatsoever with mine (14) over a period longer than I care to remember. Not sure if it's luck of the draw or whether Halifax look after me better than I'm usually aware of!

terryw

Mike,

I am much the same as yourself. I don't have trouble with dd's. On my main account I pay everything by dd - I must have about fifity registered, and it works a treat. I keep a few quid there just to cover unexpected large ones but it saves lots of time about bills.


The problem is when they go wrong. I guess most MSE peeps can surmise which society I use purely to fund spendies abroad by pre-loading but they have lately changed the rules so that I shall be unlikely to use them again. But, boy oh boy, they are so inflexible when things go wrong.

And the niggle is that I am completely blameless! A complete stranger tries to withdraw money and they don't want to know - sort it out yourself is their motto.

NO, karma points can not be used at Tesco. But the rewards points are worth four times as much in another place!

bw and thanks again