1st Jan 2007 - Bank Holiday Monday

Bogof_Babe

It just occured to me that those of us who have Direct Debits etc. going out on 1st of the month might find them taken the previous Friday (I've had this happen when the due working date is a B/H or weekend). However if payments in, e.g. end of month salaries or in my case OH's pension are not cleared through due to banking downtime, this could make our current accounts overdrawn.

Am I right to flag this up as a potential problem, or do you think it won't happen like this, or won't be an issue? I wonder what the big banks' policy is on this.

snaffler

If they are taken early the claimer is actually breaking the DD rules and are liable for any costs you incure.

I run all DDs for a charity and if we did ever claim early and it was bought to our attention by the donor we could be heavily fined and incure the persons costs.

They should always be taken on the day in questions or later but never ever before. Report this if it happens.

More advice here http://www.bacs.co.uk/BPSL/directdebit/generalpublic/

Bogof_Babe

That's reassuring, thanks. Will study the link. It's a bit of a double whammy in my case, because my OH's pension goes into my current a/c (I pay all the bills) on Friday 29th Dec, so being in the middle of Christmas week I am dubious about whether it will clear until business resumes on Tues 2nd Jan. If it doesn't, my 1st Jan payments won't be covered even if they are not drawn early (which I now trust won't happen, thanks to your info.).

I think the only sure way is to move some savings into my C/A, and then when it all balances out, move it back again.

cazziebo

Thanks for the memory jogger...

I'll get paid around hte 20th (early because of Christmas) so the chance of there being any money in the account to pay any direct debits is limited...

I'll have to think of a plan!

Cypher

Thanks for the info, my TSB regular savers are set to credit on the 1st of every month, if they did go in early it would mean 2 credits in the same month (December) and the later one would be rejected. I'll keep my eye on it come January just to be on the safe side.

jimclark1967

Direct debits are always taken the next working day after the weekend / bank holiday so will be Tuesday 2 Jan 2007.

In my experience salary / pension payments coming in to the account work the other way - they'd be paid early if the deemed payment date was a weekend / bank holiday. That way any problems are avoided.

Granted it doesn't help if you go on a spending spree over Christmas

JC

Malky

Why not phone your bank and move your DD date to something like the 4th of the month instead?
The earliest in any one month that I have a DD is the 3rd and if the 3rd falls on a holiday/weekend, it's always been taken at the earliest date after

Snaggles

Unfortunately the bank can't change the date of the Direct Debit as it is controlled by the payee, not the payer. (Although they can change the date of a standing order, as this is the other way round). To change the date you will need to contact the company who you make the payment to.