direct debits leaving 5 days early

dsc171

Hi all recently my bank the abbey national have started to take direct debits like, rent electric bt council tax out of my account 6 days before they are supposed to be paid. It never happened before but for the last three months it has, in the old days as long as you got to the bank before 3.30 you could put the money in to cover a dd on the day it was due, now i'm receiving a regular wage my money is disappearing 5 days early.
The bank claim that this is the fault of the company i'm paying,but after speaking to them they are not receiving the monies until the due date or later, i find it hard to believe that all companies i deal with are taking the money early. What can i do , should i do. Is anyone else finding this happening to them?

ginger_nuts

I think it is normal for a company to ask for a payment 2 days before it is due to leave your account .The payment should NOT leave your account early .
I remember a few years ago BT taking money from my account 5 days early .
I complained to BT and I was told to claim it back under the Direct debit guarantee .I also got one months free line rental from BT.If money is taken from your bank early claim it back under the DD guarantee .The bank has to pay it back .

Xbigman

more than 3 days

You need to have money in your account 2 working days before it is due to go out, 4 days before if it jumps a weekend. If you only allow 1 days you will regret it.
Regards



X

Misty_Blue

more than 3 days

ginger_nuts wrote:

If money is taken from your bank early claim it back under the DD guarantee .The bank has to pay it back .

Really? :eek: I registered tonight to ask about this very same issue.

I've noticed recently my Natwest statements have been showing Direct Debits leaving my account a few days before they were due to. I checked my online balance yesterday and found that my Egg loan payment had come out on January 30th, when the agreed date is February 5th.

I understood Direct Debits were agreed for "xxxxx date or next working day," but that they sometimes came out a day or two early if that date fell over a weekend. But 7 days early? And the 5th is a Monday.

I was fine this month, but if I'd been paid 4 days later than I was, the DD would have been returned and I'd presumably be looking at charges from both Natwest and Egg. :mad:

My housemate is with the same bank, and he has recently noticed his mortgage payment being taken several days early.

So is it definitely Natwest I need to contact first rather than Egg?

Wyndham

the day agreed

There is a difference between a direct debit and a standing order. Standing orders are for a fixed amount on a fixed date and are controlled by you i.e. if the date or amount needs to be changed, then you have the control and are the one to do it.

With a direct debit, all that happens is that a mandate is set up to say 'I give company X permission to take money from my account'. It doesn't have a fixed date, or a fixed amount, and can be varied by the company. They will ask for a date, but this is just a courtesy that is generally adhered to rather than being set in stone.

BUT, after saying all that, if it's everything all at once with the same bank that has changed, then it sounds as if the bank is doing something here.

changkra

the day agreed

I found with LLoydsTSB my DD were going out up to 5 days earlier that the date agreed for one month and then the next month they went out on the day agreed. I moved all my DD to Nationwide BS and found that they always go out on the date agreed. Lloyd's did tell me when i queried it that a company can request the money up to 5 days early which if you rely on a particular date of debit due to credits going into your bank you can hit loads of money making bank charges for the bank. Consider moving over to a building society just for you DD but keep your bank account for the money you have left for spending.

EDIT: the only time a DD will go out earlier on my account is if the date falls on a Saturnday, its then taken on a Friday but if the DD date is Sunday its always taken on Monday the day after, which i'm happy with.

Astaroth

the day agreed

The direct debit should always come out after the due date if the due date is on a weekend/ bank holiday.

Make sure however that you are looking at the direct debit due date and not the statement payment date. My credit card will say that payment is due by 28th and the direct debit will be taken on the 21st... this allows the money the required 5 working days to clear.

I suspect the OP has looked at the wrong date as it is suspiciously the 5 working day clearing period. If the bill/ statement definately says the money is due to be taken on the 28th and they take it earlier than that you are entitled to get the money immediately back from your bank... you will however almost certainly then have to contact the company in question and arrange an alternative payment for the 28th though as they probably wont be aware of the recharge of the original DD until it is too late to collect on time.

Mikeyorks

Wyndham wrote:

With a direct debit, all that happens is that a mandate is set up to say 'I give company X permission to take money from my account'. It doesn't have a fixed date, or a fixed amount, and can be varied by the company. They will ask for a date, but this is just a courtesy that is generally adhered to rather than being set in stone.

You're right that the mandate is for a variable amount and does not specify a date.

But both value and date have to be signalled to you by all companies operating under the DD scheme rules. And it is not the whim and fancy you suggest that they are able to alter these. They have to advise you, in advance before changing either ... or face a legitimate claim under the DD Guarantee.

As the previous post, one has to suspect the OP is misinterpreting something. As all his creditors can't suddenly have decided to advance their dates without warning. Nor can his Bank extract money for a DD - without the creditor 'pulling' the money via BACS.

iceicebaby

Banks dont "take " the money out for a dd, the company concerned has to request it.

Now with a dd, the funds have to be in your account and cleared the banking day before your dd id due. for example for a dd due today, (friday) the funds would have to be available by 3.30 yesterday (thursday). The bank will show your available balance as being less theis amount on Thursday night. Some people mis understand this as the direct debit being taken early.

Direct debits then run from BACS through all the banks over night, so a direct debit due today would have been processed on the file that ran on from bacs last night. Hence the need to have funds in your account the day before.

In the case of a weekend, all debits due sat sun and monday will be earmarked on the friday before,(so funds have to be in account in the friday) and will then leave the bank account on the sunday night bacs run on.

Bank hols work the same except for debits due on sat sun and mon have to be in account by friday and will run with the bacs file monday night.

This can make people thing that comapnaies are taking debits 4 days early when they are not.
Hope this helps anyone lol

dunstonh

You would expect to see a direct debit that was due on a Saturday going out on Monday. However, with electronic banking, it is possible to see and take into account what is going out on Monday on a Saturday. It has been like that for at least the last 20 years. I worked for Lloyds in the late 80s and you could get forecast printouts on a Saturday morning for what was going through on Monday.

Do not confuse Saturday and Sunday as working days though.

As has been mentioned already, the banks have no control over the dates. The originator controls the date and amount. The amounts and dates should be confirmed in writing to you in advance unless there are no changes in which case no notification is required. A change in date to before (but not after due to weekend/bank hol) requires notification.