Direct Debit...what guarantee?

fruitcake_2

Cancelled a DD for my dad's home insurance over the phone with Nationwide on the 9th of October, as it was so much cheaper elsewhere. The payment was due out in the 1st November. Seemed to go smoothly. Then due to an unrelated matter was checking his statement on the 20th November, noticed a payment of over £380 had been taken out on the 1st! I immediately phoned them up to be told they had checked the computer and acknowleged the phone call to cancel the DD and would also send the requested confirmation as well as the payment they had taken out of the account.......believing them...and my poor dad panicking....says to me thats what he's left with in his old age.....always the optimist.....left it until the 30th November...sufficient time to let them sort out the mess, hadn't happened so got on the blower again, spoke to the manager this time, who said she couldn't check any details as the "system was down" but would ring back when it was back up and running....which she DID...the next day, again confirming the DD cancellation.... and as they actually go through Churchill, would talk with them and get the money back in the account and a letter in the post....didn't give a date....it is now the 12th Dec....no letter no money...just false promises.....time for an official written complaint.....what rights does my dad have.....may not be a lot of money to some people but to a pensioner it can mean a huge difference especially, more so the stress...not sure where to start with the letter or who to address the letter to to get the best results.....am enraged, should charge them for phone and admin costs!! You would think being a customer for over 25 years would count for something!! Deep breaths.....feel like all I ever seem to do is chase after people to correct mistakes that shouldn't have happened in the first place.....

Turning_into_scrooge

Go back to the bank and tell them you want to file an indemnity claim for this money. I did this with Nationwide and NTL back in the summer. Nationwide wasn't prepared to do anything until i said you can file an indemnity, as soon as i said those words the attitude changed immediately and that is what they did, pulled the money back, it was back in my account within 24 hours. If you can go into the branch sop much the better if not phone their cust services and don't let them tell you it has to filed before 3.30pm, thats a load of rubbish and don't back down. good luck:)

IvanOpinion

TIS is correct. You need to make an indemnity claim. The bank should immediately refund the money and claim it back from the insurance company. If the insurance company believes there is an issue then they should take action towards getting their money. In this case it seems that Nationwide should not have allowed the DD, however these days it is easy to automatically reinstate DD's (since they are all done autimatically)

Ivan

JohalaReewi

If you still get nowhere with the bank, contact the direct debit guarantee people at BACS who will have a word in the bank's ear.

Phone number at...
http://www.bacs.co.uk/BPSL/directdebit/contactus/gettinghere/

Mrs_B_12

Is the insurance with Nationwide or Churchill? If it's Churchill you should have cancelled with them and not the bank anway, DD's have to be cancelled/amended with the company requesting the money. Even so, Nationwide should have told you that and sorted it out with plenty of time to spare.

MarkyMarkD

No, Mrs B.

DDs can be cancelled by reference to the bank. It's better practice to BOTH cancel the DD with the bank, and to tell the company requesting the money, but under the terms of the DD system rules, cancellation is effective if you tell the bank.

That doesn't mean that the company collecting the money can't charge you a "bounced DD" fee, if you cancel the DD with the bank without bothering to tell them.

fruitcake_2

The direct debit came out of a barclays bank account into Nationwide....they decided to tell me that they go through Churchills....apparently NOT my concern.

But anyway, got a result, Dad decided to go into the building society and throw a strop with the facts, result is he got a cheque in the post three days later......I'm in Manchester and he's in London.....and I think all in all he enjoyed going in and stating his case.

many thanks for the advice....extremely useful for the future....POSITIVE RESULT...yay!! Maerry Xmas and Happy Hols all xx