standing order question?

inmypocketnottheirs

ktb wrote:

thanks to DD I have only ever had 1 late payment in 10 years tho... and i've never had any problems with 3rd parties taking payments when they shouldnt. Surely if it aint broke dont fix it? What exactly might happen?!

An erroneous amount 'may' get debited, as in fact happened only last year with HSBC mortgages. If I recall correctly in one week HSBC claimed 2 or 3 times the monthly DD, causing a lot of inconvenience to a lot of people.

When you sign a DD you give the total responsibility to the originator to debit your account on time, not early or late, the correct amount, not too much or too little. The level of endemic incompetence I have encountered in banks/financial institutions/service providers leads me to believe that leaving all these factors in the hands of a third party really is too much risk.