DDs taken from savings account for pet insurance when the pet doesn't exist?

Jo4

I don't know which part of MSE I should post this in so apologies if it is posted in the wrong place.

Before Christmas the postman handed me three letters stating that although the letters were for the incorrect house number that they had my first initial and my surname but they referred to me as Mr rather than Mrs. He also pointed out that they had the correct postcode to match the address and that our house was the only one on the road with the surname stated on the letters. I opened the three letters and each of them were for pet insurance - for a pet I didn't have. The three pet insurance policies are for male dogs less than 20kg, all with different names and less than 2 years old. The frightening part is that I never thought of looking at the bank details until last night when I was logged into my hubby's savings account and noticed that three direct debits for pet insurance are to go out of his account tomorrow, 29th December. :eek:

I have telephoned one of the companies involved, Argos, and they say that the policy was set up online and that they have now cancelled the policy and will refund the amount to the account which it was taken from.

However the other 2 policies are with protectyourbubble.com and Homebase. As I am on Bt basic I am afraid it will cost me a fortune to telephone the other 2 companies because I was on the telephone to Argos for almost 16 minutes. Does anyone have an alternative telephone number for protectyourbubble.com 08448711344 or Homebase pet insurance 0845602677111? I have checked saynoto0870.com but I couldn't find any alternatives telephone numbers, either local rate or freephone, although my nerves have about had it at the moment.

Does anyone know how this was done - a policy set up for a dog that doesn't exist using part of my details and my hubby's savings account? :eek:

Apologies for the length of the post but I wanted to give as much detail as possible in the hope that this never happens again and I am still in shock that it has happened!

izools

The other option is to initiate an indemnity claim under the direct debit guarantee through your bank.

They have the power to provide an immediate refund of the direct debits taken and cancel the direct debit instruction.

I've found it challenging in the past getting through to someone at the bank who understand how the direct debit guarantee works, so you may have to persevere with them and escalate the call, but remember - they have a contractual obligation with BACS to refund you straight away for the DDs taken in error and cancel the DD instructions.

Good luck!

noh

The 0844 number is 3p a minute.
For Homebase pet insurance you could try calling the quote line number 0800 587 9944.

You could try and call your bank and cancel the DDs with them as they aren't due till tomorrow.

Jo4

noh wrote: »

The 0844 number is 3p a minute.
For Homebase pet insurance you could try calling the quote line number 0800 587 9944.

You could try and call your bank and cancel the DDs with them as they aren't due till tomorrow.

Thanks! :T I pressed 3 for customer services after telephoning the number you so kindly provided and they have cancelled the policy and they are refunding the amount they took. :j

Jo4

izools wrote: »

The other option is to initiate an indemnity claim under the direct debit guarantee through your bank.

They have the power to provide an immediate refund of the direct debits taken and cancel the direct debit instruction.

I've found it challenging in the past getting through to someone at the bank who understand how the direct debit guarantee works, so you may have to persevere with them and escalate the call, but remember - they have a contractual obligation with BACS to refund you straight away for the DDs taken in error and cancel the DD instructions.

Good luck!

Thanks! :T Hubby telephoned the bank and the male he spoke to said he is going to reverse the 3 dds tomorrow because apparently he cannot stop them going through. He also said the money will be back in hubby's account by tomorrow evening at 6pm. :j

aldredd

Glad you've managed to get it sorted out.

This obviously sounds like fraud - but to what end? What would someone have to gain by setting up a load of insurance policies in someone else's name? Unless they wanted to immediately claim under that policy for a sick pet? You'd think there would be easier dishonest ways than that though.

Lady_K

I have had 2 direct debits set up for pet insurance in December too that I dd not do myself, one from Argos, one from Homebase both were using my bank number and sort code , using my postcode and name but the wrong house number.

I contacted the bank first who confirmed they had been set up and they cancelled both but not sure if any payments will be in the process yet because they were due on 27th and 28th. Dates that most people probably wont check their accounts due to christmas holidays and the wrong house number means the documents get posted to the wrong address so not to alert the real bank account holder in time.

This account is only used to receive cashback from cashback sites and survey sites so its pretty clear that someone having access to the details within my cashback accounts is doing this.

Is there any way to trace this, the insurance companies say no if its done online because if the postcode matches the name they dont go by the house number and they allow it through. Cant they trace ip addresses etc? or shouldnt they check the email address or phone before allowing things through? Both of these insurances were set up with incorrect house number, an email address which had no words in it just scrambled letters and digits and the phone number was incorrect too

I was always lead to believe that sort code and account number couldnt be used for anything, I will now have to change my bank account

Jo4 are you a member of any survey or cashback sites?

aldredd

Lady_K wrote: »

This account is only used to receive cashback from cashback sites and survey sites so its pretty clear that someone having access to the details within my cashback accounts is doing this.

That makes sense. Just begs the question... where are they getting your details from?! I like to think I'm pretty darn fussy about who / where I enter my bank details, so pays to keep an eye on your account I guess!

Lady_K

Well it could be cashback site owners or people they employ but there have been some dishonest site owners we have read about on here and no doubt there are still some out there running sites.

My bank said anyone can set up a dd with your account number and sortcode so long as it matches the postcode, they should put more security on it such as a password or pincode in order to set it up

noh

Neither of the two cashback sites I use (Quidco and Topcashback) require nor have my address or postcode are the ones you use different?

Lady_K

I am a member of both of those but when I first started cashbacking I joined quite a lot and some of those wanted address etc, some of which have now gone into liquidation and you can't even log into old accounts.

I will have to change my bank account and only use the cashback sites I have more trust in and that don't want the extra information