Direct Debit taken on wrong date?

Rochdale_Guy

Hi,

I renewed my flat contents insurance in Jan 2012 with 'Lloyds TSB'.

I told them I had a new basic bank account set-up and changed the existing years Direct Debit payment date of the 15th to the 23rd of each month.

Yet on the 15th March, a £13 Direct Debit came out of my account, despite me getting a letter off 'Lloyds TSB' confirming the new Direct Debit would start on the 23rd of the month

I'm not happy.

Who is to blame?

And can I claim anything?

What about the Direct Debit guarantee?

Thanks.
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Tixy

What was the date of the letter (compared to the 13th)?
Have you contacted the insurance company? what have they said? have they confirmed it will be on the 23rd from next month?

Who is to blame - the insurance company.

You should be able to get it refunded.

Did you incur any bank fees as a direct result of this?

camuk81

Yes, call the back and claim it back under the direct debit guarantee act. The offending insurance company should be liable for any charges.

As a matter of caution I would call the insurance company and be a bit brut telling them they have made the mistake and they can reapply for the direct debit on the correct date.

This way you won't get into any problems when the direct debit gets returned. You also tend to avoid any charges

Rochdale_Guy

Hi, I haven't done anything yet.

The letter from 'Lloyds TSB' confirming the Direct Debit would be taken out on the 23rd of each month was dated 9th February.

It states the first payment will be taken on the 23rd February and every 23rd thereafter.

BlushingRose

The sooner you do it, the better it'll be

Rochdale_Guy

Do I contact the bank first, or 'Lloyds TSB'?

rising_from_the_ashes

Did they take one on 23rd February too - or is this the 1st payment?

Rochdale_Guy

The letter stated the first payment will be taken on the 23rd February and every 23rd thereafter, yet after checking my online banking, THIS is the first payment that has come out...

Rochdale_Guy - always one to make a mountain out of a molehill, but in this case, the money has still come out on the 15th and not the 23rd!

Not my fault if it wasn't collected on the 23rd February is it?
:rotfl:

scared-sick

Rochdale_Guy wrote: »

The letter stated the first payment will be taken on the 23rd February and every 23rd thereafter, yet after checking my online banking, THIS is the first payment that has come out...

Rochdale_Guy - always one to make a mountain out of a molehill, but in this case, the money has still come out on the 15th and not the 23rd!

Not my fault if it wasn't collected on the 23rd February is it?
:rotfl:

I think this quote puts a different spin on the original quote Rg.

When I changed banks I was worried that some direct debits didnt come out when they were supposed to so I rang the companies to pay over the phone. However, they told me that because of the switch, they had 10 days extra to take the payment. I waited and lo and behold they all came out.

So I dont think it is just a case of they took it out on the wrong day, they have to be given a bit of time to react to the switch over. They should however, take the money out on the agreed 23rd from now on!

rising_from_the_ashes

I'm afraid I agree with scared-sick but I guess there's no harm in ringing them (but check any small print on the paperwork first as it may say the first one could be collected between x and y)

Have you actually incurred any charges as a result of this?

When I was trying to "sort myself out", I basically took a set amount out of my account on payday and didn't touch it again for the rest of the month - that way, I knew there could be no mistakes / forgotten payments etc.

If you're not good at managing money (speaking from personal experience) - the best advice I was ever given was to set up a 2nd account (it can be a basic one) and have all the d/debits coming out of this one and putting a set amount into it on payday - this account is never touched apart from the money going in / d/debits coming out.

If your new account has the d/debits already set up, you could easily do it the other way round - eg open a 2nd account and transfer a set amount on payday to cover "everyday" stuff like fuel, groceries etc and leave enough in your main account to cover all the d/debits. HTH

Rochdale_Guy

I'm really sorry, I never replied to this thread, I apologise

The bank said there was nothing they could do other than stop the whole Lloyds direct debit, then I'd have to get Lloyds to start a new one, but they'd then probably want like 3 months payments in one go (Jan-March).

Lloyds kept apologising when I phoned them up but said there was nothing they could do. I told them I had a letter in front of me confirming the new D/D date was the 23rd, but he said it was still on the system as coming out on the 15th.

He changed it to the 23rd and apologised again (it's only words ) and I asked for it to be put in writing.... he said you will get a letter.

Yeah right, I still have had nothing in the post.

Lloyds can go whistle for next years contents insurance, they suck

:whistle: