Early direct debit am I liable to be charged?

falko89

My bill from Orange through on the 24th, Bill date is the 24th, at the bottom of the bill its says.

Total to be automatically collected in around 10 working days

It came out over night, I was -£24 this morning, I quickly rectified the situation by transferring out of my savings to cover it, it was really unexpected as Orange already took a payment on the 9th of this month.

So who is at fault here and do you think i'll get charged?

Gromitt

I thought they had to notify you at least 14 days in advance of any change to your direct debit? (ie, date, amount).

If you don't get charged it might be easier to let it drop, but if you do, I'd contact your bank as it sounds like they took the money way too early.

falko89

Gromitt wrote: »

I thought they had to notify you at least 14 days in advance of any change to your direct debit? (ie, date, amount).

If you don't get charged it might be easier to let it drop, but if you do, I'd contact your bank as it sounds like they took the money way too early.

Yes thats what I was thinking, really can't afford a £39.99 charge.

SnowTiger

Gromitt wrote: »

I thought they had to notify you at least 14 days in advance of any change to your direct debit? (ie, date, amount).

If you don't get charged it might be easier to let it drop, but if you do, I'd contact your bank as it sounds like they took the money way too early.

IIRC there were strict limits on such things with the Direct Debit Guarantee, but companies are now able to vary them. That's what the DD Guarantee template here suggests, anyway.

However, to give a customer only a couple of working days notice that a payment is to be taken by DD seems unreasonable to me.

As you say, if the OP doesn't suffer financially it's probably easier to just drop the matter. A polite phone call or email to Orange to complain would probably be appropriate.

However, I would certainly be asking my bank for a refund if I lost out in such a case, especially as the bill said payment would be taken "in around 10 working days," which, at best, is vague. It takes a few days for a DD to go through the system. It appears to me that Orange requested the money on the same day they produced the bill.

Ben8282

A DD should not be taken early. Have you called Orange to ask what has happened?

10 days is pretty short. My mobile phone DD is 17 days after statement date.

If their action in taking the DD before the due date has resulted in a £39.99 charge I think you would be justified in asking Orange to return it and write to the bank informing them that it was their error.

However, why do you think that you will be charged £39.99 for going overdrawn by £21 for, at most, a few hours in the course of a business day?

To isssue a statement stating 'Total to be automatically collected in around 10 working days ' on Saturday 24th and taking the payment today is unacceptable. It should be easiy enough to show how long a period of notice has been given in the past.