Lloyds TSB - McAfee taken Reoccuring payment from account, loan payment has bounced

linniloo

Dear all,

I hope you can help. I am a long time reader of these wonderful forums and at last the time has come to ask for your words of wisdom! :wave::wave:

We bank with Lloyds TSB. Last year my husband took out a years subscription with McAfee for internet security using his old debit card. He had a few payments like this going out of his account when he wasn't expecting them so he discussed it with a Lloyds TSB cashier when he visited the branch. She advised him to cancel his card and get a new one with a new card number. This would mean that any payments made on the old number wouldn't be authorised.

Unfortunately some of these payments have continued to come out of the account. :mad: My husband went into the bank to explain these payments had come out and they refunded him immediately without a problem. :cool2::cool2:

Unfortunately my husband found out yesterday that McAfee had taken a payment - unbeknownst to us they emailed my husband on his old email address to say they were automatically going to renew our subscription (it hasn't worked properly anyway over the last 12 months so there is no way we would renew but that's another thread!). We never got this email because the email account is no longer used. :mad:

The McAfee payment means that there were insufficient funds in our account for a loan payment from the Co-Op :eek:(it's a 5 week month and we have money in another account that would have made up the difference). I phoned the Co-Op to tell them - they weren't interested and just said to ask Lloyds to resend the standing order. The very unhelpful and unsympathetic person on the other end of the phone said it would be registered as a late payment "depending on how quickly the computer updates" even though it would be paid on Thursday (3 days late).:eek:

My husband phoned McAfee and they said they'd refund us but not for 7-10 working days. We phoned Lloyds and again they were unhelpful - a young upstart there argued that it was our fault and nothing to do with them and they wouldn't be refunding us. :mad: I had an inkling that we had some rights and have since found out about the 2009 Payment Services Regulations discussed on the BBCs Moneybox programme and here in an old post from 2009 but I am still unclear on a few things.

Firstly - why are the payments continuing to come out? How do we find out if anymore are due?

Secondly - is this scenario covered by the Payment Services Regulations? How do we get the bank to listen to our complaint and stop any more?!

Thirdly - will the fact that the loan payment will be 3 days late really affect our credit rating? If it does - how do I correct this? It seems incredibly unfair if this is the case as this was not our fault. I fear that we are going to be told that it's just tough and as the little helpless consumer we will just have to accept it.

Any help or advice would be helpful - I hate being told I am wrong when I think I am right!

Regards,

Linniloo

[Deleted User]

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about the problems you are having. What you have set up was a continuous authorisation. It is like a direct debit on your debit card, where by the beneficiary requests payment from your card. It would have been in the T&C and unfortunately the bank cannot do much unless you contacted McAfee prior to the payment being taken out to instruct them to cancel the subscription and take no further payment. More and more companies are using this method to get funds as it is a guaranteed form of payment which you can only stop by contacting the beneficiary, unlike direct debits which can be cancelled with your bank. Always be vigilant and read the small print when a company asks for card details as you are responsible for who you give the details to.

With regards to the effect on your credit rating you could try liase with co-op again in the hope that they will not report the late payment, or add a notice of correction onto your credit file if its going to have a huge impact.

agrinnall

Lloyds gave you the wrong advice, cancelling the card has no effect on a Continuous Payment Authority, as the new card remains linked to the original account. What they should have said is that they can cancel the CPA for you (although many banks have declared they are unable to do this, despite what the 2009 Payment Services Regs tell them they have to do), or failing that tell you to contact McAfee, and any other organisations you had CPAs with, yourself to cancel it.

Having given you incorrect advice I would consider raising a formal complaint with Lloyds, requesting them to resolve the issue with the Co-op and asking them to explain why they did not follow the regulations. You should also tell them to decline any future CPA requests on the original card number (although I don't really understand why you are not aware of who might be trying to take them, surely you could just go back through your last 12 months statements and work out the likely candidates if you don't know for sure).

Edit: Posted immediately after Celtic0988, who unfortunately (or fortunately I suppose) is wrong about what the bank can do, as you have discovered for yourself.

pmduk

You may need to pursue the matter with Lloyds TSB fairly vigorously. The banks don't like getting involved in these matters and will attempt to tell you it is outside their control, It isn't and the FOS will side with you should it come to that.

grizzly1911

Martin Lewis was on his 5 Live Thursday slot either last week or the week before discussing CPAs.

He made the point specifically Banks can and should cancel CPAs when requested.

It appears the Head Office /Legal bods know they are obliged to do it but it appears this message isn't being applied by the front line.

linniloo

Thank you everybody for your replies, I have studied them all with interest. :beer:

Taking what you have said into account, I think I will make a formal complaint to Lloyds as no one there seems to know what they are talking about. You have confirmed for me that they should have handled this differently. It could potentially make a difference to our credit score for some time. It's not fair - you need eyes up your backside these days as someone is always after your money. Thank God for these forums!

Thank you again, your advice has been very helpful.

Regards
Linniloo

pmduk

Let us know how you get on linniloo please. It will be very helpful for people who have a similar problem in the future.