HELP! Fine took me overdrawn and then lots overdraft fees were applied

JimLad

Hi Everyone!


Looking for a bit of advice on if i have a leg to stand on here.


I have a santnader account that i used to use as my current account but for a couple of years now its been empty, a balance of 0.00.


Middle of last year, for some reason the RAC tried to renew my policy using a direct debit set up on this account. Because this direct debit failed, Santander charged me £25. This took the account overdrawn by £25 with no arranged overdraft.


Baring in mind this is an account i never used, so i never checked the online banking. The overdraft charges soon racked up until this week i got a letter in the post telling me i was £300 overdrawn and needed to pay or they would take action. This letter was the first i knew of it!!


The account was setup up for online statements so i never got anything in the post until this letter.


I know i should have closed the account and should have made sure any payments from it were cancelled. But it really infuriates me that they would let the debt rack up without notifying me!! When i phoned up to sort it out they kept saying i would have been notified if i had logged in, but i never use the account!!


Do i have a leg to stand on in claiming these back? I have paid them for now to stop it racking up anymore,


James

ALIBOBSY

It is probably worth a letter explaining and asking for them to consider refunding at least part of the charges as I suspect the FOS would expect then to have written to you sooner, despite it being an online account, they surely know how long it is since you last logged on. They may refund as a gesture of goodwill, but reclaiming these types of current account charges through court action is alot harder (almost impossible)-now in light of the court decision regarding charges from a couple of years back.

Had you cancelled the RAC? If you had and have some kind of letter/email to prove that it was cancelled and they should never have attempted the direct debit you might have a claim against the RAC for the charges if it is their error.

Either way make sure that account gets cancelled as soon as you can.

Ali x

JimLad

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

It is probably worth a letter explaining and asking for them to consider refunding at least part of the charges as I suspect the FOS would expect then to have written to you sooner, despite it being an online account, they surely know how long it is since you last logged on. They may refund as a gesture of goodwill, but reclaiming these types of current account charges through court action is alot harder (almost impossible)-now in light of the court decision regarding charges from a couple of years back.

Had you cancelled the RAC? If you had and have some kind of letter/email to prove that it was cancelled and they should never have attempted the direct debit you might have a claim against the RAC for the charges if it is their error.

Either way make sure that account gets cancelled as soon as you can.

Ali x

Thanks for the advice. I will write them a letter and raise a complaint that they didnt notify me sooner.


Im so annoyed. £300 stops me from making an overpayment on my mortgage this month

Wywth

JimLad wrote: »

Hi Everyone!


Looking for a bit of advice on if i have a leg to stand on here.


I have a santnader account that i used to use as my current account but for a couple of years now its been empty, a balance of 0.00.


Middle of last year, for some reason the RAC tried to renew my policy using a direct debit set up on this account. Because this direct debit failed, Santander charged me £25. This took the account overdrawn by £25 with no arranged overdraft.


Baring in mind this is an account i never used, so i never checked the online banking. The overdraft charges soon racked up until this week i got a letter in the post telling me i was £300 overdrawn and needed to pay or they would take action. This letter was the first i knew of it!!


The account was setup up for online statements so i never got anything in the post until this letter.


I know i should have closed the account and should have made sure any payments from it were cancelled. But it really infuriates me that they would let the debt rack up without notifying me!! When i phoned up to sort it out they kept saying i would have been notified if i had logged in, but i never use the account!!


Do i have a leg to stand on in claiming these back? I have paid them for now to stop it racking up anymore,


James

No.

You could try asking Sanatander nicely, but they are under no obligation to refund you anything.

I would suggest you close the account entirely (paying off any debt if necessary) to prevent this happening again.

gailscotland_2

Hi Jimlad
you didn't answer other poster's query as to whether you cancelled RAC. If you did, then RAC should have cancelled the direct debit as it is the firm with whom you have the contract who controls the direct debit (as opposed to standing orders where the account holder can cancel/amend etc).
If you did cancel with RAC (or advise them to take payment from other acct then you should contact RAC and advise them of their error and ask them to reimburse charges. You should also check with Santander regarding the Direct Debit Guarantee in the instance where you had cancelled with RAC and they still requested payment.
good luck in any case.

JimLad wrote: »

Hi Everyone!


Looking for a bit of advice on if i have a leg to stand on here.


I have a santnader account that i used to use as my current account but for a couple of years now its been empty, a balance of 0.00.


Middle of last year, for some reason the RAC tried to renew my policy using a direct debit set up on this account. Because this direct debit failed, Santander charged me £25. This took the account overdrawn by £25 with no arranged overdraft.


Baring in mind this is an account i never used, so i never checked the online banking. The overdraft charges soon racked up until this week i got a letter in the post telling me i was £300 overdrawn and needed to pay or they would take action. This letter was the first i knew of it!!


The account was setup up for online statements so i never got anything in the post until this letter.


I know i should have closed the account and should have made sure any payments from it were cancelled. But it really infuriates me that they would let the debt rack up without notifying me!! When i phoned up to sort it out they kept saying i would have been notified if i had logged in, but i never use the account!!


Do i have a leg to stand on in claiming these back? I have paid them for now to stop it racking up anymore,


James

meer53

I would have thought that RAC would have written to the OP when the payment was refused to advise them that their cover was cancelled. Surely this should have rung some alarm bells at the time ?

JimLad

With regard to the RAC, they sent me a letter saying they had failed to take payment yes. However, i wrongly assumed this was because my card had expired which it had recently before the renewal date. I gave them the card details to process the payment. I'm sure the same thing happened the previous year though so i will look for a letter or something about it.

dalesrider

gailscotland wrote: »

Hi Jimlad
you didn't answer other poster's query as to whether you cancelled RAC. If you did, then RAC should have cancelled the direct debit as it is the firm with whom you have the contract who controls the direct debit.

Either party can cancel a DD.... This is why in your online banking it lists DD's and has a cancel option for them.
Of course if you do cancel, you shuld let the company know.

JimLad.
i wrongly assumed this was because my card had expired which it had recently before the renewal date. I gave them the card details to process the payment. I'm sure the same thing happened the previous year though so i will look for a letter or something about it.

As RAC can easily get the new card details from Visa/mastercard vis their account updater systems.

gailscotland_2

If you don't tell company you have cancelled their direct debit because you no longer want their product/service, they can still set up the direct debit again. That is why you are always advised to contact the company if cancelling a direct debit. However, you would have the right to a refund under the direct debit guarantee if they did do that.

dalesrider wrote: »

Either party can cancel a DD.... This is why in your online banking it lists DD's and has a cancel option for them.
Of course if you do cancel, you shuld let the company know.



As RAC can easily get the new card details from Visa/mastercard vis their account updater systems.

Wywth

gailscotland wrote: »

If you don't tell company you have cancelled their direct debit because you no longer want their product/service, they can still set up the direct debit again. That is why you are always advised to contact the company if cancelling a direct debit. However, you would have the right to a refund under the direct debit guarantee if they did do that.

If the Originator (company, supplier, etc) does this, it would be in breach of the guide & rules of the DD scheme, and so, as you say, a claim may be made by the Payer direct to their Bank.

When a payer informs their bank of a cancellation of the DDI, then the bank should inform the originator likewise. Indeed, in such circumstances, if a debit is paid against a payer's account before the cancellation is sent to the originator by the paying bank, the paying bank would be liable in the event of a claim by the payer.

Where a DD payment is returned unpaid by the paying bank, a transaction code accompanies this.

In particular ADDACS reason code 1 refers to an Instruction cancelled by the Payer.

If the Payer owes outstanding sums to the Originator, the Originator must agree the payment method with the payer for the collection of these funds. The Originator would require a new DDI to be agreed by the payer to collect further amounts by Direct Debit.

YorkshireBoy

Wywth wrote: »

Where a DD payment is returned unpaid by the paying bank, a transaction code accompanies this.

In particular ADDACS reason code 1 refers to an Instruction cancelled by the Payer.

I think you're mixing up your ARUDDS with your ADDACS.

If a DD is returned unpaid, the originator is notified via the ARUDD report.

The ADDACS report should be sent as soon as practicable after the DDI is cancelled, ie they don't wait for a DD claim before telling the originator that the DDI has been cancelled.