Right to write to Santander/Moorcroft recovery?

Martin346

Firstly, I tried to change my account over to Santander to take advantage of their *100 to switch current accounts* last year.
I completed all the forms online and waited.
I work away from home so was in contact with my brother to check whether my card for the account had been sent out. After a month I was contacted as my direct debits had not been paid to companies that were on my Halifax account. I still had no card been sent out, so thinking I had been rejected, I set my DD's back up to Halifax.
Now over the past year Santander have been charging months worth of interest on a current account they never sent me a card to use, so I thought I had no account with them.
These charges have built up now to 408.04 and been passed to Moorcroft Debt Recovery who are sending me letters.
The question is do I have a right to write to a company, and which one would it be, saying I feel these charges are unfair, and especially as no money has been taken out of this account, it has just generated charges and interest on top?
Sorry for it being a long one, I appreciate any help given!
Thankyou!

Wywth

Martin346 wrote: »

Firstly, I tried to change my account over to Santander to take advantage of their *100 to switch current accounts* last year.
I completed all the forms online and waited.
I work away from home so was in contact with my brother to check whether my card for the account had been sent out. After a month I was contacted as my direct debits had not been paid to companies that were on my Halifax account. I still had no card been sent out, so thinking I had been rejected, I set my DD's back up to Halifax.
Now over the past year Santander have been charging months worth of interest on a current account they never sent me a card to use, so I thought I had no account with them.
These charges have built up now to 408.04 and been passed to Moorcroft Debt Recovery who are sending me letters.
The question is do I have a right to write to a company, and which one would it be, saying I feel these charges are unfair, and especially as no money has been taken out of this account, it has just generated charges and interest on top?
Sorry for it being a long one, I appreciate any help given!
Thankyou!

Why were your DDs set up on your former Halifax account not paid if you thought Santander had rejected your application for a bank account with them??? :huh:

You have the right to write to whoever you wish about whatever you wish.

What are the charges actually for? Surely they can only charge interest on money you owe them. So what did you spend that money on using a bank account that you thought did not exist? :huh:

Little_Mo_70

Martin346 wrote: »

Firstly, I tried to change my account over to Santander to take advantage of their *100 to switch current accounts* last year.
I completed all the forms online and waited.
I work away from home so was in contact with my brother to check whether my card for the account had been sent out. After a month I was contacted as my direct debits had not been paid to companies that were on my Halifax account. I still had no card been sent out, so thinking I had been rejected, I set my DD's back up to Halifax.
Now over the past year Santander have been charging months worth of interest on a current account they never sent me a card to use, so I thought I had no account with them.
These charges have built up now to 408.04 and been passed to Moorcroft Debt Recovery who are sending me letters.
The question is do I have a right to write to a company, and which one would it be, saying I feel these charges are unfair, and especially as no money has been taken out of this account, it has just generated charges and interest on top?
Sorry for it being a long one, I appreciate any help given!
Thankyou!

Sorry but your post is a bit sketchy.
Why were the DD's not paid?
What were the charges for?

Forgive me if I'm wrong but I'm assuming, because you state you'd
"set my DD's back up to Halifax" that you'd cancelled
them with Halifax and set them up with Santander when you applied for your new account which would not have been a good idea until your application had been notified as accepted.
Anyway it looks as though it had been accepted due to the debt! Why then didn't the DD's go through? Was there no money in the account to cover them?

Is the Santander account one where you pay monthly fees like 123 which charges a small monthly fee for the privilege of use?

If I'd applied for an account and hadn't received anything I would have chased it up. You are lucky if you have never had your post go astray and not receiving a card doesn't necessarily mean the account hadn't been set up.

Wouldn't it have been an idea to contact Santander early on when the warning bells were ringing (ie: non payment of DD's after a month) to see if your application had gone through and to report problems with your DD's and that you had not received your new card?

Martin346

Thankyou for your replies..

"Why were your DDs set up on your former Halifax account not paid if you thought Santander had rejected your application for a bank account with them??? "

As I applied for this online, my direct debits were automatically changed to Santander.

"What are the charges actually for? Surely they can only charge interest on money you owe them. So what did you spend that money on using a bank account that you thought did not exist? "

Charges were built on unpaid direct debits, not sure how much the first charges were at first, then interest built on top.

" Why then didn't the DD's go through? Was there no money in the account to cover them? "

No the account I was getting paid into did not switch over, just the direct debits to come out, not sure why?

Sorry it was vague, I have been into Santander and they are saying now the account is closed and passed on there is no help I can get in branch, same on the phone, but surely if I call the recovery firm they will not help me as they just want the debt paid? I realise this should have been dealt with earlier but since I was not home my brother was only looking for a card, and as one never came I assumed the account had never set up.
Thanks for the replies so far!

Little_Mo_70

Martin346 wrote: »

Thankyou for your replies..

"Why were your DDs set up on your former Halifax account not paid if you thought Santander had rejected your application for a bank account with them??? "

As I applied for this online, my direct debits were automatically changed to Santander.

"What are the charges actually for? Surely they can only charge interest on money you owe them. So what did you spend that money on using a bank account that you thought did not exist? "

Charges were built on unpaid direct debits, not sure how much the first charges were at first, then interest built on top.

" Why then didn't the DD's go through? Was there no money in the account to cover them? "

No the account I was getting paid into did not switch over, just the direct debits to come out, not sure why?

Sorry it was vague, I have been into Santander and they are saying now the account is closed and passed on there is no help I can get in branch, same on the phone, but surely if I call the recovery firm they will not help me as they just want the debt paid? I realise this should have been dealt with earlier but since I was not home my brother was only looking for a card, and as one never came I assumed the account had never set up.
Thanks for the replies so far!

Hello Martin
As far as I can see,

a) If you had arranged to close your Halifax account and also arrange for your income to be paid into the new Santander one then your recourse would be with whoever that arrangement was made with as it didn't happen. You should still have your paperwork, agreements etc as it was not that long ago. (please say you have copies!!)

b) If however, you had left your Halifax account open to receive your salary, but also applied for the new Santander account and arranged for the monies to be transferred from Halifax to Santander to cover the (newly transferred) DD payments, then there has been a banking error as, obviously, no transfers were made resulting in the debt.

If either of the above applies then your recourse!! is with whoever was responsible for doing (or not doing) that. You should have a good basis to make an official complaint providing, you have the paperwork to prove your requests had not been carried out.

If you feel you have a valid case then put your complaint in writing to either Halifax, Santander or both - whichever applies. (Send a copy to the DCA with a note to them asking them to put a hold on any payments and refer to the banks copy letter for details) Don't forget to send your mail by recorded post so they can't say they haven't received the letters. Don't send e-mails and don't phone anyone as these don't constitute concrete proof should it be needed in future.

Best of luck

Mo

Wywth

Martin346 wrote: »

As I applied for this online, my direct debits were automatically changed to Santander.

You should have been aware of this. Any application to open a new bank account ask if you wish (or don't wish) this to happen.

Martin346 wrote: »

Charges were built on unpaid direct debits, not sure how much the first charges were at first, then interest built on top.

Having applied for a new bank account and requesting the DD were transferred, you should have ensured you had sufficient funds in that new account to cover at least those outgoing DDs.

This is always a danger when allowing a bank to arrange things for you as you cannot be sure the exact date they will change things ... and different DD's may transfer on different dates. For this reason, if you opt to allow the bank to manage things, you are advised to keep sufficient funds in both accounts to cover the outgoing DDs due to avoid any possible charges accruing.
Alternatively, you could do as I prefer and do the donkey work yourself and then you remain in total control.

I don't know why you did not know the amount that was due and when as all originiators are obligated to give you advance notice of such and failure to do so is a very valid reason to invoke the terms of the Direct Debit Guarantee; that would allow for an immediate refund on request by your bank plus consequential loss if applicable (e.g. bank charges incurred as a direct result of such). The bank are not obligated to refund any claim for consequential loss immediately, but can ask you to wait until the bank are refunded the same from the originator which must be within 14 days.

Martin346 wrote: »

No the account I was getting paid into did not switch over, just the direct debits to come out, not sure why?

Did you inform whoever you receive your income of your new bank account details and that they should use this for payment in the future?
Banks to not arrange this; you have to advise those who owe you money of any change in your banking arrangements.

Martin346 wrote: »

Sorry it was vague, I have been into Santander and they are saying now the account is closed and passed on there is no help I can get in branch, same on the phone, but surely if I call the recovery firm they will not help me as they just want the debt paid? I realise this should have been dealt with earlier but since I was not home my brother was only looking for a card, and as one never came I assumed the account had never set up.
Thanks for the replies so far!

This whole matter appears to have gone on for a significant amount of time now the debt has been transferred to a debt collection agency.

I see no reasons for complaint to the bank other than possibly they did not supply you with a debit card. Could that be because you didn't deposit any funds in the bank account?
Why do you need a debit card if you haven't deposited any funds?

Regarding charges made by the bank, I see no reason for a valid claim, and now the matter has been transferred to a debt collector I wouldn't be surprised if your credit file has not been noted accordingly and that the DCA do not start adding very large charges of their own as they attempt recovery of your debt from you.

I suggest you contact the DCA and pay them what you owe asap. Should you not be in a position to repay the whole amount immediately, then still contact the DCA, advise them of this, and try to set up a mutually agreeable repayment plan with them.