BT Increased DD without informing me. Now face £50 overdraft fees

Pitchshifter

I recently changed my BT direct debit to a monthly plan. The agreed monthly payment was £15 per month so I planned to have that amount in my account.
Then later, they increased the amount to £25, but I never got an email until 9 days after the transaction. Even that email only gave a link to my online bill and did not inform me directly of an increase. None the wiser I took no action at this stage (it was too late anyway).

Still none the wiser I only realised I was overdrawn after I logged into my online banking to check my account, and was shocked to find I'd been overdrawn by £10 for 10 b****y days!
As halifax charge £5 per day for unplanned overdrafts of any ammount, thats £50 they will be grabbing off me. I was furious.
To add insult to injury, only today do I get a letter from Halifax (dated 18th March, 10 days from transaction) informing me I'm still overdrawn and might like to transfer some money into the account to stop further charges. 14 days after the transaction I receive notification, great help!


Is there any way I can reclaim this charge from either BT or Halifax?

It's BT's fault that they did not inform me in good time, so I could put the necessary funds in the account before they debitted the money. So they should be liable for refunding me.

guesswho2000

Pitchshifter wrote: »

I recently changed my BT direct debit to a monthly plan. The agreed monthly payment was £15 per month so I planned to have that amount in my account.
Then later, they increased the amount to £25, but I never got an email until 9 days after the transaction. Even that email only gave a link to my online bill and did not inform me directly of an increase. None the wiser I took no action at this stage (it was too late anyway).

Still none the wiser I only realised I was overdrawn after I logged into my online banking to check my account, and was shocked to find I'd been overdrawn by £10 for 10 b****y days!
As halifax charge £5 per day for unplanned overdrafts of any ammount, thats £50 they will be grabbing off me. I was furious.
To add insult to injury, only today do I get a letter from Halifax (dated 18th March, 10 days from transaction) informing me I'm still overdrawn and might like to transfer some money into the account to stop further charges. 14 days after the transaction I receive notification, great help!


Is there any way I can reclaim this charge from either BT or Halifax?

It's BT's fault that they did not inform me in good time, so I could put the necessary funds in the account before they debitted the money. So they should be liable for refunding me.

Direct debit guarantee, your bank will refund it (the DD, not sure about the charges). Any change to a dd amount must be notified a minimum number of days in advance (the number of days I don't know off the top of my head, 10?).

Gromitt

If you have a mobile phone you might find it handy to register it with the bank, they can then send you a text message within 24 hours of going overdrawn, or certain other factors, plus a weekly balance report and recent transactions if you want them.

It's certainly a lot quicker than waiting for the 'You are overdrawn!' post to arrive.

Pitchshifter

Thanks for the replys, I think I'm going to chalk this one down as a learning experience. I'm going to put some extra cash in the account as a "buffer" just in case this sort of oversight happens again. Also I've set up a standing order to automate my transfers so this should not happen again.
It's all a bit of a game with these damn companies isn't it. If I hadn't moved my direct debits onto my reward account this would not have happened. You win some you lose some.

spacey2012

If BT have caused you a loss by failing to notify you of changes they are liable for that loss.
Invoice them
LBA them
Sue them.

Gers

guesswho2000 wrote: »

Direct debit guarantee, your bank will refund it (the DD, not sure about the charges). Any change to a dd amount must be notified a minimum number of days in advance (the number of days I don't know off the top of my head, 10?).

Happened to me too and I did the direct debit guarantee thing with the bank who immediately refunded me the payment - and then I paid the original amount to BT over the phone.

The only way of knowing what changes are being made to payment is by looking online at your account which is not that good.

I have declined to pay the higher amount as it seems that any increase is down to the weird way BT calculate bills, even when paying the exact amount of funds needed for the options.

pinkdalek

DD indemnity, BT haven't informed you, so make them pay your charges.

YorkshireBoy

spacey2012 wrote: »

If BT have caused you a loss by failing to notify you of changes they are liable for that loss.
Invoice them
LBA them
Sue them.

Or, alternatively, simply remind them of their obligations under the Payment Services Regulations 2009, specifically section 61(b). Much cheaper and less time consuming than legal action!

Gromitt

Pitchshifter wrote: »

It's all a bit of a game with these damn companies isn't it. If I hadn't moved my direct debits onto my reward account this would not have happened. You win some you lose some.

Thats why my DDs come to exactly £5, Halifax pay me one week, and the amount is DD'd out the next. Repeat every month. Only problem will be if I forget to put the 1K in, but I check and fund every account on the day I'm paid, so thats unlikely.