Does overriding my direct debit do me any harm?

geekonthepc

Hi all

Just a quick question - might sound stupid but it's been on my mind.

My Barclaycard Initial is set up on a direct debit to pay off in full every month. I've had it for about 6 months (and the limit has just been increased, not that that matters), but so far every month I've paid it off manually with my debit card.

Reason being that I like to pay my card bill off when, or shortly after, I get paid - just to avoid being tempted to spend money I don't have.

I always pay off statement amounts and don't pay the card off before a statement arrives. Am I shooting myself in the foot at all by paying it manually when a DD is in place, or is it perfectly OK to do that?

Cheers all

dzug1

Well it looks as though it has worked so far and Barclaycard haven't complained.

Credit reference agencies will just know it's being paid off - not how.

The only danger is if you get the timing wrong and the direct debit still gets collected

Gizmo247

geekonthepc wrote: »

Reason being that I like to pay my card bill off when, or shortly after, I get paid - just to avoid being tempted to spend money I don't have.

Just phone up your card provider a get them to move your statement date. They can tell you the date range in which the payment will be taken. They will only be able to adjust from the statement two months onwards to avoid people manipulating payments because they cannot pay.

jedsonack2

I agree with dzug1, but be careful to do so.

agrinnall

One possible issue is that sometimes if a DD is unused for a period of timne (I've seen 13 months mentioned) then it may be cancelled - if that happened, and you didn't make a manual payment, expecting the DD to kick in, you could end up with a missed payment. I have no idea whether CC companies would do this, I would hope not but it might be worth checking your online banking occasionaly to make sure the DD is still set up.

geekonthepc

Thanks all, your thoughts are appreciated. Yeah it does concern me slightly that the DD is not really even in use. HSBC have told me the DD was last used in January, but the way it's going at the moment that could quite easily turn to a year. Maybe it's best that once every few months I just leave the card to be paid by DD, just to ensure the DD stays alive.