Huge direct debit what are the rules?

peterciaran

Hi all

So this morning I checked my account and noticed that npower have taken a huge direct debit of nearly 400 pounds without any prior warning which leaves me with an account no money until the 25th on this month

Are they allowed to do this?

I genuinely don't know what I'm gonna do for food and other essentials

Can any one offer any advice

Thanks in advance

peachyprice

Did they inform you they were altering your DD to that amount? If not, phone your bank and ask them to reverse the payment under the Direct Debit guarantee

irect Debit Guarantee

The Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits

If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit the organisation will notify you (normally 10 working days) in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request the organisation to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request
If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society
If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the organisation asks you to
You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify the organisation.

HTH

DirectDebacle

Have a look at the Direct Debit Guarantee Scheme here.

If the rules have not been adhered to by npower then contact your bank which must recall the payment immediately.

peachyprice posted as I was typing.

Cardew

I suspect they did notify you on your last bill, it is often in the 'small print' at the bottom of the bill.

However as stated above, the bank will accept your word on this issue and refund the £400; and then you can talk to Npower.

Bear in mind that unless you can reach agreement with NPower you can lose any DD discount and the discount after 12 months.

peterciaran

Thank you for your replies it was a great help as you can appreciate i was panicking a little this morning when I thought I'd have to starve, I have had the bank return the direct debit

ic

Are you an online customer and only receive online bills? Do you check them? As posted above you should have been notified, and this will probably be via your bill - if you are an online customer it is very unlikely they'll notify you via post as well.

While you may have the £400 back, you'll still need to make your monthly payment. Call NPower and talk to them.

peterciaran

I have been through all my correspondence with Npower and had definitely not been notified and in fact my last letter from them stated my DD had been changed from 75 to 68.

Speaking to Npower I was told that this money was taken as a final bill in error. This was based on readings given to them by another company while they were trying to transfer my supply. I hadn't signed up for this (coop energy) and it is still being resolved by the two companies

However, the fact remains N power did not warn we of this final bill and I've had no correspondences saying i'm leaving so I am left a little annoyed and somewhat confused

But I have the cash back and can afford to live for the rest of the month now

StuC75

do you have such a shortfall on the account? were the readings correct - if they have it as final billing? may be that payments need increasing as a separate point.

DirectDebacle

Picking up on Cardew good point re the DD discount. If you remain with npower make sure you keep records of all correspondence, times, dates and names of persons spoken to etc re this incident.

Wouldn't surprise me that further down the road this could cause you a problem of receiving the DD discount. This issue may cause their system to show that 12 consecutive monthly DD payments were not received and on that basis refuse to pay the discount.

Make sure you have sufficient evidence to dispute this if it happens.

[Deleted User]

Call your bank, ask them to reverse the DD.

I had a massive amount taken out over the weekend unexpectedly (thousands) - but Natwest were great and reversed the DD.

peachyprice

DirectDebacle wrote: »

Picking up on Cardew good point re the DD discount. If you remain with npower make sure you keep records of all correspondence, times, dates and names of persons spoken to etc re this incident.

Wouldn't surprise me that further down the road this could cause you a problem of receiving the DD discount. This issue may cause their system to show that 12 consecutive monthly DD payments were not received and on that basis refuse to pay the discount.

Make sure you have sufficient evidence to dispute this if it happens.

Very good point.

I missed out on a annual rebate from Atlantic because one payment had been made by debit card when I was in the process of changing bank accounts. Even though it was on time and the right amount, I still lost the rebate for that year.