Charges for charges!?!

LolStevo

My boyfriend has a Natwest account which he only uses for 2 direct debits, car finance and car insurance. He has no money going into the account anymore and doesn't use the card as he was claiming benefit then stopped claiming due to starting work however it hasn't happened yet.

Anyway his car insurance tried to take 3 different direct debits for cancelled policies, as there was no money in the account the direct debits were returned.
(When the car finance and insurance is due on the 1st I put the money in to cover it)
He was then charged £24 for these returned direct debits.
We have tried to claim it back thru insurance however they say the direct debits were cancellation charges which we have paid by card!


So the £24 charges took him £24 overdrawn, I didn't notice until the 1st when I went to put the money in as usual. I put an extra £24 in to cover the charges and bring account up to date.

Today I have gone into his banking to cancel all direct debits as they are easier to come from mine and he is £48 overdrawn due to a £48 unarranged od fee.

So he has been charged for charges taking him over.

We really can't afford another £50 to bring his account up to date again.
He's not working not claiming benefit and I barely have enough money to pay the essential bills!
So what's the best way to approach this? x

Wywth

LolStevo wrote: »

My boyfriend has a Natwest account which he only uses for 2 direct debits, car finance and car insurance. He has no money going into the account anymore and doesn't use the card as he was claiming benefit then stopped claiming due to starting work however it hasn't happened yet.

Anyway his car insurance tried to take 3 different direct debits for cancelled policies, as there was no money in the account the direct debits were returned.
(When the car finance and insurance is due on the 1st I put the money in to cover it)
He was then charged £24 for these returned direct debits.
We have tried to claim it back thru insurance however they say the direct debits were cancellation charges which we have paid by card!


So the £24 charges took him £24 overdrawn, I didn't notice until the 1st when I went to put the money in as usual. I put an extra £24 in to cover the charges and bring account up to date.

Today I have gone into his banking to cancel all direct debits as they are easier to come from mine and he is £48 overdrawn due to a £48 unarranged od fee.

So he has been charged for charges taking him over.

We really can't afford another £50 to bring his account up to date again.
He's not working not claiming benefit and I barely have enough money to pay the essential bills!
So what's the best way to approach this? x

Hi,

If I understand you correctly, your boyfriend had previously cancelled his insurance which he was presumably paying monthly by Direct Debit.

Now if he did this mid-term, he was almost certainly hit with a cancellation fee of some type, even if it was just the money he owed which he had not yet paid for the period of time he was on cover.

But you say he paid these charges as a final lump sum via card.

Now with any Direct Debit, you are fully covered by the terms of the DD Guarantee. (Google it if unsure what that is)

That means he can get a full and immediate refund of any unauthorised DD collections direct from his bank.

Now what is not so widely known is that consequential loss (i.e. bank charges) can also be reclaimed.
Again, he needs to make a claim direct to his bank under the terms of the DD scheme. However the refund may not be immediate, but could take up to a couple of weeks until the insurer pays the bank the claim.

Be aware, that my experience, many front line bank staff are unaware of the full details & terms of the DD scheme, so if he first meets with a resistance, he should stand his ground. If still no luck, he should make a formal complaint where someone who does understand will hopefully refund your bf.

HTH

LolStevo

Thanks for your reply!

I think it may be his fault too as he had told them he would pay the cancellation by card as they couldn't give him a date that the fees would come out, they then attempted the direct debit the 3 times which resulted in the £24 charges :-(

I'm just gona tell him to speak to someone and see if they have any discretion! x

Wywth

LolStevo wrote: »

Thanks for your reply!

I think it may be his fault too as he had told them he would pay the cancellation by card as they couldn't give him a date that the fees would come out, they then attempted the direct debit the 3 times which resulted in the £24 charges :-(

I'm just gona tell him to speak to someone and see if they have any discretion! x

No discretion needed. If he was not given the appropriate advance notice and/or did not authorise the transactions, then he should just reclaim direct from his bank.

He should speak to his bank as the insurer should not refund directly under the terms of the DD scheme.

<Wywth waits for poster to come back to say insurer has refunded directly>

LolStevo

Thanks for your help! he called them and they agreed to waive the £48 charges as it was first time! just hope they dont charge on the time it was overdrawn due to the £48 haha x

Wywth

LolStevo wrote: »

Thanks for your help! he called them and they agreed to waive the £48 charges as it was first time! just hope they dont charge on the time it was overdrawn due to the £48 haha x

First time, second time, or millionth time, he will always be covered under the terms of the DD scheme.

More fool him if he allowed them to waste his one 'free life' by allowing the bank to waive charges rather than reclaim them. :cool:

TheMoney

Actually the bank did nothing wrong. First post says he paid the cancellation charge by card, next post says 'he told them' he would pay by card. He knew he had a cancellation fee to pay, the insurer took that payment, they are entitled to. DD guarantee doesn't do anything when it's a legitimate payment. It's lucky the bank did waive them