Direct Debit Guarantee ?

Milarky

I just wondered if the direct debit guarantee would cover the situation where a switching of direct debits takes place (involving two banks' switching services) but one of the direct debits then 'stops working'? (specifically this was for 'connect telecom' [call1899] whose direct debit has failed to collect ever since it was transferred from Lloyds to Nationwide in 2013.)

Call1899 is only occasionally contactable by email and avers any responsibility for the collection failures - indicating its bank (RBS I think) may be responsible but cannot themselves be drawn into this.

So would the direct debit guarantee somehow apply here? Or, in other words, 'what are my rights'?

[Thanks in advance]

Thrugelmir

If the Company is not originating a direct debit then little anybody else can do.

Have you been chased for non payment?

Archi_Bald

The DD guarantee protects you from payments made without your authorisation. It does not guarantee that payments get made.
http://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/Pages/DirectDebitGuarantee.aspx

What sort of switching service did you use - the one with the guarantee that became available on September 16 2013, or the informal one that existed before then?

Can you see the DD on your Nationwide account? If you can't, did you try to give the payee a new Direct Debit authorisation? You should be able to do this by logging into your account and changing your payment details.

Milarky

(Thank you for the replies)

It was done in mid 2013, as the last payments taken from Lloyds were around then (so before the new switching standards came in)

The DD instruction does appear at Nationwide - it's just that no attempt to take payment has been made from there (three times a bill has come out) since then.

Someone 'in the system' must still be using old details to call for payment (if indeed they are?) and this gets rejected (presumably by Lloyds bank's computer) but no call to the new details yet.

Yes, I get that they now tell us 'if someone you pay' moves bank they amend your payment instruction/DD reference but of course that does nothing for the more usual situation where the payer moves his/her account to another bank.

The obvious thing is to try and submit new direct debit details using the call1899 login, but we have to wait a while now before the account becomes 'unfrozen' for the sake of £1.52 of calls!

Aquamania

Milarky wrote: »

The obvious thing is to try and submit new direct debit details using the call1899 login, but we have to wait a while now before the account becomes 'unfrozen' for the sake of £1.52 of calls!

I think you [STRIKE]can[/STRIKE] have to pay the overdue amount by debit or credit card.

As soon as you pay up, the account is un-frozen, iirc

Edit: As I recall, once a DD fails, they won't attempt again to collect that amount by DD, even if you do change the DD details

Hazzanet

I did this to clear the balance, then re-set up the DD:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=5093219&postcount=11