Bank wont stop duplicate payments

HelpNeeded1

I hope Im posting this in the right place.
I tried to pay my council tax on the councils website today (never had a problem with it before) and it kept saying that the payment was declined. I phoned my bank and they have told me it’s actually gone through 3 times and that they can’t stop the payments! I phoned the council tax people and they can’t stop it either so I have to wait up to 7 days for them all to go through and then either get my bank to get the refund or get the council tax people to do it by showing my bank statement (I don’t know which way would be quicker!).
So pay day has been ruined. I need that money before my rent is due, I actually feel like crying. I cant believe that the bank wont stop this, there is a 7 day window for the recipients to ‘authorise’ the payments to go through and that this has to happen because it could be that I owe them all the money or something. So have to wait ages for the payment to go through in the first place, a few days at least maybe a week, I wish it was instant then I could just get the bank to sort it now. It’s ridiculous because they’ve stopped things before when I’ve bought things online because they thought someone else was using my account so it’s not like they physically can’t do it. I just think it’s really stupid that both sides have said it has to go through first, I didn’t get any payment confirmations for any of them either so I feel really insecure about it.
Has anyone else had this issue? Any advice please?

Thank you in advance.

Hominu

Unfortunately, these things sometimes happen. You can sometimes get one or the other to cancel the payments, sometimes not. Since the council started the payment procedure, they are more likely to be able to stop it, but they may not be that interested.

So you'll probably just have to sit and wait.

My advice would be to set-up a Direct Debit so it doesn't happen again, plus it would free up time for you to do other things.

HelpNeeded1

Thank you for your reply, I guess Im just worried that I wont even get a refund

Direct debit is hard for me and my partner due to when and how we both get paid. This method is usually so quick and easy, and painless!

agrinnall

I'd say that it's good practice that if you do get a payment declined and it would cause you financial problems if it were to be duplicated then call your bank before trying it again to confirm that it really hasn't gone through. That doesn't help you this time but might in the future.

Calt1973

I have found that when my bank would not stop a payment (saying it had to process first) I really did not have any issues with fees and such. The bank really took care of me in that particular instance and made everything right. The only issue that I did have was the fact that I was unable to make payments!