Active direct debits and switching dates

Snakey

Hi everybody

I opened a Santander current account to use as a switching account to M&S. This included setting up a couple of new direct debits. I'm told that the first direct debit payments will be taken on 28 April.

M&S will give me a tenner a month "starting the month after the month in which the switch completes" if I do blah blah blah. So even though it's not a massive big deal, it makes sense to have the switch complete on 30 April if I can, rather than in May.

The T&C's that I've been sent (a booklet titled "current account - special offer when you switch and stay") don't define "active" but I'm assuming it means "a payment has been made".

The timeline in the booklet says that on Day Two of the switch they'll get details of my direct debits from the bank. Day Seven is the actual switch date.

What do you lot reckon? When do they look to see whether the DDs are "active" - on the switch date (when the answer will be yes), or on Day Two when they ask the old bank for the details (when the answer will be no)?

I'm thinking I should just switch sometime in May, to be on the safe side (which would also protect against the risk that the DD wouldn't pay out as it should do). The account's only been open for a week so I'm not going to be running up against any deadlines. But I wondered whether anybody knew the answer anyway.

YorkshireBoy

"Active" means able to be paid if called upon to do so, ie a direct debit instruction (DDI) exists on the account being switched.

If you think about it, you could have paid, for example, for this year's RAC cover by debit card and agreed to paying your renewal by direct debit this time next year. Would you expect not to be able to switch this account for a year?

So if you can see the DDIs on your Santander online banking, then so can M&S and you're good to go.

fromtheshires

A direct debit stays active for 13 months before becoming dormant. This is to allow the yearly direct debits such as mentioned above and things like to licenses to be paid. This means the any DD you currently have listed with Santander will be transferred over to your MandS account.

Snakey

Oh that's much better than I thought. I thought they had to have been paid out. I've just checked online and both of them are showing up on the Santander account.

So I can just go ahead and switch right now, even though neither have yet paid out for the first time? That almost sounds too easy...

Snakey

Nice M&S woman on the phone says they have to have actually paid out.

colsten

Did you ask her where in the T&Cs it says that?

Snakey

No. The T&Cs say you need to "move a minimum of two active direct debits" and so the question I asked her was whether "active" meant they had to have paid out or whether it was enough that they were set up (and showing as such on the account).

She said "active" meant that they had to have paid out, and that if the date of the first payment was the 28th then I should wait until the 28th before calling them to set up the switch.

Is she wrong, do you think?

Yorkshire_Pud

Yes she's wrong for all the reasons Yorkshire Boy stated above:)

YorkshireBoy

Simple answer...write to them, asking for a response in writing confirming the DDs have to have been paid out at least once. Quote the time and date of the telephone conversation and, if you took it, the CSA's name.

If they do, and you email it to me as proof, you can have my M&S giftcard...which they recently loaded with £100, despite neither of my two DDs paying out before the switch.

Snakey

I've dropped them a line and will let you know what comes back.

Snakey

Well the lesson there is "don't bother communicating any other way than by phone" because several days and two chasers later I gave up waiting for a written (e-mail) response and called them again to see if I could try to get a proper answer any other way.

This time, the (very nice) guy said exactly what you said i.e. "active" just means "capable of being paid out" - doesn't have to have been paid yet, and you can even have ones that only pay out once a year, and so there's no need to wait before doing the switch.

So you get to keep your gift card, YorkshireBoy!

Unfortunately my assumption that since they needed you to phone them or go into the branch to deal with the switch that meant they would set it in motion there and then and the switch could therefore take place seven days from the phone call, was incorrect. They have to send you some stuff first and then you have to phone them again. God knows why - they don't want anything signed or anything. But there you go. So the earliest they can now do it is May anyway.