British Gas customers double-charged in direct debit blunder 25 November 2016 at 11:48AM in Energy 3 replies 1.4K views

Former_MSE_Faye

Customers are reporting that their direct debits have been taken twice, leaving them £100s short in some cases...

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'British Gas customers double-charged in direct debit blunder'

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jspr

I received a letter from British Gas a few weeks ago informing me that no DD for October had been taken from accounts due to a technical problem and that 2 lots of DD would be taken in November to make up for this. This has happened to me - people affected should check their bank accounts to see if this happened to them.

Quasar

I know that paying by direct debit is slightly cheaper, but I would never ever use that method. I prefer to decide the precise day my money goes out, and there's no question of these companies deciding on what and when they take out from my account.

Cardew

Quasar wrote: »

I know that paying by direct debit is slightly cheaper, but I would never ever use that method. I prefer to decide the precise day my money goes out, and there's no question of these companies deciding on what and when they take out from my account.

Not slightly cheaper, nearly all the cheapest tariffs require payment by DD.

With a DD you do indeed give the companies authority to change the amount of the DD. However they must inform you in advance of any change to amount and date.

https://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/Pages/DirectDebitExplained.aspx